MishMish here... having enjoyed the company of many cats over the years, I've learned that cats will use their claws only if they (a) are really mad at you, in which case you get the full, "Mreowrrrr!", scratching and/or puncturing or (b) if they want to get your attention. Then you usually get one claw, gently poked into your arm, foot, toe, whatever. Briefly. As in, "Ahem, silly human! Attention, please. Thank you. Now that I have your full attention..."
One of my cats (I have 2 right now) is named, oddly enough, MishMish. When you pick her up, right hand under her front paws, left hand supporting her nether end, she will always want to curl up on your left shoulder, never your right. She always does that, and has since the first day we met her at the animal shelter.
My other cat, Charlie Alpha Tango, loves to drag herself, on her tummy, along the carpet, using only her front paws and claws. Her back legs are just fine, since she amuses herself by running up and down stairs and climbing our stone fireplace (a bit alarming, that), but she just loves to be Slither Cat occasionally. It freaks MishMish out.
Anyone have a cat who just CANNOT keep herself or himself from playing with water? Charlie falls into that category (no pun intended). MishMish couldn't care less about water, really, but Charlie... good grief! Maybe she was an otter in a previous life.
We trim our cats' nails once a month with nail clippers. Not a happy time, but now that they know cat treats will follow immediatley afterwards, it's cool with them. Of course, to hear them, you'd think we were doing something awful to them. But they always get over it as soon as the cat treats start bouncing on the floor.
Nathan 
