Soft Claws?

[NJBikeGal]

To all my cat-owning, cycle-loving friends out there...

Has anyone ever tried Soft Claws? My DH and I are in a dispute over de-clawing the new kitty (please...no lectures about the cruelty of declawing - I know and understand all of this!)

I'm just wondering if anyone has used these? Have they worked? how about putting them on? are they are royal PITA? Any input would be helpful!

Thanks!

[Zen]

The vet should offer those and put them on too. I think they fall off eventually. They're like Lee Press-On Nails for cats.

[Blueberry]

We put them on a kitty who wouldn't stop scratching a raw spot. They're very easy to put on, so long as you have a docile cat who will let you handle feet without problem (Note: Some vets will not sell them to you to do yourself. They put the cat out to do it. This certainly wasn't necessary with mine, and I would try it yourself first). You just put a little glue in the nail cap, and push down over the claw. I think it's advised to trim the claw first. If we're taking about a kitten, start giving kitty foot massages now to get the kitty used to feet being handled.

They stayed on for quite a while (some months, I believe). We had ours on rear claws, so they may last longer than front (our cat has front claws, but he was scratching with the rear). I would still think you'd get a month out of them easily. They don't all fall off at once, either. Kitty claws are quite soft with them on, so I don't think they'd be able to damage furniture, etc. (can I please put a plug in for getting a tall, attractive to kitty scratching post for kitty to stretch on?).

I'd say go for it.

[Brandi]

I trim my cats claws all the time
and have several cat scratching post and card board scratchers. If we did not have thoughs we would be in trouble!And I mean several of them placed all over. one in the living room one in the dinning room and in both bedrooms. Once I moved the one in the living room, they started scratching in the spot it used to be. Had to put it back.
As long as you rkitty is an indoor kitty I am sure declawing would be fine. We did have a cat we had to declaw becuase she was tearing up carpet in a rental. The owner said declaw or get rid of her. Well my fur kids are all with us till the end so we had to declaw. She went outside later in her life when we moved into a house. She did fine out there. But she did get attacked once by we think a dog. weather having claws or not I don't know if that would have mattered? But she lived till she was 18.
What is your kitty doing? Sometimes you can change the behavior.

[Zen]

NO!!!!!!
Declawing is not fine!!!
I had my cats declawed but if I had really understood what the procedure was I would never have done it.
http://www.catscratching.com/

[Tiffany]

I use the Soft Claws on my cat and I love them! We have leather furniture and Taylor (the cat) wouldn't use the furniture for a scratching post but when he'd jump up on the back of the couch to his favorite spot he would use his back claws for leverage (he's a little heavy). We just slip the Soft Claws on him and he's good to go for a couple of months until the nail goes through it's natural shedding process. Sometimes he gets feisty and decides to chew some of them off, but not often. I highly recommend them!

[NJBikeGal]

Thanks, all!!!!

It's great to hear good things about the Soft Claws. We're currently on kitty #4 (1-3 are all declawed from adoption). I'd rather not declaw new kitty, but she likes a few pieces of furniture (despite several scratch-friendly options available to her). I want to try the Soft Claws before making any major decision about her little toes! She's not too good with nail trimming, so I think she will probably not take to the Soft Claw application process well, but I may try it anyway.

Do the kitties seem to notice that these are on their nails? The website suggests that they are "so comfortable that kitty won't even notice they're there." True?

Thanks, again!

[invsblwmn]

Love em! I have been using the soft paws/soft claws for three years. For my less active cat, Emma Lee, they last about 2-3 months. For the wild child, Cooper, a month. Basically, they fall off when the nail sheds. I trim the nail first, they seem to last longer that way. They are easy to put on, just as previously described and really work. They come without the guilt of declawing which I did to one cat and will NEVER do again. Good luck. BTW I usually buy em at petco or amazon. At amazon, you buy 2 sets and shipping is free (anything over $25). This ebayer has 3 sets for $15 each size medium. http://cgi.ebay.com/soft-claws-nail-...QQcmdZViewItem Both brands are the same quality. Wishing the kitty the best!

[smilingcat]

my partners ex had her cats declawed. They were never the same afterwards. Refused to use the literbox. So they were forced to become outdoor cats. luckily no big dogs, or too many cats in her area. Darell and Darell are both gone now.

Soft claw by all means. They will last a minimum of one month. Start handling her feet and let her get used to the ida of her feet being handled. Trim first then attach the soft claw. It's not a permanent thing like declaw so give it a try for a while. It might take her a while to get used to it.

wish you lots of luck.
Smilingcat

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

One thing to keep in mind for those whose kitties will not use their scratching posts....
Cat usually like their scratching "landmarks" to be in places that are sticking out or at a traffic intersection. Like how bears will mark their territory by scratching a tree that is located at an intersection of two trails. Cats do not like their scratching stations to be hidden in a corner or behind things. They like to mark prominent locations, so put the posts there instead.
The best "post" we have for our 3 cats is in the hall that most of the rooms open off of. It has dark wood paneling, and I bought a dark brown carpet runner and attached it right to the wall vertically. It's about 2 feet wide and goes 5 feet up the wall. OMG but kitty loves to leap onto that thing and climb up it like a tree, tearing at it with her claws all the way. Looks more like a squirrel than a cat. Cats also like TALL scratching posts, not those dinky 15" tall ones you get cheap. They like to stretch while they scratch. Some kitties like shag carpeting posts, some like sisal rope-wrapped posts. Our 3 all have their own favorite post- all different.
Many of these problems can be solved by finding the right scratching post and the right spot for it. A little experimentation can yield good results.
And keeping the claws trimmed with a nail clipper definitely helps. I do it when the kitty is dozing and half asleep in my lap at my computer.

[Blueberry]

It's great to hear good things about the Soft Claws. We're currently on kitty #4 (1-3 are all declawed from adoption). I'd rather not declaw new kitty, but she likes a few pieces of furniture (despite several scratch-friendly options available to her). I want to try the Soft Claws before making any major decision about her little toes! She's not too good with nail trimming, so I think she will probably not take to the Soft Claw application process well, but I may try it anyway.

Do the kitties seem to notice that these are on their nails? The website suggests that they are "so comfortable that kitty won't even notice they're there." True?

Mine noticed at first, and then ignored.

I know you don't want opinions on declawing, but I did want to say that it will be much harder on you since your cat didn't "come" that way. It really is a long, painful recovery process, and it will be hard on kitty and you. Our cats still have claws, and have, at times, scratched inappropriate things. We make a giant circle out of tape, and put it up where they are scratching. Their paws get stuck, and the behavior ceases. Has broken our cats of door jambs and chairs.

Good luck!

CA

[mountainchick]

We use them too and love them. Our cats squirm when we put them on and then try and chew them off at first but after an hour or so they forget about them.

I would go to with that option, and not declaw for reasons mentioned here.

[lauraelmore1033]

squirt guns work wonders for making kitty stop clawing/climbing on furniture. I bought both soft claws and a squirt gun shortly after our younger cat "acquired" us (which happened to be shortly after my volunteer training at PAWS where I heard about soft claws and squirt guns), but the squirt gun was so effective that I didn't need to bother with the soft claws. As far as little Peaches knows, the heavens open up with watery retribution whenever she so much as THINKS of clawing the speakers or climbing up on the table. She hasn't figured out that we're the ones doing the squirting. Silky(evil genus cat), on the other hand, has figured it out, but only has to be shown the squirt gun to make her realize she'd better modify her current behavior PDQ.

[Dianyla]

Our kitty fortunately doesn't scratch much. We do have a nice 30" tall sisal post that she loves scratching on. Lately I have been trimming all of her claws a bit because she kept getting herself hung up on the carpet (or my precious Ibex!!! Nooo!!! ) and this has really been helping with the problems that her long sharp claws pose. She does really like to scratch often on her post after trimming, though, so I'm not sure that trimming by itself would help with a cat that likes clawing.

[mimitabby]

the first thing i do when i have a foster kitty that does any inappropriate scratching is get her/him different gizmos to scratch. I start with the coreggated cardboard gizmo which costs about 6 bucks on the floor. I add a sisal deal that hangs over the door. I also have found some ultra cheap carpet (you know, with almost no pile?) that hangs from a door knob? I have one cat that LOVES that.
over the years i have had many cats, and have found the best kinds of furniture for them. We have leather sofa and chair and the cats never sink a claw into one of them unless they lose their balance or something. My one couch is 8 years old and it really looks good despite the fact that 3 or more cats have used it for a bed and a launch off site for all these years.

I work with a foster group and we get lots of declawed cats. Every single one of them has behavior problems that we don't see in cats that were not declawed.

I also trim everyone's claws routinely, and when i get fosters, it's one of the first things i do to them.
And we adopt them out to people that want declawed cats, and too often they come back because they are biting or whatever.