Soft Paws for Cats - do they work?

[Writer]

My cat has, by now, racked up about $2000-$3000 of damage in our house. He's about 1 1/2 and isn't declawed.

I have heard of Soft Paws... has anyone used them on their cat? Did you cat try to chew them off?

Any other advice?

C'mon, cat people, I know you're out there! ;)

[blm]

1. I use soft paws. They're cheaper in the long run than reupholstering.

.

[flamingyouth]

2. I used to use them on a couple of my cats.

The trick is, it really takes two people to put them on the cat, and I live alone.

Both of my cats did fine with them. I'd like to start using them again because one of my nice chairs has been completely destroyed. :(

[CanuckAmok]

21. I finessed it into a one person job

When my ex and I separated, I didn't know how I'd be able to do the SoftPaws by myself.

My cats are pretty passive, so your mileage my vary, but I lay each cat on her back on the sofa seat, kind of wedged between my leg and the arm of the sofa. I clip and glue, and when all the caps are done, I reward the cats with a treat. They now associate the sound of the SoftPaws being shaken in their package with a reward, so if I take the package out of the drawer, both cats come running.

[ReadTomPaine]

3. De-clawing cats really is an extreme option.. Soft Paws are much better.

As I'm sure you are aware, de-clawing cats is equivalent to cutting of the tips of a human finger at the last joint. I believe it's even illegal in some states due to cruelty laws. If the the Soft Paws don't work, I'd consider finding him a new home that was less cat-senstive rather than subjecting the little guy to that procedure.

I understand Soft Paws works quite well, tho some cats will chew them a bit esp if they have gone a long time with naked claws. At 18 months, your cat has a good chance of adapting nicely.

Best of luck!

[LisaL]

4. No, it's legal in all the states. It's only illegal in some European

countries. And if it was a choice between declawing and getting rid of the cat (that's what finding a new home actually is), I would go for de clawing. I know cat owners that have used soft claws, and it does take 2 people to put them on. I also know of cat owners that declawed, without ill effects on the cat.
My cats are not declawed, and I don't use soft paws either. But because my cats are Persians, they spend most of their time sleeping anyway.

[ReadTomPaine]

11. I was surprised the list of places declawing is banned is so large!

England
Scotland
Wales
Italy
France
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Norway
Sweden
Netherlands
Northern Ireland
Ireland
Denmark
Finland
Slovenia
Portugal
Belgium
Brazil
Australia
New Zealand
Yugoslavia
Japan

Good for them.

[friesianrider]

22. Isn't declawing illegal in California?

I'm pretty sure it is, though I could be wrong.

[ReadTomPaine]

24. Just in West Hollywood, it appears...

http://cats.about.com/cs/declawing/a/nodeclaw.htm

[friesianrider]

27. Interesting, thanks...

I guess maybe I'd heard that thy had introduced legislation to make it illegal in CA, but it hasn't passed yet. Looks like CA is leading the charge to make it illegal though...lots of hot debate on the internet(s) about this! :)

[Book Lover]

26. Not statewide but in West Hollywood it was banned

I don;t know about anywhere else in the state, though...

[radwriter0555]

5. Soft paws work GREAT and don't cost much at all. Well, well worth the

couple of bucks.

[bettyellen]

9. i payed 20$ for 40pc of them, and did both my cats because they were

fighting. it was worth the piece of mind. but, two weeks lter, they're 1/2 gone. at least they are doing less damage now.
i have heard rthere's laser declawing now that's a lot more humane. anyone hear of that?

[ReadTomPaine]

14. Info on laser de-clawing:

http://www.adobepet.com/library/declaw.htm

Comparative drawings are included.

Seems the procedure removes the same about of claw, tissue and "finger bone", but it's less painful and bloody during the process.

[bettyellen]

17. hhmm, i was told it was less bone, but that was a person, not a vet.

i wouldn't do it then.

[China_cat]

16. Yes, what it does is sever the tendon

making it impossible to extend the claws. You have to be very careful to manually extend the claws at least once a week and clip them or they'll grow into the cat's pads.

It's a bit more humane than the normal declawing method.

My preference though is to get cheap used furniture, work on training the cat to claw a post and not worry about the decorating. The cats are part of the family. I wouldn't chop off a kid's fingers for drawing on the walls, why would I do it to the cat? If it comes to offending visitors...well, if people care more about my 'things' than they do spending time with me, I don't need them here.

[bettyellen]

18. not worth it then. tks for the info. :)

[ReadTomPaine]

19. Bravo! n/t

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

6. Have you tried a scratching post, too?

Our little Morrissey was trained on a scratching post when we adopted him, so I got one for him (our other cats are declawed on all four paws, something I regret now). He uses it when he really has to scratch (or the kitchen rug, which is okay with me, but not the carpet).

[Writer]

7. Gandalf uses a scratching post.

He's actually very good about that. He hasn't touched our furniture.

Our curtains, on the other hand, are ruined. This morning he jumped up and stuck his claws into an Asian screen and pulled it down on top of him. He climbs to the top of screen doors - he's ruined two of those. Almost all of the aforementioned now has to be replaced.

He's clawed the carpet only a little... when we close the door on him, that makes him very upset, so he tries to dig his way under the door via the carpet.

We clip his nails once in a while, and he's very good about using his scratching post. But Gandalf is still a spaz.

[ReadTomPaine]

10. Check out http://www.declawing.com/

Great resource!

[crispini]

12. Sounds like some behaviour modification is in order too.

You could always squirt him with a water bottle when he climbs the screen door.

How old is he? Sounds like a young'un.

[Writer]

13. Yes, he's a young'un.

He's 1 1/2 years-old. I have used a water bottle on him and it doesn't affect him. Mr. Writer and I are going to buy a battery-operated water gun and see if the extra pressure doesn't get his attention ;)

[crispini]

15. LOL

Well THAT should be interesting! :rofl:

[AirmensMom]

8. Our all use a scratching post.

We have two cat trees with sisal on them and we keep their nails trimmed. We've never tried Soft Paws.

[CanuckAmok]

20. My girls wear SoftPaws

SoftPaws is the best invention ever.

They still claw, and have the psychological satisfaction of the act, but they don't damage anything.

The caps stay on as long as it takes for your cat's claws to shed. Some caps have remained on for six months, some a month or two. But they ONLY come off when the claw has shed... the glue never fails.

Here's Milpool with her SoftPaws on:



The colours are good, because you can tell at a glance when the caps need replacing.

[friesianrider]

25. I love that photo Canuck!

Your girls are so pretty, and look dashing in their SoftPaws!

I've found the same with my furkids - they "claw" but nothing happens. They only think they're causing mass destruction to furniture and screens, so can take their afternoon nap *thinking* they did their job for the day ;)

[friesianrider]

23. LOVE SoftPaws!

I use them on 4 of our 7 indoors, and they are great. Ours tore through our sofas so when we got new furniture we got the SoftPaws and they work great. A few of our furkids were a little unsure of them at first but they get used to them really quickly. They are SO much better than declawing. We have an elderly kitty who is declawed and she has so many problems with the litterbox. Our vet even showed us a study where cats who are declawed are 4 times more likely to have litterbox problems than non-declawed cats. Plus, SoftPaws are cheaper and so much less invasive and cruel for the kitty.

I'd highly recommend them! Another thing you can do to help is (and you'll need to do this if you get the SoftPaws anyway) keep their nails trimmed (just be sure you get the safety clippers for pets so you don't nip a footpad by accident). When mine have their nails trimmed regularly they rarely scratch anything.

Anyway, I'd definitely give them a shot, and recommend purchasing a set of safety pet nail clippers. :) Good luck, and thanks for being a responsible owner about this and not just dumping the cat at a shelter like some folks do :)

[Tafiti]

28. I was lucky.

See, my cat is the coolest, and somehow I trained him to not scratch the furniture. He would occasionally, but I'd stop him and he wouldn't do it for days or weeks at a time. He'd usually just go to the scratching post or do it on the carpet (which was fine by me).