SoftPaws...anybody use them on their cat?

[Rudy]

Not only scratchers near where they sleep but also near where you spend most of your time. For most people that is the couch and the bed.

Cats are very intelligent animals but are not the same as a domesticated dog. You learn to live with them and they learn to tolerate or even like your existence

Declawing is an awful practice. Think of amputees and phantom pains. Do you think after having all the tips of their digits removed that.phantom pain isn’t possible? Behavior problems, inappropriate urinating problems, and early arthritis are very real possibilities.

I have two sphynx cats. Very high drive, active cats that are in to everything. Their nails are trimmed once per week and filed if needed. I have had zero scratching problems and one is still just a kitten. Not saying they never tried, but from the get go were shown where appropriate spots to scratch were.

[cnvh]

I had our last cat declawed when she was about 2 years old, back in 2000. Unfortunately I was living in an apartment at the time, and despite having multiple scratching posts available throughout the house, she insisted on clawing (and ripping up) the carpet in various areas. As this was a rental, I couldn’t exactly have her destroying stuff that didn’t belong to me, so I felt like it was either the claws or the cat-- I couldn’t keep her if I didn’t have her declawed, and as she was a black DSH adult cat, her rehoming potential wasn’t great.

The vet didn’t give me any hassle with doing the procedure, but the cat was never the same after that-- 100% personality change. Over the years she became obese and more and more shy/fearful. We ended up having her PTS earlier this year due to CHF and kidney failure.

I didn’t come to the declawing decision lightly, but it’s not one I think I would ever make again… I’ve had other cats before and after that one, and none have ever been THAT destructive. But at least now we own our own home though, so I have a lot more flexibility re: pet damage.

[JumpQH]

I tried Softpaws. My vet applied them. My cat had them off shortly after we got home.

[saje]

A side bonus to keeping claws trimmed is that when you eventually have to medicate your kitty, there’s that much less ammo against you They also tend to deal with being handled, really handled, better so that’s another step towards easy(er) dosing.

[Big_Grey_hunter]

I’ve had really good luck with trimming claws and offering a lot of those cardboard box scratchers with catnip. We have one in all of the rooms we’re in frequently. The only time our cat scratches furniture is if we don’t have a scratcher in the room she’s in

[CarolinaGirl]

We tried soft paws as a kitten, generally she managed to pull two or three off within the first 24 hours… and we’d have to re-apply them. She absolutely hated getting them put on. We finally stopped. We try to trim her claws on a regular basis now and that helps. We have a scratching post in “her room” and she occasionally scratches on the straw type mats we have at the front/back doors, but for the most part she leaves the furniture alone. Any time we hear claws on the couch the water bottle comes out and now it’s a super RARE occurrence for her to try that.
We do have a friend with two kitties under a year old… they must be heaven sent though as they will let the guy’s gf put the soft paws on all by herself. They also let her shave them (lion cuts)… by herself. I’m like where did you find these cats and can I trade mine!

[GraceLikeRain]

We do softpaws at the office on a regular basis and most of our clients love them. Occasionally a smart cat will chew a few off but we just pop on some new ones and they are good to go. I think that with a second set of hands or a bit of practice they would be a snap to apply at home.