Category: Animal House
Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I was just wondering if anyone here has used soft paws for their cats as an alternative to declawing them? Rajah has scratched me a few times while playing and I was considering using soft paws on him. I wanted to see what all of you fellow cat parents thought first. Good and bad experiences are welcome.
Thanks!
I'm all for a less intrusive alternative to declawing, as long as it's safe. However, what exactly is this? I'm curious.
That's what I'm trying to figure out. Apparently, it's soft coverings that go over the cat's claws. They can still use the litterbox the same way, but they won't be able to scratch you.
Soft paws, or simply holding him still to file his nails, are both good ideas.
SoftPaws, as far as I'm aware, are very thin little caps made of plastic or something, which are glued on over the tip of each claw. The cat is not hurt or inconvenienced, and apparently the cap is small and thin enough not to bother the animal. If you're being scratched enough that you are considering doing something about the animal's claws, then it's a viable alternative. The SoftPaws will fall off in four to six weeks, sometimes sooner if the cat's energetic, and you're apt to suck them up with a vacuum cleaner or find them here and there as they fall off.
Myself, personally, I'm not averse to being scratched unless it's happening an awful lot; the occasional slash doesn't bother me, but then I was raised with cats and taught to sort of expect it. Doesn't mean you have to, but Em is right...perhaps consider filing/clipping your kitty's nails shorter so that he has trouble scratching in general. This should also work.
Agreed. I absolutel will not declaw acat, even an indoor one. The reasoning is simple. There's always the possibility, however remote, that the cat will someday get out. And if they don't have their claws they'll have no way of defending themself should they run into trouble. Nor would they be able to climb to a safe height to avoid it. So softcaps and regular trimming and filing are the best alteratives. Of course if you can you should start the latter two when he or she is still a kitten so they'll get used to it and of course keep it up regularly so they stay accustomed. That way even though they may not particularly like it they'll at least tolerate it. Softcaps are also good, though they willneed to be replaced every four to six weeks and you will of course needed sighted help to determine when they start to fall off. That's why it's a good idea to get them in a color that's easily visible. The other down side is that I've eard of some cats, my mom's two cats in particular who with enough effort have been able to chew them off within a few days after they were applied. So they ended up declawing them in order to protect their new love seat. My answer to that would be simple, don't buy fancy furniture. LOL. And if one day I get another cat (a goal close to m heart), I may have to either put my foot down on this issue with my GF since she has a fantasy that I'm going to live my life with either no cats or a completely outdoor one, or leave her. And given her financial irresponsibility te latteris a good possibility. But either way whenI have cats again I will probably just keep their nails trimmed regularly and, I hope, build a cat tower that I can train them to use by covering it with kitty pot LOL.
I do trim his claws every other month. I'm not worried about the furniture as much as myself. He's a sweet cat, but he tends to scratch or try to when he's done being petted.
When my mom was available we'd trim Max's claws about once a month. He got used to it after a while but then my mom went back to work and so she wasn't around as much and so he got unaccustomed to it again.