soft claws?

[Caney]

has anyone heard of or used this product?

i have been looking at a few threads on de-clawing, and even before i fully knew what it was, i hated the sound of it, to me it is needlessly cruel, and since learning more, i would not be willing to risk any of our cats that way.

however, having 3 affectionate kittens, our legs and shoulders are covered in scratches where they leap up for hugs,and not always being able to land where they want, dig in to get hold. we dont want to discourage them from expressing affection to us though

we found this product online, and wondered if anyone had tried it, and how effective it was...

[jiorji]

well i've never tried this product because i usually trim my cats' nails. And from my view, if they don't sit still enough to have their nails trimmed, they won't sit still to have you glue these plastic things individually to their nails.

When you trim the nail it grows back. but those soft paws grow out too and eventually fall out, and you'll have to buy them over and over.
Call me cheap lol but I'd rather get my cats used to trims than plastic nail covers.

[Hunter's_owner]

Yeah I found that cats can usually get used to getting their nails trimmed. It isn't that hard to do at all, and it really makes a difference.

[Caney]

thank you both for speedy replies

what would be best to use for trimming? we have nail clippers but im not sure if those are appropriate for feline use,

and also how far up (or down, lol) the claw should we trim?

[jessi76]

my vet warned me against these, stating that to be effective the cat's claws must always be OUT. resulting in kittens who don't learn to retract their claws when not in use. You need to expose the claw to glue them on. most cats don't have their claws OUT all the time.

ETA: I trim my cat's claws - using a guillotine (sp) clipper. I just take the tip off so they don't have that super sharp point. I do my cats about once every 2 weeks. if you start when they're kittens it's MUCH easier to get them to accept clipping. I lay my cat on my lap - belly up - gently take the front paw - press lightly to expose the claws and clip.

[jiorji]

well you can see how far up to cut...there's the quick(is that what it's called??) that shows through the nail and you shouldn't cut on that because that's a nerve and it'll bleed and hurt and poor kitty

You only need to trim the front paws, they don't use the back ones for scratching as much, and I found those are less sharp anyways.

For trimming i use a regular human nail clipper because i see better where i'm cutting. And i've learned to do it fast too. Proper posture....you crouch, cat goes under bum, take paw 1 and squeeze, nails come out, trim and DONE! and you can give them a treat after too so they feel better

[Stacer]

Here's a picture of the cat nail scissors that we use.

They work really well and you can cut all of the nails pretty fast using these little scissors.

[Rob n Cody]

lol jiorji....you sit on your cat to trim it's nails? how on earth do they put up with that?

[I Love Justice]

I use the dog version called soft paws, and I love them. They are very easy to put on and he doesn't even notice them. They totally saved my hard wood floors from being ruined since he is very large and loves to run and jump around. They eventually just fall off and I trim his nails and put new ones on. I think they are great, but they may be more difficult to use on a cat, I don't know, but they are definitely a better option than declawing.

[jiorji]

yeah but on a dog the nails are out all the time. And i don't care what they say, but to have those things on, a cat's nail has to be out all the time and that can't be comfortable.

[Caney]

hi all, and thank for your help on this

the website i found selling them, says that the product does NOT interfear with normal claw retraction, but i guess it would be easy enough to use too much glue, or slip with it and glue the claws out :S

we are going to trim the claws for now, but i'm still thinking about using softclaws when our 3 get spayed, to stop them scratching it.

and i think our 3 would object more to being sat on, then having their paws messed with, lol

[jessi76]

Originally Posted by Caney

the website i found selling them, says that the product does NOT interfear with normal claw retraction,

companies will say anything to get you to buy a product.

Originally Posted by Caney

we are going to trim the claws for now, but i'm still thinking about using softclaws when our 3 get spayed, to stop them scratching it.

scratching what? the incisions? I've always had female cats, none of which ever scratched the incision. most trouble I had was keeping them from running too much - which can cause a slight absess. other than that, no issues.

Originally Posted by Caney

and i think our 3 would object more to being sat on, then having their paws messed with, lol

you don't have to do it - groomers do cats too

[jiorji]

Originally Posted by Caney

hi all, and thank for your help on this

the website i found selling them, says that the product does NOT interfear with normal claw retraction, but i guess it would be easy enough to use too much glue, or slip with it and glue the claws out :S

yes of course they'd say that. They're trying to sell a product aren't they?

[jiorji]

Originally Posted by Rob n Cody

lol jiorji....you sit on your cat to trim it's nails? how on earth do they put up with that?

it's either that or i have to do it while they're napping so that if they wake up they're too confused to swirm hehe

i have my methods. I can trim both paws in under 2 minutes.

[chico2]

With my adult cats it's not an easy task to clip their nails,I'll hold the cat and cuddle it,while hubby trims the nails,with the same clipper Stacer showed.
My vet does my oldest cats nails($10),since he will not let us trim them.
If you start now,when they are kittens,I am sure you'll have no problem later on.

[Jackie467]

I would also suggest clipping their nails instead. However I did use Soft Claws and never had any problems with Jazzy not being able to retract her claws, she did it just as normal. However it was a true pain to put them on and they came off relativly easy so I don't think it's worth the money personally.