Soft paws (soft claws?), experience with?

[mandarin2j]

DH and I are having behavior problems with our kitty & her relatively newfound clawing habit. It was never an issue before, because she didn't go after our old couch, a fold-up futon, but now that we've spent some money on a new couch, she's pretty much ruined one corner of it (thank goodness it's a slipcovered IKEA sofa, so we have an unspoiled spare slipcover waiting in the basement!). She laid off it a bit when I bought her a new scratching post, but now she's back at it. She gets plenty of exercise & attention. There is another cat in the household that she doesn't care much for, but the other cat doesn't go after the couch, so I don't think it's a scenting thing. We don't want to declaw, so our vet told us about a product that goes over their claws that is applied monthly. Has anyone else tried soft paws (or is it called soft claws?)? Did it save your furniture and your relationship with your cat? How often did the doodads need replacing? Did your cat "get over" having them on and act normally after a day or two?

Our other option is to wait till she dies naturally (years and years from now, as she's a totally indoor cat) and then replace the slipcover on the couch. I really don't want to have to wait that long to have decent-looking furniture, so I'm hoping these claw caps work!

-Amanda

[aggie94]

Amanda,

There were some comments on Soft Paws on this thread from awhile back:

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=13574&highlight=soft+AND+paws

I never tried them, because it sounded like some people found them to be a hassle. I have a friend who uses them on her cats to keep them from scratching her nice leather furniture, and she seems to like them alot. I'll email her tomorrow and ask her more about her experiences with them.

We were having trouble with Sara scratching up our new couches. I didn't care, because they can be replaced, but DH was getting fed up. We got those sticky strips that someone mentioned on that thread and they seem to be working really well so far. I assume she's taken to scratching elsewhere, but so far, we haven't found where. Hopefully it's her scratching post!

[BlueMoose]

Amanda,

There is also a new method of declawing using a laser. It is supposed to be MUCH easier on the cat, though a bit more expensive. I don't know any details about it, but you may want to look into it. The vet that we go to who specializes in cats will no longer do the traditional method of declawing. She only uses this new laser technique.

Good Luck!
Chrisi

[LGBurns]

Please, please try Sticky Paws first before using Soft Claws. Sticky Paws are strips of double-sided tape (but not as sticky as regular double sided tape) that you can lay across the area of the couch that your cat is clawing. Our cat used to attack our bed spring and the minute we put Sticky Paws on it she stopped. Not only that, but she still associates our bed spring as a bad place to scratch even though we don't have Sticky Paws on it anymore.

I have read about Soft Claws but from what I've read I don't think they're very good--inconvenient and if your cat hates going to the vet as much as mine does, do you really want to subject her to a trip every month!

I've found Sticky Paws works for all sorts of things. We put it on cardboard and lay the cardboard out on the counters when we're not home and now she doesn't jump on the counters anymore. We're going to address the dining room table next! They really do work and shouldn't hurt your furniture.

[mandarin2j]

Originally posted by LGBurns
Please, please try Sticky Paws first before using Soft Claws. Sticky Paws are strips of double-sided tape (but not as sticky as regular double sided tape) that you can lay across the area of the couch that your cat is clawing. Our cat used to attack our bed spring and the minute we put Sticky Paws on it she stopped. Not only that, but she still associates our bed spring as a bad place to scratch even though we don't have Sticky Paws on it anymore.

I have read about Soft Claws but from what I've read I don't think they're very good--inconvenient and if your cat hates going to the vet as much as mine does, do you really want to subject her to a trip every month!

I've found Sticky Paws works for all sorts of things. We put it on cardboard and lay the cardboard out on the counters when we're not home and now she doesn't jump on the counters anymore. We're going to address the dining room table next! They really do work and shouldn't hurt your furniture.

I'm able to get away with Sticky Paws to keep her off the tops of the living room bookshelves, but unfortunately our Kirby is a big hairy dogger that Sticky Paws are worthless on our couch after a couple of hours! I think he and Myrna are in cahoots--he rubs dog hair all over the Sticky Paws & she knocks morsels from her bowl on the kitchen windowledge for him.

[Peeps]

I don't know about Soft Paws but I saw this product in a catalog, its an herbal spray that's supposed to deter cats:

http://www.vermontcountrystore.com/prdSell.asp?ProdGroupID=14257&DeptID=1316&CategoryID=1323&ShowSearchable=1

I have no idea if it works and I'm not endorsing it by any means but I would imagine it might be another thing to try before declawing.

[LGBurns]

Originally posted by mandarin2j


I'm able to get away with Sticky Paws to keep her off the tops of the living room bookshelves, but unfortunately our Kirby is a big hairy dogger that Sticky Paws are worthless on our couch after a couple of hours! I think he and Myrna are in cahoots--he rubs dog hair all over the Sticky Paws & she knocks morsels from her bowl on the kitchen windowledge for him.

LOL! Okay, okay. I get the picture (and a hysterical one it is, too). Another option might be something called Feliway. I mentioned it on the other thread that's referenced above. I've never used it myself but it was recommended in my cat care bible "How to Think Like a Cat." I guess you could say I'm on a mission to keep you from using Soft Claws but if it's what you gotta do, it's what you gotta do. Completely shredded expensive furniture is definitely not an option.

[mandarin2j]

Originally posted by aggie94
Amanda,

There were some comments on Soft Paws on this thread from awhile back:

http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=13574&highlight=soft+AND+paws

I never tried them, because it sounded like some people found them to be a hassle. I have a friend who uses them on her cats to keep them from scratching her nice leather furniture, and she seems to like them alot. I'll email her tomorrow and ask her more about her experiences with them.

We were having trouble with Sara scratching up our new couches. I didn't care, because they can be replaced, but DH was getting fed up. We got those sticky strips that someone mentioned on that thread and they seem to be working really well so far. I assume she's taken to scratching elsewhere, but so far, we haven't found where. Hopefully it's her scratching post!

Eva-

If you could check with your friend, that would be great! I think we'll do a progressive thing, starting with the "Feliway" stuff LGBurns recommended (thanks!) along with a new scratching post to distract her, and moving on to Soft Paws before the ultimate (and hopefully avoidable!) of declawing. The good thing is, our vet is really interested in working with us to do everything possible to avoid declawing, so we're on the same page. They will do a declawing, but they keep the kitty on site for 2-3 days for pain management. Even if it costs more ultimately, knowing that they have the best interests of the kitty in mind by urging kitties' families to try everything short of declawing tells me Myrna will be in good hands should the other options not work out.

-Amanda

[aggie94]

Amanda,

I've emailed my friend. I'll let you know what I hear from her. And ditto Chrisi's comments about laser surgery, if you decide to declaw. My vet is one of only a few in the area that are using lasers for different surgeries (spay, neuter, declaw, etc.) to cut down on the pain and recovery time. Check into this option with your vet. If I recall, when we were looking into it for our cat's spay (before we found out that she had already been spayed), the difference in cost wasn't prohibitive (maybe $40 or so).

[aggie94]

Amanda,

Here's what my friend had to say about Soft Paws:

"Soft Paws are great. you have to make sure you keep the kitty from chewing them before the glue has set--after that they'll stay on about a month--until the claw sheds. Because they don't shed their claws all at once you have to check and replace every week or couple of weeks. The frustrating thing is the glue doesn't seem to stay usable for more than the initial couple of applications, but nail glue works quite nicely and has a
more user and storage friendly container."

Hope that helps.

[mandarin2j]

Eva-

Thanks for the feedback! I'm really hoping Option 1 (spray stuff paired with more attractive scratching options) or Option 2 (Soft Paws) does it for us.

-Amanda