Has anyone used Soft Paws for their cat?

[babystuffbuff]

We have three cats; the older two are declawed and the 'baby' (she's a year old) is not. Well, today DH was holding her, cradling her like a little baby, which is how she likes to be held. As sometimes happens, she decided she wanted to play, and her claw got caught on DH's finger and left a 3-inch gash. He was bleeding pretty badly and in some pain, and he got mad and said she needed to be declawed "before she does this to a little kid". We don't have any little kids in our house (yet), and I personally think that DH needs to start training the cat not to use her claws by putting her down if she starts pawing at his hands. Declawing seems like a drastic (and kind of mean) step, and I really don't want to put her though surgery and a long vet stay, especially when she is just getting used to our new house after the move.

So I ordered some Soft Paws, those nail caps that go over cats' claws. Has anyone used them? Are they a pain to put on? How often do they need to be replaced? I can see DH's point about it maybe being an issue down the line, when we have little ones running around. But I also think that with the Soft Paws, and some training of the cat (and any future kids), it can work out without resorting to declawing.

TIA,

Sarah

[geochick]

We thought about declawing our cats or using Soft Paws before our ds was born, but after talking to our vet we decided it was torture to declaw an adult cat. We ended up not trying Soft Paws either. We found that our cats HATED having a new baby person in our house. They hated it so much, they totally ignored the new baby. My ds is now almost 2 and the cats still avoid him because my ds will tug on them. They have never swiped at him either. They seem to know he's a little person who isn't in the same category as an adult who is playing with them. That being said, I think you both should stop all teasing behavior with your cats. Don't play with them to the point where they will claw or scratch you. If you or your husband keep that up then it will be your fault when your cat continues that behavior with a kid. Good luck - I hope someone can help with the Soft Paws.

[babystuffbuff]

We don't tease them. Our little one likes to be cradled like a baby, and have her chin and belly rubbed. Sometimes when we are doing this, she will grab our fingers in her paws to play with us. She doesn't use her claws on purpose, she is just playing and her claws get extended and catch on our skin. When this happens, I will put her down and walk away, and DH needs to learn to do this too. But I don't think it's teasing her, we are just petting her.

[wdland45]

My sister swears by Soft Paws. She has three adult cats. They had just moved into a home with a screened in pool. Well, the cats were having a field day climbing up the screens. My BIL said that they would have to get declawed. I begged my sister not to do this because I feel it is cruel (had it done once and the cat was never the same - MEAN). Told her about Soft Paws, so they tried them out. Four years later, they are still using them. My BIL actually looked into being a representative/distributor for them because he thinks they are so great. They now buy them on Ebay because they found them cheaper there than anyplace else. And I believe they come in different sizes to fit small kittens to big cats. Give it a try - certainly can't hurt.


Danielle, Mom to Alex, 12.03.01 and Brian, 7.27.03

[kedss]

I think in this case, its more of a people thing than a cat thing. Kittens will play and skin will get snagged. I agree with you that your husband needs to learn to read when the kitten has had enough, before she claws at him.

[missym]

We've used Soft Paws for years with our kitty and we love them. Our cat isn't a big fan of having them put on, but once that's done he doesn't seem to notice them. We wrap him in a towel so that only his head and one leg are sticking out, trim the claws with nail clippers, and apply the covers. It helps if you squeeze on each cover a little bit once it's on to help the glue set.

A cover or two will occasionally fall off right away if we didn't use enough glue, but otherwise they stay on until he sheds his claws... about every 6-8 weeks for our cat.

Missy, mom to Gwen 03/03 and Rebecca 09/05

[Radosti]

We have nail clipping days. On a particular day, everyone gets their claws clipped. While it took a while for them to get used to this, they now sit there patiently like they are in a salon and I'm doing the manicure. This way, there is never a chance of anyone getting scratched. Both cats and dogs get their nails clipped.

[amp]

Huh, I never actually knew those things worked (soft paws). This gives me hope that we could someday have a cat that wasn't already declawed. We only look for ones who've already had it done by previous owners, as we don't want to do it, but have had bad experiences w/ undeclawed cats. Nice to know these work.

[kransden]

Could you give me the ebay id of the seller? I would like to get some.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[babystuffbuff]

I got mine from 'hatterassurfer' -- almost 5,000 feedbacks, 100% positive. It was $13.00 for the Soft Paws and $2.50 for shipping. I haven't gotten them yet (just ordered last night) so I can't comment personally, but their track record seems good. :)

Sarah