"soft paws" great or garbage?

They work quite well. If you do a search on them here, you'll find lots of tips on how to apply them, etc.

We found that clipping the cats' claws works almost as well, if you keep after it.

I do not keep them on my cats at all times, but I do like to use them for vet trips and when people will be over. I have 4 cats and have found it financially difficult to keep the caps on all of the cats all of the time. I have trouble getting them on one of my cats, but the rest are OK with them. If you have a hard tiem, a lot of vets offices will put them on for a small fee.

Some very helpful threads on the subject:

Soft Paw questions

Further discussion about how to apply, issues with glue:
Soft Paws

A different glue question:

I glued one paw shut on Ally and Ollie

I'm sure people will chime in with their experiences, but thought you might find these helpful in the meantime.

I just keep my cats' nails trimmed down and I haven't had a problem.

Soft Paws work great. Some cats don't like them, but most don't seem to mind too much.

Soft Paws are great but you need to be aware of a few things:

1. Having a partner hold the cat while you apply the caps makes it much easier. Count how many caps you need, fill them with glue, then apply. Then distract the cat for 10 minutes, and then do the next cat. (Or if they only need a couple of caps each, you can do both cats at once and distract them together.)

2. The glue can be a pain. I order extra glue, but then it expires because it is surgical quality and has no preservatives. Several times, I complained to Soft Paws about how crappy their glue is, and they've sent me more. For me, the glue is more of a pain than capping any of our cats.

3. After you apply the caps, distract the cat with toys, food, or attention for 10 minutes. This allows the glue to set and then the cat will have a much harder time chewing them off. Often they've forgotten they're wearing them by the end of the time. If you skip doing this, there's a good chance the caps will be off within minutes of your applying them.

4. When you buy your first pack, get clear, not a color. This will help you see how much glue you're putting in there. When you're used to it, you can go wild with color combos.

We apply new caps to our three cats every few weeks. The kittens' claws are so small that the kitten size doesn't stay on well, but medium caps last for months on our older cat. We sometimes have to cut them off (just snip at the very tip) because his claws have grown so long underneath them.

Good luck! Once you get into a routine, it is really easy and you won't have to worry about destroyed furniture or scratched skin anymore.

Bunnalina's advice was excellent! I have been using Soft Paws for about 12 years, on a total of 11 cats. I have 8 cats right now and all of them but one have no problems with them. Some seem to keep them on longer than others, and some I have to cut off because they haven't fallen off, but other than that, they are WONDERFUL!

If you have multiple cats, I highly recommend a different color for each cat. That way, if you drop one during application, you can find it a lot easier, and when they lose one you immediately know which cat needs a replacement.

If you have a cat like my cat Duck, who actively pulls them off as soon as we put them on, hold on to your cat or distract them for at least 10 minutes. A few colors have a new "grip" inside that is supposed to keep them on their claws better.

I asked Soft Paws if they had any suggestions for cats that aggressively pull them off (they have great customer service by the way), and they recommended "painting" the outside of the claw with something yucky, like chili pepper in a little water, or lemon juice, let them dry, and then apply them. Just be sure not to get any INSIDE the soft paw!!

Good luck! It may take a little practice to get them on your cat(s) but I would say it's more than worth the effort. :-)

Kitty Mama to Autumn, Duck, Louie, Luna, Peanut, Shyla, Turtle and Wee

While Soft Claws are a great product, if you don't want to spend the money on keeping them on your cat, I would recommend keeping your kitties nails trimmed and have several scratching posts available so that your cat doesn't need to use furniture.

We used them while training Lola on what was ok to scratch and what wasn't. We were renting at the time and I was terrified she might damage the property before we moved out. Once we moved to our own house she was using the right things to scratch and we haven't used them since. She recently had a relapse and was being naughty about our sofa.Scratch-Not tape and getting another scratching post & cardboard scratcher seem to have solved it.