At my wits end

Hello. New here. And after having a rather heated discussion with my father about our cat and de-clawing I am fuming. I'm TOTALLY against it. There are other options. Putting a cat at any age in that kinda pain is unforgivable. But Dad is wanting a new furniture set. Granted yes we kinda need one. Our old stuff is held together with duct tape and Super glues.
I'm wanting to try those soft paws. A friend's of mine used them on her cats and loved them.
My question is:
What are the chances of the soft paws not staying on?
Do they fall of easily?

Welcome to TCS and thank you for saving your cat from the excruciating and unnecessary pain of declawing! 

There are other options, even before soft claws - 

Our article about Problem Clawing and How to Stop It might help.

Maybe you can get your Dad to read more about declawing in our Declawing Portal. 

As for Soft Claws, we have a few reviews of the product here - 

http://www.thecatsite.com/products/soft-claws-for-cats

Hopefully other members will chime in with their experiences soon.

Thank you! The links helped inform me more. I may just have to try some stuff and show Dad that we don't have to declaw. Dad is stubborn. I'm just gonna have to convince him. Thank you.

http://www.pawproject.org/

Show him this. The film is available on demand from several sources.

A rescue I'm affiliated with recently took in a cat that had been declawed and whose paws hadn't healed well, prompting her "owners" to throw her outside to fend for herself. By the time we got her, there was almost nothing left of her paws. The vet saved what she could, but the poor cat will be deformed and uncomfortable, at the very least, for the rest of her life. 

I'll move out and take her with me before I let him do that. Some videos I've seen after the terrible process have Had me bawling. Just the thought that people can actually do that. Ugh people make me sick

Soft paws STAY on if applied correctly. Your Vet can show you how.

Awesome. I've convinced him to let me do this my way. If it doesn't work, just make her a mainly outside cat. That I can handle. She is an outside/ inside cat anyhow. She does like it outside. Soo that works. Thanks everybody for all the information!

Yikes! There are so many ways to stop the furniture clawing. I learned this too late, but tall cat scratch towers placed near or on the ends of the sofa, will work wonders. Wayfair.com has a corner scratcher and I have placed one on each end of my sectional.

Clip her claws weekly in front and bi-weekly in back and provide scratchers she likes better than the furniture.  Google "cat scratchers" for a look at the varipous options.  There are inexpensive cardboard ones that they all just love, at most pet stores and even walmart, and there are trees with sisal rope and mine love an S-shaped scratcher that sits on the floor, about 14" wide and maybe 118" tall, covered in carpeting with a sisal rope patch on top.  Of course most of us with multiple cats just get our "new" furniture from the thrift store every few years. 

cardboard boxes! my kitties love it =) i can safely say all the money i've spend buying toys for them was a waste. all i really needed was a scratching post, which i have a vertical one, and cardboard boxes. lol

I'll have to look into All of this stuff. Awesome! Thanks everybody.

I volunteer for a no-kill shelter in Washington called Purrfect Pals. I'm an adoption counselor at a Petsmart adoption room. It is sad that people get their cat declawed and then surrender it when it develops litter box issues. We had one cat who had been declawed on all four feet. She was surrendered by the owner and then adopted and returned twice because the owners couldn't deal with her peeing. She is now back at the shelter and will likely spend the rest of her life there. There are so many scratching post options out there now. I hope your Dad sees the light on this.

if all else fails, go on youtube and find a video on a declawing procedure.

it will change your dad's mind quick.

when i was getting charlie, i had considered the option of declawing him. I had NO IDEA what it meant, and it was suggested to me by an acquaintance of mine who has had cats for a considerable amount of time in her life. never owning a cat, i figured that her advise was probably a good one, she clearly had more experience with cats and i would not even be considered a novice.

i went to a petsmart location where they offered the service and asked them out much it was, and decided that at this time, i will not declaw, because it was quite expensive (all this was before i adopted Charlie).

that night i went home to do more research on the subject, to find out what exactly is declawing. 

and i came across a youtube video.

and forever changed my mind, and vowed NEVER to do it to any of my cats. 

i now have two kitties under the age of 1 year.

please find some video on youtube, that actually SHOW the procedure. its horrifying. i'm sure that will make your dad chance his mind.

I have looked at some videos of the process. I cried. I'm talking bawled like a baby. The thought that people can do that! It's horrible

How would you like to be held down or sedated and have your finger nails systematically removed with a laser then be forced to walk around on your fingers for two weeks while they heal?

Oh but I forgot, Your poor leather couch, tough decision!  

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/declawing.html

This Humane Society link tells you more about the wonderful world of cat declawing.

In Australia, declawing is illegal and I seriously doubt that you could even find a vet who knows how to do it as no Australian (as far as I know )
has ever thought about declawing a cat - and we have nice furniture too!! If your cat claws at your furniture pick her up and redirect her to a scratching post. I know some people don't like spraying cats with water but that is how I have always trained mine - if they scratch at something that is not allowed just a quick spray of water and they quickly come to associate that scratching there will get them wet, if they go to the scratching post they don't get wet so the scratching post is better as far as they are concerned! The thing with this is to be consistent. This is how I have always done it and had happy, well adjusted cats who wouldn't think of scratching the sofa. Also you don't mention if your cat goes outside at all? She would be totally defenceless without claws.

penticton said:

How would you like to be held down or sedated and have your finger nails systematically removed with a laser then be forced to walk around on your fingers for two weeks while they heal?


Oh but I forgot, Your poor leather couch, tough decision!  


http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/declawing.html
This Humane Society link tells you more about the wonderful world of cat declawing.

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The OP is against declawing. It's her father she is trying to convince, she herself is quite upset by the whole thing, if you'd read a bit more closely.

It's clear you feel very passionate about the well being of animals which is amazing, don't get me wrong, I just feel like perhaps a bit more compassion is in order in this specific situation.


Op, we tried soft paws with one of our girls at mums house and found they were a bit of a pain. What worked better was finding scratching options that she liked and teaching them to use those. Her favourite place to scratch had been the dining room carpet so mum found a big old piece of carpeting in the same colour and put it down for her in her favourite scratching spot so now she scratches the sacrifice carpet. Good luck convincing dad, and kitty, of scratching alternatives. Standing up to a parent can be tough and I give you major kudos for doing so for the sake of your kitty

I like the carpet idea. Thanks. I'm definitely gonna try that. And I have found that our cat Loves cardboard. Lol. I grabbed a couple from work and cut a few holes in them. See loved it. Soo funny to watch her. And the bags that the cases of water come in, with holes on either side. She goes nuts with those. Too funny to watch. I'll try to get some pictures and post them. She doesn't sit still very long

If the cat chews the Soft Paws and works hard at getting them off, they will come off. They're glued on with super glue so if they are put on properly and the cat doesn't mind them, they should stay on.

Declawing is illegal in 25 countries. It's not a good option. It can cause a cat to become a biter and even stop using the litterbox. It's an amputation of their 1st digit - not just a removal of the nail.

Trim the cat's claws every week. Never let the claws grow sharp. Check them every few days so you get into the habit.

Buy more scratching posts or cat trees so the cat has her own furniture and stays away from yours. Once furniture is marked with their scent (they have scent glands in their paw pads), it's much harder to discourage the behavior so have scratching posts near the new furniture so the cat picks that to scratch instead of the furniture.

spazykitty30 said:

I like the carpet idea. Thanks. I'm definitely gonna try that. And I have found that our cat Loves cardboard. Lol. I grabbed a couple from work and cut a few holes in them. See loved it. Soo funny to watch her. And the bags that the cases of water come in, with holes on either side. She goes nuts with those. Too funny to watch. I'll try to get some pictures and post them. She doesn't sit still very long

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This is good news!!! Mine love the cardboard scratchers from petsmart (they clawed a HOLE right through it!!!!!!). Boxes are a great kitty toy . 

Would love to see pictures of your kitty!