Soft Claws - Any Photos & Advise Pls

Hmmm... this web site makes it look a little TOO easy!
http://www.safepetproducts.com/pilot.asp?pg=application

Hahaha, that's the first thing I thought when I saw the package and the cat's just sitting there..... I was just like "HAHAHAHA yeah right!" Ollie's good about the applications, but not that good! I'm convinced the cats in the "how to" pictures are on some kind of drugs to sit that still, hahaa

As requested, here are some pictures of Soft Claws on my cat Avery.





Together with my husband, I find them rather easy to put on and the Soft Claws do a great job of protecting me!

However, my husband has been maimed 3 times on the arms, each from Avery's rear claws even with his front paws covered. After the third (and worst time which included bite wounds) we decided to cover his rear claws too.

Here's a picture of a 'discarded and used' Soft Claw, and our most recent cat attack (it better be the last!). All scratches are from REAR claws. Also note that old scars are still healing behind the new ones!:

omg, why did your cat do that?

I also use soft claws on my LuckyGirl. And while she does hate getting them on, we've never experienced any clawing like the pics below. And I guess I really don't understand how you could even get scratched that bad....I would seperate myself from the cat, I guess. Either way, putting the claws on is a process. I bring her bag of treats, and her basket of toys and sit on the floor. Then we play a little. The I get the clippers ready (you have to clip them a little before gluing on the caps), grab a hold of her, and clip a few nails on 1 paw. Then I let her go. Give her a treat. And play for a few more minutes. Then I grab a hold of her again and do a few other nails. And I repeat this until they are all clipped. Then I glue 1 nail, grab ahold of her and hold it on her claw for 30 seconds or so. Give her a treat, play some more (so she is not licking/chewing trying to get them off), do another nail, hold it for 30 seconds, treat, play some more. And repeat this until all the claws are on. The whole process takes about 2 hours... I like to give her enough time in between to run & play, so it's not so traumatic. But she never hisses or bites even when she's really PO'd... she usually will just growl this sad little "please stop meowmy" growl. I also talk to her while I'm putting them on, in a soothing voice, with familiar words of praise: "your such a good girl, mommy loves you" I think this makes it a little easier on her.

In a few weeks you will notice 1 missing. Then you just clip & pop on a new one. It takes 5 minutes for 1 nail. And then repeat whenever you notice 1 missing. My girl has had hers on since May. I bought a $20 set, that had 4 sets of 10 caps in it, 2 reds & 2 blues. We are now in August, and she still has on her red set, and I have maybe 4 red caps left in the pack, and 2 whole sets of blue caps. So I think that is a long time for them to last. My only complaint, is that the little tops for the nail glue, which act like a funnel to get the glue into the tiny nail cap, is disposable after each use. And when you are putting on 1 at a time, as they fall off, you end up with no more funnels for the glue, and the tip of the super glue is too big to fit inside the little cap. So I've been getting creative, using a drop on a toothpick. But I have ended up with a red nail stuck to me instead of the cat!

Wow those scratch wounds are horrible! Good thing your husband loves you and the cat! I don't know your technique for holding while applying, but i'd suggest wrapping the back half of the cat tightly in a big ol blanket, and then have your husband kneel on the floor and hold the cat bewteen his thighs (make sure he's like sitting back on his feet while on his knees and keep his feet close together behind him to prevent the cat from scooting back) and make sure he's got a good tight grip on the cat's scruff, he wont hurt the cat... in this position you can kinda trap the cat and use your body weight to keep him under control while the caps are applied.... I know fosters and smith sells something called the cat bag.... keeps the cat's back half under control but exposes the front paws and head - kinda the same thing as using the blanket (It says you can use it as a pet carrier too, but I wouldn't... seems to weird)

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...59&N=2002+2015

I've just been sneaking them on when Anya is asleep. Of course she's still a small enough kitten where I can put them on without trimming her nails first. I'm positive she wouldn't sleep through that.

And dcgirl79...those claw marks that your Avery gave your husband are horrible? What HAPPENED???

The soft claws aren't really a problem to put on. We put both the front claws (all 10) at the same time, and all the rear claws (8) at the same time. Towel restraint technique does help, and Avery's quite calm as long as we speak to him softly and keep him distracted while the claws go on.

The scratches on my husband were from a 'crazy night' that Avery was recently having. At 4 a.m. in the morning, our catty was making noise, and my husband went to see what was going on (without his glasses, of course!). After leaving him some food, he was caught by surprise going back to his bedroom by a jump / grab leg / bite attack! My husband responded by verbally scolding Avery (think kneeling and pointing at mr. cat), but Avery for some reason was *very* high strung.

Catty jumped onto my husband's forearm, took a bite out of his upper elbow area, grabbed and held on with his front paws and went to town using his rear claws. When I heard the ruckus and came outside to see what was going on, Avery was still stuck on my husband's arm - my husband didn't know what to do! It was a good 5 seconds of grab / bite / scratch attack.

I grabbed Avery's 'play towel' and shooed him off with a few swipes. Suffice to say, within 10 minutes of this ordeal (after nursing the wounds with antiseptic and Polysporin), we promptly put on his rear claw covers. We understand that he's got some animal instincts, but our little catty can be dangerous when he's in the mood. I think he was overly playful since the 'grab / bite / rear claw scratch' technique looks very similar to how he plays with his toy mice.

I have a question: Can the cats eat the caps once they are shed? I have a problem eater who tries to eat all kinds of plastic, and I fear that she'd just swallow these caps when shed. She doesn't (to my knowledge) eat shed un-capped claws.

i think if she did, it would pass straight thru her, but not sure

WOW, guys lots of great advice here........although the photos of the scratches were a little freaky ..........I suppose I will just have to have a go..............get him wrapped up well in a towel, have hubby poised with the pre-glued nails.......then..............well .............see how it goes eh

Originally Posted by mooficat

WOW, guys

lots of great advice here........although the photos of the scratches were a little freaky

..........I suppose I will just have to have a go..............get him wrapped up well in a towel, have hubby poised with the pre-glued nails.......then..............well .............see how it goes eh

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Good luck! I actually put on 4 today on Avery as he happened to shake off (with old claw attached) his two thumb covers and 2 front covers. I didn't use a towel, all I did was talk to him and make it quick and easy. Another thing is that I find it makes it more effective if you fill the nail caps up to 80% glue and not just 30% like the instructions suggest. This will mean the caps will last much longer (the 'thumb' nail covers that fell off today have been on for over 2 months!). Also massage the nail cover a bit to make sure the glue is well distributed - just be careful of leaks as you can glue your fingers together!

thanks very much for the tips.............I am feeling a bit nervous about it, cos if he gets upset .......well theres no chance of a 2nd go !! you know how cats can be

I'm glad you asked about these since I'd never heard of them before! I just ordered a set off of ebay & hopefully they'll be here within a few days.

I can't wait to try them- they're such a great idea!

We used them on Hope to break a very bad habit! People-climbing! This girl had very sharp claws and would get all the way up my shoulder (via my legs and back) before you could even respond. It was very painful and often would draw blood. So that was it, soft claws she got! We used them for about 4 months I believe and it was enough time to break this painful habit, yay! I would get them at Petsmart or Petco and used the kitten variety and eventually the small adult variety. I had to clip off the ends because they were too large for her little claws. Often the glue wouldn't work and our vet said that happens to them a lot and they will use the nail adhesive you use for applying fake nails. It was one of these bad vials that we got and never got around to getting new adhesive when we realized the habit was broken and no longer needed them.

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Can we make this thread a sticky? There's HEAPS of good advice and good photos in here!

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

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They look great! Are those the grey covers or the clear covers?

I'm thinking of getting Soft Paws for Spike, because I can't break him of the habit of clawing up the carpet and the mattress in our bedroom (this is the only room where he's the least bit destructive, but I don't want a scratching post in there because there's no room and I can't sleep through the noise he makes). I checked out the website (it's included in Hissy's sticky about problem scratching), and there were a couple of questions the website didn't answer for me.

1) Will Spike be at a disadvantage because Oz doesn't need Soft Paws? The two cats play-fight and I don't think they claw each other, and it's not like I'm worried that Oz will mock Spike for his brightly-coloured claws but since I have no intention of putting Soft Paws on Oz when he doesn't need them, how will this effect their play-fighting?

2) Once I start using Soft Paws, will I always have to use them? I don't think they're intended to be a deterrent or a learning device (not that Spike has the best learning curve to begin with ... ), but if I use them for a few years and then stop, Spike will go back to shredding the mattress again, won't he?

3) Have there been any negative experiences with Soft Paws (apart from people finding it difficult to put on their cats -- that's not likely to be a problem for us -- or having the sheaths fall off all the time)? Any allergic reactions to the glue? Any damage to the claws or the sheaths?

Thanks in advance -- and I definitely think the mods should turn this into a sticky, because there's lots of useful information in here!