Nail Covers?

[kittyquestions]

Hi,

Has anyone tried those plastic nail covers? My concerns off the bat were the glue and the plastic, should they swallow them.

Today, after having my fifth shirt destroyed, I tried a putting them on one paw. She looked adorable but the glue did not hold, most fell off in a few seconds, and once they did the remaining glue almost adhered her nail to her fur. (I noticed it and prevented it from doing so.) Not good.

So unless I find a brand that does it differently, I'm not loving the adhesive part at all, nor knowing what is in them should they eat any.

Anyone else have a better experience?

 

[spiffykitty]

Have you already tried keeping their claw's trimmed? I am a house call cat groomer. You can even trim the claws every week, just cutting off the very "tippy tip" of the claw. Since you have to replace claw covers every 4-6 weeks, it's not that much better to use them than to simply trim the claws.

I use SoftPaws. I put enough adhesive in the claw cover to fill 1/3 of the claw cover, if that makes sense. You don't need to use much glue. The glue is like superglue. VERY powerful.

But first, I trim the very ends of the cat's claws. You don't want to trim them too much, because then the covers won't have enough claw to adhere to. I don't worry about applying the softpaws to the rear paws or the dewclaw. I just apply them to the claws that do the most damage when scratching.  

I trim the claw covers so that they are a suitable size for the cat's claws. Some are too big, so you have to be aware of that.

Once I've attached the claw cover, I hold it on the claw for a few minutes to let the glue set.

If the claw covers haven't fallen off after several weeks, remove them. I groomed one cat whose claw cover had almost become embedded in her paw.

I know I'm always saying "Call a cat groomer" but honestly, if I weren't a cat groomer, I'd go to a cat groomer and have them do it for me. 

If you don't want to do that, just read the instructions carefully and try again. Good luck!

 

[kittyquestions]

Hi Spiffy Kitty,

Really appreciate you input. I clip their nails about once a week (if I don't they get hawk/needle like) but even the trimmed claws are tearing up things, and the back claws do damage as well as they like to jump on everything, including me and slide down (these are four 6-month old half-Siamese, half "anything-goes" kittens) - that's when I thought I'd try the nail covers. 

It seems like I did it the way you would, with the exception of trimming the actual cover to fit, which if I do this again, I will do. Even though she had only one claw covered for a few mins, it made SUCH a difference just handling her. They aren't at all mean spirited animals, quite the opposite - but man....they will tear you up. I wish it worked!

My only other thought after reading your post is maybe the glue was no good. If it's like super-glue, it should have run out like water. This was a bit gooey and beaded up at the top - so maybe getting a fresher batch or new tube of glue would solve it. 

Do you mind my asking how you became a cat groomer? I see dog groomers all the time but rarely hear of cat groomers exclusively. Do you go to grooming school for all animals or are there places that just do cats?

Thanks!