if so, were they successful? any complaints?

8/25/2006 5:06:28 PM

I don't know about cats but when I gave my dog Southpaw he staggered around and tried humping everything

8/25/2006 5:08:40 PM

cute

8/25/2006 5:09:49 PM

that's pretty much the same effect Southpaw has on me.

8/25/2006 5:11:20 PM

Just trim their nails, and they'll be dull enough. This is not an alternative to training your cat.

8/25/2006 5:14:06 PM

word, this isn't my idea for about a 1-year old cat that i have been watching, whom isn't very trainable & loves to scratch (mostly just human skin)... his "owner" has fancier furniture than me & mentioned the need to declaw the cat's front claws. i'm trying my best to convince him that this is not needed & very cruel

8/25/2006 5:18:02 PM

who is the "owner"?

8/25/2006 5:20:17 PM

my baby daddy

8/25/2006 5:21:40 PM

stepherie

8/25/2006 5:22:08 PM

wtf is that

8/25/2006 5:25:07 PM

i used it on my cat awhile ago


if the cat is well behaved enough to allow you to apply them then its not too hard

they fall off as the nails grow too, prob 2-3 weeks or so

8/25/2006 5:43:23 PM

Quote :

"i'm trying my best to convince him that this is not needed & very cruel"

<3

my mom would love u

8/25/2006 5:47:48 PM

I use them as much as I can. My female who is 8 will pull them off but my 2 boys who are ~1&3 yrs old keep them on. I would keep them on them all of the time but I can't do it by myself and it is hard to get help. They are much better than declawing and they don't hurt the cat whatsoever!!!!

8/25/2006 5:53:53 PM

My cats (5 mo and 11 mo) have been great with them. They haven't pulled them off and my sofa still looks like new. I'd definitely recommend them. It's a lot better than mutilating a cat by declawing it.

8/25/2006 6:03:00 PM

i asked my mom once when i was like 15 why she didnt like it, her response was "let someone rip your fingernails up to your second knuckle then"

8/25/2006 6:04:34 PM

I was thinking FrostyPaws, the pet ice cream they sell at Food Lion. I saw it the first time when I worked there but never got it for my pets.

8/25/2006 6:23:48 PM

I here tearing out their legs with pliers near the rotator cuff keeps them from destroying furniture...



Or you could just let the cat go out every once in a while for a few hours and they will sharpen their claws on trees and not on your couch. having said that, i am certain some ninny in here will cry about their life span being reduced by letting them out.

i had an outdoor cat that lived to be 15

8/25/2006 6:33:57 PM

I love SoftPaws! I use them on both of my cats, the one year old pictured above and my four year old long haired monster of a cat. They're extremely easy to apply: with my cats, I can do it all by myself. I can rough house with the younger cat without worrying that he's going to mark up my arms, and my box spring (the only piece of furniture they scratch) is safe from their mischief.

At first, it will seem like the nail covers are not lasting as long as they should and you may have to replace them frequently. This is because a lot of cats will over-groom and chew on the SoftPaws because they are not use to them. But this does not last for too long. The only downside to the SoftPaws is that you find the little nail caps littering the carpet, but if you vacuum regularly, no biggie.

They're only like $20 and definitely worth giving a try before resorting to something as expensive, irreversable, and cruel as declawing. I just see no reason why your friend shouldn't give them a shot first.

8/25/2006 6:44:25 PM

definitely give it a shot, my kitty chewed them off, i tried for three months, and she was ripping small holes in the carpet, so I decided to declaw. I work at a vet and discussed it for a long time before I did it. please make sure you know exactly what declawing is before it is done and go to a good vet and make sure your kitty has pain meds for a decent amount of time and use paper litter.

they come in lots of nifty colors and even "french tips," we put them on at Mayfair for 28 bucks, which includes the caps (clear only) and glue and labor. I think that's a pretty decent deal. Also, you can order all the colors for relatively cheap from http://www.petedge.com

8/25/2006 6:58:43 PM

8/25/2006 7:18:11 PM

i've not had a good experience with softpaws. my cat wouldnt sit still long enough for me to put them on. but if yours does, more power to ya.

8/26/2006 11:03:14 AM

thx for the feedback peeps, i like this idea or at least clipping his nails...

8/26/2006 12:34:40 PM

When we got our kitten last year they were talking to an old guy who was also getting a cat about declawing. They explained about the Softpaws and asked him what he thought of it and he said, "Well, hell, that just aint natural".

Ok so maybe it was just funny if you were there.

8/26/2006 12:47:11 PM

oh the irony in that

8/26/2006 12:49:28 PM

Quote :

"Just trim their nails, and they'll be dull enough. This is not an alternative to training your cat"

works like a charm

8/26/2006 5:28:33 PM

Yes, my cat didn't mind it, and it worked great for our furniture.

8/27/2006 4:52:02 PM

I tried them with my cat, and they didn't stay on very long. Most of them fell off within a week. It was also hard to keep her still long enough to put all of them on. It's a nice idea, but it didn't work for me.

8/27/2006 7:53:47 PM

tell your friend some cats develop behavior problems after being declawed, such as not using their litterbox. I think Softpaws look goofy but maybe the clear ones are ok. luckily, my cat does not scratch.

8/28/2006 12:22:51 AM

Quote :

"having said that, i am certain some ninny in here will cry about their life span being reduced by letting them out."

why yes anecdotal evidence > science

8/28/2006 2:35:32 PM

I actually choose the chase the cat down and give it a shower option when they claw the couch. You'd be amazed how fast they learn that scratching the couch = bad.

I do make sure they have an enticing thing (scratching post of new carpet) to claw the crap out of. And they do. I've found that cats typically like something they can tear apart... or at least get some fluff from. It fulfills some carnal need to destroy.

It's worked well so far.

8/28/2006 4:08:24 PM

What I really like for cat clawing material is a cardboard box. Basically, you get a cardboard box. Then fill it with vertical (corrugated part side up) cardboard 'slices' until it's filled. It'll look like one very thick piece of cardboard as if viewed from the side, since all the corrugated edges are up. Cats love it, esp if you sprinkle catnip into the corrugation.

You can get it online but they run pretty expensive (Drs. Foster and Smith). However, cardboard can be relatively easy to find itself...

8/28/2006 5:12:48 PM

Dude, you can buy a cardboard cat scratcher filled with catnip for $5 at Target -- it even comes with extra catnip. I'd much rather spend $5 on that than go to the trouble of making one myself. They even sell a giant one for $10.

8/28/2006 7:57:58 PM

i wonder if purple ones would give my boy kitty a complex? hehe

8/29/2006 10:09:26 AM