anyone use Soft Paws?

Artemis is getting really bad with his scratching of everything. I do trim his nails all the time and he's okay with it, but it's not helping. He doesn't seem to understand how to retract his claws when they get stuck in something so he's doing more damage trying to yank it out. I was thinking of giving Soft Paws a try. I haven't heard anyone here really talk about them before, so I'm wondering if anyone's heard anything good or bad about the product. I went to their website and it all seems good, but they will obviously only market the positive!

 

They were really popular a few years back in Beverly Hills. I think theyre okay in general but heres a few of the negatives.

Getting them on, depending on the cat, is not always easy, Ive seen many people including myself glued to the cats fur trying to get them on....then the cat moves and if its a fractious cat you will get scratched or bitten. There were very few cats that would patiently sit still while one person put them on so it usually took 2 (with really bad cats it could take 3 and a sedative).

As far as I know they cant retract their claws with these on, Ive seen some that have got infected when the plastic gets caught under the skin.

Cats claws grow pretty quick so they have to be done every couple of weeks, during which time the cat would have bitten them off...or tried to, they do sometimes fall off but if the claw has grown and the soft paw has been glued to the skin at the base of the nail....well then you have to get it off, most cats dont like this, I dont know that its painful, there are products that will disolve the glue but cats generally dont like being restrained. Just getting them off the claw if theyve stuck on well is not always easy and can lead to cracked/broken claws. Sometimes the claw will grow through the 'Soft Paw'.

And you need to keep in mind that if you use these you cannot let the cat outside as it has no real defenses, same as if you have dogs in the house. It will also have a really hard time clinging on to things if its trying to climb up walls or trees or something.

In my experience, very few people use them continuously, they usually try them a couple of times and then give up. That said, I do know a couple of people who started using them when the cats were just kittens and they have said that their cats never really tried to scratch at the furniture....but I dont know if that is because of the Soft Paws or the cats are just not scratchers. (kind of like my friends Parrot...always had its wings clipped when it was younger, hasnt been clipped for at least 20 years now but doesnt know it can fly, when it tried to years ago it didnt work...so now it doenst try).

Have you tried a spray bottle with water in it?

 

Thanks for the info. I do use a spray bottle, and it does work to a degree, but it's the fact that Artemis gets his claws stuck in everything that's really causing problems. I've had to rescue him as he hangs from a chair or he gets stuck in the carpet. He really seems to have no concept of how to retract his claws. He does a lot of damage when he yanks his claw out of whatever it's stuck in. He's usually pretty good about furniture - he uses his scratching posts most of the time.

He's really easy going so I don't think I'd have a problem glueing them on, but I don't want to risk infection or anything.

He only goes out on a harness so I don't worry about that, and he's the aggressor in the house when "playing" with Moe.

 

I hope it's a phase that Artemis will outgrow. Pumpkin, Rene, Vene, and Milo all went through the same phase. They would get stuck in chairs and furniture and I had to rescue them on several occassions when they were much younger. Milo still does that when he's desperate to get attention or go outdoors. We thought about using soft paws but changed our minds when we figured out it's too much of a hassle to use.

 

lol i can picture myself trying to put those on...i cant even hold any of them still to cut their claws and that takes like 2 seconds..