For our Kitty Owners...Soft claws?

[tammy77]

Have you tried them? Did you like them if so? Did they work well? I'll take any info I can get. I'm at my whits end with our cats! They have ample scratching opportunities (huge cat condo and 3 small posts spread throughout the house) but they still claw my furniture!

We keep their nails trimmed and discourage bad clawing behavior by clapping our hands at them to spook them into stopping or will get them with a spray bottle if we're fast enough to catch them in the act, but I want a passive solution that works.

 

[zoebartlett]

We tried them on one of our cats because he was scratching the furniture. He's not the most patient cat, so it was often a challenge to get the soft claws on him. At first we thought they'd work really well, but it actually didn't take long for him to get them off (or they fell off on their own). I'm sure some people love them but they're not worth it, in my opinion. We just do our best to keep our kitty from scratching by waving tin foil at him when we catch him in the act. It works well - he HATES the sound.

 

[lulu]

I've had some luck with these.



http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2009

 

[deegee]

I adopted 2 kittens this past Friday, and I was wondering about the soft paws things. Mainly I was wondering how I'd ever get them on! I ordered something that just came in yesterday so I haven'thad a chance to look at it. It is a thick transparent tape that you apply to furniture, woodwork, or any other place they're scratching. Supposedly if they scratch it, their claws get gunked up - which they don't like- and they learn to leave the surface alone. We'll see. Good to know about the tin foil, Zoe.

Ooh...I ordered the product linked above.

 

[chemgirl]

Unfortunately the only thing that worked for us was buying a microfiber sofa. I look like a crazy person whenever I go furniture shopping because I scratch everything to see if its fun to scratch! If its fun, the cats will scratch it. You can spook them and make them stop, but they'll just sneak in and do it later when you're not looking. Mine don't scratch anything other than their scratching post now, but it took some work to get there.

They managed to pull off the soft paws so using them was a lot of hassle for nothing.

 

[zoebartlett]

I've had some luck with these.



http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=2009

Oooh, I like that! I'll have to see if I can find them at Pet Smart or Pet Co. If not, I'll order from this site. Thanks for the link, Lulu!

 

[deegee]

Zoe-they sell something similar (and cheaper) at Target. I saw it after I placed my order with Drs Foster and Smith. The stuff from Target is in a roll instead of strips. It pretty much looked like packing tape.

 

[amc80]

We had those for our cats. We got them from the vet who charged maybe $5 to put them on (Totally worth it). They worked pretty well....plus it makes them look like their nails are painted which is added fun for me. They are really good abut scratching though so I never felt the need to get them again.

 

[zoebartlett]

Amc, that's great that your vet put soft paws/claws (whatever they're called) on your kitties. I hadn't thought of asking them to do that. I'm always shocked at how easily vets and vet techs manage to do the simplest things for our cats. My cats don't sit still long enough for me to clip their nails, and they're so wiggly when we hold them that it makes the whole thing very frustrating. At the vet though? Sure, no problem Mr. Vet Man or Ms. Vet Tech. Clip away!

 

[pregcurious]

Unfortunately the only thing that worked for us was buying a microfiber sofa.

I can't second this enough. I used to have 2 cats, and the only thing that helped was putting double sided tape on the arms where they scratched. The issue with this is that it becomes insightly.

To save my furniture, I had custom slipcovers made, first of cotton duck cloth. These eventually got pulls, but the bigger issue was color fading. I replaced them with custom slipcovers in dark gray microfiber, and they lhave looked perfect even after 5 years (after which I no longer had cats)! They are also highly stain resistent and easy to throw in the wash on cold, which has been great with a toddler. If you live in MA or MD, I can recommend the professinoal upholsterers who made me the slipcovers and can also source fabric for you. It is expensive, but if you like your furniture, it is completely worth it. I am not wealthy, but have furniture with sentimental meaning.

 

[that_someone_special]

THe only thing that works for us is consistently trimming their nails short. Sure.. they scratch a little but they don't do any damage because they can't! We also ALWAYS have cardboard scratchers. They love those.

 

[amc80]

Amc, that's great that your vet put soft paws/claws (whatever they're called) on your kitties. I hadn't thought of asking them to do that. I'm always shocked at how easily vets and vet techs manage to do the simplest things for our cats. My cats don't sit still long enough for me to clip their nails, and they're so wiggly when we hold them that it makes the whole thing very frustrating. At the vet though? Sure, no problem Mr. Vet Man or Ms. Vet Tech. Clip away!

I used to have the vet trim their nails as well! But then I realized that I have Ragdolls, and trimming their nails isn't a big deal. I just flop them on their backs on my lap and am about 75% done by the time they realize what's going on.

 

[PinkTower]

I dont understand how they are scratching if you clip their nails.

 

[Hera]

THe only thing that works for us is consistently trimming their nails short. Sure.. they scratch a little but they don't do any damage because they can't! We also ALWAYS have cardboard scratchers. They love those.

My cat ADORES though cardboard things and it's one of the only things that protects against scratching things like furniture. They make his paws super sharp so we have to regularly clip them.

I highly suggest finding something they really enjoy scratching so they will scratch that rather than your furniture.

I also do recommend those soft paws if you start them young. They will get used to them and it will protect your furniture.

 

[audball]

I tried the soft paws on Darwin and he HATED them. It wasn't hard to get them on well as he's fine with my clipping his nails (as long as he's sleepy...). But he hated them so much he would bite them off of himself until his little paws were bloody. They were a no go for us.

 

[tammy77]

Thank you all for the suggestions and personal experiences with different products! I did order the soft paws for my more evil of the two cats (in purple, bwhahaha he's going to LOVE that...) and I'm going to replace the cardboard insert on the incline scratcher in hopes of appeasing the other one (he rarely scratches furniture anyhow). I just realized that it's probably worn out when I read a PP's comment about them. I might try the strips, but I'm a little worried that they won't work for the area (it's an ottoman that we use as a bench to put shoes on, so we sit on it too).

Thanks again!!

 

[Gypsy]

Unfortunately the only thing that worked for us was buying a microfiber sofa. I look like a crazy person whenever I go furniture shopping because I scratch everything to see if its fun to scratch!

I thought I was the only one who did this. ROFLMAO. This is really the best advice.

I have nice furniture and I love decorating my house. But I'm VERY conscious of my cats likes and dislikes when I am furniture shopping, throw shopping or rug shopping. High end leather that can take minor scratches without showing up or microfiber are my go to fabrics. I have a great shag rug in my living room that the kitties don't scratch at all (although Merlin will go under the rug and lay there for hours on end, it's weird). And all my throws and pillows are seamed edges without fringe.

So basically, my solution is to avoid buying anything they might like. Sisal is suicide and so is any type of chenille and forget anything with fringe.

I have one chair that isn't microfiber that Merlin scratches the back of, but I paid 100 bucks for it and it's not something I care about all that much. At least it's only the back of it that suffers.

If softpaws work for you that's great. And I highly suggest giving them a try. But as a cat owner with 5 cats, the long term solution is smarter furniture buying.

 

[Gypsy]

I have three of these: http://www.scratchlounge.com/ All my cats ADORE THEM.

I also have a 6.5 foot cat tree plus two 5 foot trees. And I have a bunch of other scratchers as well in the house.


Oh, and I don't trim my cats claws at all. Don't need to. They leave everything (but the one chair Merlin likes) alone now that I've bought only microfiber and leather.

 

[Gypsy]

Sorry. Forgot to address tables and wood pieces. My coffee table is glass top. If they scratch it I can always replace the glass. The wood pieces I have are either dark espresso or black (and a furniture pen works great) and I didn't pay much for them (knowing they might get scratched a bit on the surface).

But I do have an antique dining set that we value greatly and my solution there is microfiber upholstery for the seats and either a glass top over the dining room table or a plastic cover (clear vinyl) for the table top. The table top was taking a lot of damage. But putting either clear plastic or glass over any wood surface that was getting scratched that I cared about (so only the dining set) works.

 

[MishB]

Yep, strategic furniture selection.

One of our cats will scratch textured sofa fabric so we have new sofas with smooth fabric he can't get his claws into. The other one is into leather... we've just gotten rid of our leather dining chairs (and replaced with timber) as every one had little pock-marks from her claws. Now she has discovered the leather ottomans in the library...