Soft Paws

Spaz claws my furniture. I’ve woken up to the noises of her shredding the corner of my couch. She even has a favorite spot that she seems to believe exists for no other reason than for her to rip the bloody thing to shreds. Sadly, the only thing I knew was that it had to stop, not how to stop it.

Long, Strange Trip

Not my couch, but the damage is similar.

I want her to stop clawing, but declawing is simply not an option. The only thing good about the procedure is that your cat will never claw anything again. The bad part is that it is equivalent to cutting of the first digit of your finger. They don’t simply remove the nail. The vet clips off that entire section of the toe. That alone makes it inhumane if there are other alternatives. But, what if your cat escapes and can’t defend itself? Would you de-tooth your dog because it chewed on the furniture?

With that out of the running, I’ve tried several other things trying to get Spaz to stop this natural but destructive behavior.

First, I attempted the give-her-something-better-to-claw method. I bought a little corrugated cardboard scratching post that hung on the door. She was extremely interested in licking and rolling over the post while it was covered in cat nip. Once the catnip was gone, Spaz could care less about it. She went right back to the couch.

Second, I tried the spray-her-when-you-notice method. Naturally, I forgot to keep the spray bottle in hand every moment of the day. Even when I did, she started running the second she heard us move. Still clawed… just paid more attention to where we were.

As a last ditch effort, I opted to get her a special cat playground. It’s a tiered, carpeted little bit with a hidey-hole and another sisal claw post. She loves the tiers, sitting up on the top basket and peering at the world through half-closed lids with her condescending expression. The scratching post she ignores, even when covered in cat nip.

They Are What, Now?

Kind of an ingenious design, eh?

I ran across Soft Paws in an advertisement in the Humane Society Shelter. I thought the idea was cute, but wouldn’t work. Cats do not like things on their paws. They’re not even fond of getting their paws sticky, wet, or otherwise compromised. Why would they allow you to put colorful vinyl caps on their claws?

On the other hand, they were a cheap investment. And, $25 is a lot less than the other methods that I’d already tried and failed at.

Each Soft Paws kit contains 40 nail caps, 2 tubes of adhesive, applicator tips and easy to follow instructions. One kit contains enough for 4 front paw applications. Each application lasts approximately 4-6 weeks therefore each kit lasts approximately 4-6 months.

Hmm…. 4 to 6 months? That’s a pretty big promise. Ultimately, I decided to give them a try. Between wanting a new couch sometime in the future and getting a puppy whose eyes are so prominent a blade of grass can cause damage, what can I lose by trying them? The worse case scenario is that I’m out $25 and I have to think of something new.

And The Verdict Is?

Not Spaz... But you get the idea.

Putting the little, blue claw-caps on Spaz was uneventful. For all the hassle I thought it would be, it was easy. I clipped her nails without fuss, learned how the glue went in the caps, and put them on her claws without incident. She got a little grumpy by the last paw, but all she did was pull away a little.

It’s been about two weeks since I first applied the caps. As the warning says, she’ll lose more in her first application than she will at any other time. Her nails aren’t used to it, you’re not sure when she’s shedding them, and she’ll clean them obsessively. In total, she’s lost five of them. Five of them in two weeks and I haven’t had a single scratch on the furniture since.

I think I can start picking out a new couch, unless Puck shows me the error of my ways by chewing the old one up.