Cat Help - Scratching: Soft Claws?

[Nela]

:expressionless

Houdina never used to scratch. Baloo never knew when to put his claws away. Now they are BOTH scratching the new couch and have successfully pulled threads and things already. We only got it Friday. I am strongly against declawing and to be honest, it usually doesn't bother me but Jeff worked hard and I want him to profit from his furniture to the max.

So, we got them a scratching post a while ago. I don't think they even bothered to even LOOK at it. Lol. Jeff got them this other scratch board thing as well which also got ignored... They do scratch the carpet on the stairs and that really doesn't bother us.

I heard about Soft Claws a while ago and was wondering if anyone had experience with them? I was thinking maybe it might be worth trying. They are much more expensive than I remember and I was wondering about the adhesive. What about getting them off? Nail trimmings? I mean, surely the nail is still growing so how often do you have to put them on/take them off?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

 

[okiron]

Have you tried putting catnip on the scratching posts? We have liquid catnip that we spray on the things that the cats are allowed to scratch and play with.

No advice on the Soft Claws, never used them.

 

[degrassi]

My friend uses soft paws on her 3 cats and loves them. You glue them on and they last about a month or so. Then they fall off by themselves. So you just clip your cats nails before putting them on again.

 

[Boz]

How tall is the scratching post?
I don't own cats but a I do know that cats will often times not use a scratching post if it's not tall enough for them to fully stretch on it and not touch the top.

Sorry I have no advice on the soft claws. :/

Good luck!

 

[Nela]

Yep, both cats are immune to catnip. Lol. :grumpy:The scratching post is pretty tall... Bleh. Think we will have to try the claws... Bleh.

 

[BarkingPup]

Did you put the post near the area they are scratching? You can also scratch at it yourself to get them interested. Playing around the post and making them claw at it can help.

The scratching post location can play a huge role. putting it in front of regular scratching areas, near a nap spot, the food bowl, etc.

I have the Ultimate Scratching Post by Smartcat and it's three feet tall and covered in sisal. The cats loooove it. There are a lot of different posts out there but the general consensus is as tall as possible, friendly scratching material (wood, sisal etc.), and proper location. Do you have any cat trees with sisal posts? Those can double as scratching posts if they're tall enough.

Some cats simply don't like scratching sisal. You could try a 'bark like' material like untreated pine. You could also try going to the store and picking up some large corrugated cardboard scratchers (a good alternative to a million posts and some have inclines). I have a cat who would rather scratch down so I got her a scratch pad instead of a post.

Hope that helps ^^

Oh, and soft paws don't stop scratching, if your cats have already made holes in the furniture the soft paws can tear them open larger, defeating the purpose.

 

[Violet23]

soft paws dont always last either, but that depends on how your cats react to them. my mum's cats had some of them torn off the next day and all of them gone by the end of the week

 

[akane]

If you can handle your cat's paws then soft claws generally work out well. At first the cats will be confused and spend all their time obsessing and trying to get them off. You have to replace them quite frequently during that time and this is when most people give up. After awhile though the cats will ignore them and then they generally only lose one every few weeks. One of my cats used to tear up furniture horribly. All my furniture was free so I didn't care but when I got married my husband moved in his fairly expensive furniture and I had to do something about the cat. We put soft paws on her and for several months checked her claws twice daily for them. Standard super glue purchased separately works better than the included version and is still nontoxic. Soon she had given up trying to claw the couch and we started forgetting to replace them a few at a time. Eventually she had none left and a year later still doesn't touch the couch. Sometimes it's just a habit that needs broken.

Store bought dried catnip isn't catnip if you ask my cats. We had several 3' high catnip bushes until the gate to the herb garden got left open over the winter and forgotten through the start of spring. We later realized why my younger cat had been so extra annoying the past couple months and now only have a catnip plant in a pot on the windowsill. Fresh catnip is a million times better than the dried stuff. Even with the dried stuff a good organic company is going to be much more interesting to the cats than something you get at the grocery store or the cheap end of the pet store.

 

[Nela]

Okies, I think we will just do the whole kit. We will get the soft claws to prevent the immediate scratching, figure something that they are more insterested in scratching, and add fresh catnip which I had already wanted to do anyway. I am going to work on their room so maybe that will help as well. It's carpeted too (short and rugged like they like)so they might enjoy that.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!

Btw, yes their post is sisal but they also have different materials lying around for variety.