Okay, how the heck do you get these things on your cat? My boys do not want things glued to their toes. In fact, they didn’t appreciate the nail clipping either.
I’m giving a link to the instruction page, which is sadly lacking in troubleshooting techniques, mostly because the photo at the bottom is the spitting image of my boy Bruno. Also, the drawing of the smiling cat in step four is just ridiculous. What kind of freakin’ happy kitty dreamworld are these people living in?!
Well, It took two of us working quickily. One guardian held the furry one wrapped in a towel with the paw to be capped free. The caps were lined up and we snipped the claw, filled the cap with superglue/supplied glue) and stuck it on real quick-like. We only did the forepaws of course. Found it was not appreciated AT ALL. They chewed the fool things off or really worked the scratching posts. Had to be careful to not glue fur with the cap.
I hope that you have better luck.
I tried these once. My cat was definately not smiling and like so many other ‘cat accessories’ they ended up in the round file. Better they shred the couch than my arms, good luck to you.
It takes two people (a holder and a gluer), a small enclosed room, and some very intense staring.
My cats know I’m the alpha. They will listen to me or else*. Anyway, I use this to my advantage. Nothing cows a cat like staring intensely into their eyes until they look away.
So, the procedure is:
Some tips we’ve learned along the way:
Sleepy cats are easier to deal with.
Cooing/talking in a reassuring voice does nothing for the cat except reveal that you’re weak. Staring works much better.
Some cats prefer to lay on their backs during the procedure. Makes it easier for us, since their feet can’t grab onto anything. Just gotta make sure to hold them down.
Some cats (little ones) can be held up so none of their feet are touching the ground. Also easier for us.
Some cats have to be wrapped in a towel so only one foot and the head is sticking out.
There’s also the laundry bag method, which I haven’t tried yet. It’s the same as the towel one, but probably easier to manage. Just put the cat inside, one paw and head out, and zip it as much at you can.
I’m not sure what your cats are like, but mine are the kind that can actually be bathed, have their stomachs rubbed, won’t bite (or when they rarely do, they won’t do it hard enough to bruise or break skin), and know better than to scratch with intent to hurt. If yours aren’t at all like this, I’d suggest just taking them to a vet to get it done.
After the usual struggle, we got the things on our two cats. Within three days of consant chewing, they were all gone.
Save your money, sanity and bandages for your arms!
FWIW, our three cats have mostly left theirs on. We put them on a couple weeks ago, and so far we’ve replaced 6 (4 for the oldest, 1 each for the younger two.)
The oldest is a mix breed…half cat and half box of rocks and I know he’s been pulling his off. He pulled the same one off three times and finally, when there was almost no nail left, he stopped taking it off. Then he switched to the same nail on the other foot. :rolleyes: I think he may realize now that taking them off equates to being held down and tortured* by the two humans.
The other two have been really good and I’m convinced they lost theirs accidently, not through chewing/pulling. The kitten barely notices his and the other one only pays attention to them right after we put them on.
The key to these things is being consistent. When one comes off, it’s gotta be replaced the same day. The cats will eventually get used to them being replaced and won’t mind so much. My youngest hardly cares at all when I replace his. I’ve also heard it’s better to start doing it when they’re young as they get used to it easier/faster.
*And by tortured, I mean having the softpaw replaced.
Rats. I really thought I’d found a solution to the screen-clawing. I’m still going to stick the darn things on, one way or another (they cost too much to ditch and I’ve already thrown out the package), but I’ll try to prepare myself to be disappointed.
The cat I used them on took it well and they stayed on for him and worked well. It took two to put them on… one to baby hold the cat and the other to be bad guy.
they used to have a picture on their website of my GF at the time holding the cat seconds after we finshed putting them on.
several years ago though.
They work really well on our cats. Just don’t put one on the dewclaw. They don’t shed normally like the other claws do and get overgrown.
The hardest part is the first time, getting ten of them on. When they’re new, the cats will chew off some of them, but they don’t do that as much after a week or two.
I used the ever-popular cat burrito- wrap the cat in a small blanket so all that is sticking out is the head and one foot, hold firmly, and do the claws, being careful to avoid the teeth.
After that, you check them every night, get them used to being checked. Give the cat a treat whenever you check the claws, so he’ll associate having his paws handled with treats. When one has fallen off, replace it- replacing one isn’t a big deal the way putting on those first ten is.