Cat Claws

[Raymond Fries]

Thinking about taking another cat, for a short time, for my daughter. The cat has all of the claws and and she does not want to have the claws removed. Our two cats do not have the front claws.

If a cat's claws are filed short, can they still scratch up wooden furniture or tear fabric?

Do the nail caps work?

We want to help but do not want the cat to damage things.

Any experience here?

Thanks

[Jerome Stanek]

For a short length of time you could try soft paws.

[Erik Loza]

Raymond, I have no experience with the nail caps but will say that it's important to have multiple scratching posts or other scratching-type items around. That takes their attention away from the furniture. Ours seem to especially favor the sisal rope scratching posts.

Best of luck,

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

[Jim Matthews]

How long?

Consider a cubby, or isolated room.
Cats will mark territory, when a new one is introduced.

I would be less concerned about scratching than spraying.

[Chris Padilla]

Soft paws can work but the best bet is to provide the cat a place to scratch. Even the cheap cardboard scratchers that you dump catnip into work pretty well.

Hopefully the cat has been fixed...that will mitigate spraying.

[Bill Cunningham]

+1 for softpaws.. They don't last that long, but if you only only have the cat for a short time, they will save you a lot of furniture fixin afterwards.

[Rod Sheridan]

As others have said, softpaws and scratching posts.

When we come home at night, two of our cats go to the scratching post in the hallway and scratch away to show us how good they are........I always laugh, it's like kids vying for attention.

Regards, Rod.

[Lee Schierer]

I've owned three cats. All came from the local shelter. All have been house cats. None have damaged our furniture. When the are kittens and they get up against something to scratch that we don't want them to scratch they get a magazine thrown at them or a shot from a squirt gun. A few weeks of this and they will only scratch their approved scratching post. Cats can be trained, but it takes persistence and consistency by the owner.

The best one I've had is the one I made consisting of a square of plywood, a30" piece of 2 x 4 screwed to it and then wrapping the 2 x 4 with 3/8" sisal rope from the big box stores. 282886When the cat finally cuts through the rope, I can splice in a new piece or just replace the whole rope in a few minutes. I sometimes spray the post with Bliss Mist cat nip spray to encourage the cat to use the post.

With our present cat, if I walk by and scratch his post, e will come over and express his ownership by scratching it himself.

I would never de-claw a cat that has any outdoor privileges as it leaves them pretty defenseless.

Our current cat plays with our 50# Brittany and if the dog gets too rough, the cat can use his claws to get the dog to back off. In fact he often chases the dog through the house and the dog will come and cower behind my chair so the cat will leave him alone.

[Greg Peterson]

Scratching post or posts. Our current cat was easy to train. As a kitten, when she would try to scratch something I would pick her up, walk over to the scratching post and set her down so that her claws would catch on the post. Three or four times is about all it took.

Removing their claws is pretty drastic, not to mention cruel.

[Raymond Fries]

Thanks for the tips everyone. Smoeone told me that if you put the tips on the cats claws that they will not retract and will be extended all the time. Does anyone know if this is true? I need to check with the vet.
The cat will remain indoors and currently is allowed to scratch away so training will be a challenge.

[Rod Sheridan]

My daughters cats have soft paws and they seem to retract their claws.............Rod.

[Jim Rimmer]

When we got the cat we have now (first inside cat we have had) the first day she walked up to the sofa and scratched. I went out and made a scratching post out of scrap carpet and a 4x4 and put it at the end of the sofa where she had scratched. She started using the post and has never scratched anywhere else and she is now 6 years old.

Declawing is, as mentioned, a cruel process and is not just removing the claw. It is the amputation of the last joint of the toe.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I don't know if it's true, but our vet recommended the sisal or cardboard scratching posts/pads, (which our cats love, so it's our preference anyway) because the carpeted ones teach them that things with that texture are good things to scratch, and then they scratch at the carpet or other things that feel like that as well.

[Jim Rimmer]

I don't know if it's true, but our vet recommended the sisal or cardboard scratching posts/pads, (which our cats love, so it's our preference anyway) because the carpeted ones teach them that things with that texture are good things to scratch, and then they scratch at the carpet or other things that feel like that as well.

There could be some merit to that. Our cat hasn't scratched anywhere else. I'm pretty amazed that it worked as well as it did. She picked a spot to scratch, I substituted a post for the sofa - problem solved. :D