Meet Jazzmine, the adorable little brown tabby cat I rescued from a local shelter. She’s just shy of ten months old and, like most cats and kittens, she loves to claw at things.

Before I adopted her, I did a lot of research on the clawing vs. declawing debate, and ultimately decided against declawing her. Now I certainly don’t condemn folks who have their cats declawed, but my decision was simply a matter of personal conviction based on my research. I’d definitely recommend you make an informed decision for you and your cat by learning more about onychectomy and discussing it with your vet.

I knew the trade off of not having her declawed would mean routine trips to either the vet or pet groomer to have her claws trimmed. I also knew, based on my friend’s experience with her own cats’ hatred of getting them trimmed, that this would be no walk in the park. One of the first times I took Jazzmine to the vet for her kitten vaccinations, I had my vet trim her claws. It took four – FOUR! – of us holding down a six-pound cat, and she had to be muzzled because she bit one of the vet’s assistants. And the screams . . . oh, the screams . . .

After this particularly harrowing and traumatic experience, I decided to look for other alternatives. I tried double-sided tape on her favorite places to scratch on my couch. She liked the double-sided tape, so that really didn’t fix the problem. I tried dousing her with water when I caught her in the act. She likes water, too. This was not going to be an easy task.

On my last trip to the groomer, I recounted the incident to her. She suggested that I try out a product called Soft Claws. These plastic nail caps are glued onto the front claws, and are designed to remain on until they grow themselves off, which the groomer told me takes about a month or so. They come in a variety of colors, or just plain clear. You can apply them yourself if you’re brave (and/or masochistic), or you can pay to have the groomer apply them for you. I went with the latter option. $45 and fifteen minutes later, my adorable kitten had ten little plastic tips attached to her claws, and was none too happy about them.

Over the next few weeks, I would catch Jazzmine cleaning her paws during her frequent baths. She thought she was so slick. What she was actually doing, of course, was chewing the little plastic caps off gradually. Before long, I was finding the used caps all over my house. They certainly didn’t last the month or so I was told they would. I was also constantly concerned for her because it seemed the little caps made it difficult for her to make the simple leaps and jumps she previously completed with ease. And she certainly had a difficult time slowing herself down after tearing across the kitchen’s linoleum floor at Mach 2, so the crash factor increased tenfold.

I suppose you could place blame on the gluer for user error, but I didn’t attempt the application myself. I paid good money for a professional to apply them. And the trouble I had wasn’t a result of my having bought the wrong size – I followed the guidelines on the back of the box, and they certainly fit her well. So why didn’t they work for me and Jazzmine, and are they working for other people?

A quick look online reveals some very mixed reviews. Some rave about how effectively they prevented their pets’ destructive scratching, while others lamented the same things I did. Some even complained that the Soft Paws caused their pets to injure themselves.

They were OK the 1st 2 times I used em on my kitty but the 3rd time when her nails started growing, they started to push in2 her skin & made her bleed & were very hard 2 get off.
DON’T BUY THESE!!!

This is a great alternative to declawing, which I am opposed to. Also, as a note, I would not recommend putting these on the back claws because the cat uses those to scratch. Imagine having an itch and not being able to scratch! It’s probably ok if you leave just the inside back toe uncovered though.
Works Great for my Cat!

Incidentally, Soft Claws and Soft Paws appear to be the same product, Soft Claws is a registered trademark of Soft Paws, Inc. and both of the websites note the same product patent numbers. Both are available for sale from those websites and also available from retail stores and online shops so I’m not sure what the difference is (if any).

In the end, I am glad I tried them, and I’m certainly glad they have worked for other people and their cats. I just know that Jazzmine and I did not like them very well.

However, I feel unable to write them off altogether.

If you are looking for a way to cut down on your cat’s scratching, I would encourage you to try Soft Claws (or Soft Paws). Jazzmine and I wish you better luck with them than we had.

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Tagged as: pet scratching, product review, Soft Claws