Soft Claws® are well known and quite heavily promoted by a lot of websites. They are seen by people as an alternative to declawing and I welcome that because we all know that declawing is completely unacceptable. However, I have some questions about the efficacy and practicalities of using Soft Claws.
How many cat owners have bought this product? I get the impression that they are less popular than the promotional material indicates, which may be because that they’re not as practical as they first seem. No doubt they fall off after a certain period of time. How long do they stay on for?
You couldn’t use them for an outdoor cat because they would prevent the cat from being able to defend himself. That would exclude the majority of the domestic cats in the UK but it would suit a lot of cats and cat owners in the USA.
How safe is this product? Do domestic cats find them uncomfortable? We don’t know the answer to that last question because we can’t ask our cat but we do know that cats are sensitive to objects placed on them and to our touch. We know that paw pads are very sensitive and therefore I would expect a cat’s paw is to be generally sensitive. Can we assume that a cat feels the same wearing this product as we would if we had the tips of our fingers covered with a plastic cap? That is probably an unfair comparison because the tips of our fingers are very sensitive to touch but if the comparison is even slightly useful we would have to assume that our cat will feel the claw caps and they will feel uncomfortable. No doubt they get used to them.
We know that the outer lair of a cat’s claw naturally sloughs off in time and we all know that the cat encourages this to happen by scratching. Obviously if the claw is encased in plastic this natural process cannot take place. How does the cat feel about that? And what does the cat owner do to deal with it?
Soft Claws nail caps are stuck on with glue. Does the glue seep into the claw and make it softer? I have no idea, but if you are applying a chemical, which glue is, to a claw which is made of keratin there may be some sort of subtle chemical reaction taking place which we don’t know about.
Has there ever been a case of a cat swallowing a claw cap? It would seem to be quite possible that this might happen. I presume the product, if swallowed, does not hurt the cat and that it will pass through the cat’s digestive system. Can we be completely reassured that this is the case?
Is the glue completely safe even if it is ingested by the cat? I presume that it must be and I also presume that the manufacturers state that it is completely safe (I have not being to the manufacturer’s site to check) but this would be a concern to me if I bought the product.
Finn Frode doesn’t think they are any good. What do you think?
Thank you so much Michael <3 🙂
Well I dont really agree with that. Its just as bad as De-clawing just my Opinion. Better to just leave the Poor Cats alone. Cats need all their Claws how else are they to Climb Trees. My two Cats Jasmine and Ozzie Often Climbing up and down the tree. I know so many People worry about Furniture. Thats what Cat Scrathers are for as well if you get a soft material its not hard on the Claws.
Thanks Ahsan for your comprehensive comment. As you say it is a failure to accept the cat as he or she is. Putting plastic caps onto the claws of cats is in effect modifying the cat and making it something different to what it is. It is also a way of making money and the money is made on the desire of some people to modify their cat. It is remarkable that so many people wish to modify their cat. Surely it is a failure in the domestication of the cat.
To me, this product, is a symptom of a failure in the relationship between human and domestic cat.
I have corrected the text Ahsan.
My typing errors, sorry for the bother reading
1) Tiny not tint
2) Lack not lake
I am against such artificial claw caps.
The reason being that I love to live with nature and let these tiny friends live within their own nature.
If some thing is wrong with the cats or kittens, means some unexpected habits i.e. scratching the furniture of the house which is the common complaint from every cat owner, I call it the lack of training in cat from the age of her kitten-hood.
I have few points here to share with all of you;
1. Are we ready to accept the nature of a kitten/cat? if so , we must understand that claws are part of cat’s defences and cats are really sensitive about their claws. If you will not allow to use its claws on a scratching place or let the cat defend itself with these weapons, she will obviously start biting which will in return result to LEAVE the cat in wild or let the animal people take over her and RAAM NAAM Satya HAY.
2. These cat claw caps must be changed after a month or 1.25 month. otherwise nails disease will rise in cats. I mean fungi or pain in cat’s claws/paws.
3. I can just imagine this cap on my nails for a long period of time and if being myself a cat and having the habit to suckle my nails. I mean cats groom them self and suckle their nails with tongue. It will be not a happy experience to feel nail inside some where and just licking my tongue outside. Think like a cat as I always have mentioned before.
4. What about scratching behavior which must be allowed to every cat and I think whether vets say what they say, but I don’t care what they have assumed from this scratching behavior. I have my own assumption about this behavior.
Cats scratch because they want to show their nails/claws
Just one question, what if I take gun, grenade, shields, or any weapon from a soldier and say:- Hay soldier! go to the wild jungles! now fight TALIBANs 🙁
I think it is not a proper way to deal with cats, just seem to me as people want cosmetic pets not natural cats 🙁
Its a great discussion point Michael and please I want to know what my partner cat lover have experienced from claws clips. I think it is not cruel to cat but seems to me a bit business type of thing to improve the sale of product and making cat disturbs more than before rather than train it to as natural as possible 🙂 thank you