Would you use these?

Love4Pits

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#1
I don't beleive in declawing and I actually clip my cats nails and provide scratching posts and such and my cats also go outside in good weather. When I clip nails I only clip the very tips off so their blunted. Well i was just looking up puppy toys and such and came up with petsmart.com and these popped up these plastic claw covers. My cats I know would chew those things off especially Sidney. I could also see them being uncomfortable in a sense. What do you think?
Excuse me for the long link lol.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...845524441778670&bmUID=1116194409092#belowFold
 
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#2
They do look like they'd take some getting used to, but I would think they'd be vastly preferable to declawing. And they really should only be used on an indoor cat since they would interfere with being able to climb or defend.

The one thing I'd really be concerned about would be the cat pulling them off and swallowing them.
 

Love4Pits

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#3
"The one thing I'd really be concerned about would be the cat pulling them off and swallowing them."
Thats what I was thinking
 
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#4
I've always just clipped the toenails if I had a cat that scratched on anything other than a post. Mine are always inside cats though. If a cat were going to be going outdoors at all I wouldn't even clip the tips - sometimes that's the difference between a cat escaping from danger/being able to fend off an attacker and getting seriously hurt - or worse!
 

Gustav

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#5
I've never clipped cats nails!! Because all my cats have been outdoor and indoor cats! I think that the nail covers are a bit daft!! Seems like just a way to get money out of concerned but naive cat owners!
 

Saje

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#6
I clipped until I got dogs. Now I think my cats need every advantage they can get. Although I'll probalby cut the back feet occassionally. Mini got her's caught the other day in the middle of an escape!
 
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#7
Never trimmed the cats claws even though I wanted to keep her as an indoor cat. My parents wanted to declaw Dana 300 when they adopted her from me I told them no way, good thing to they have her as an indoor outdoor cat.

Ild never use a product like that and never declaw a cat. I never thought of trimming their claws.
 
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#8
I've only had to do it with a couple of mine. They couldn't resist clawing on the sofa! It's not a big deal at all if you get them used to it. Catnip is your friend, lol!
 

moe

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#9
My cat is an indoor cat, and although she has scratch post at one time she would ignor it and use the corner of my sofa,wall paper.carpets etc(this caused many arguments in the house because of the damage being inflicted) so I actually tried the claw covers, I had the vet attach them(they are stuck with superglue) and they were effective, they did come off one at a time, and you can in fact re stick them, but I just got new ones fitted, the cat didnt mind them at all, they are like a soft gel type plastic, and quite soft on their nails, what they did for us is break the habit of her scratching the sofa, and gave us time to train her to use the scratch post. now I dont use the covers, she leaves the sofa alone, and uses the post,she also became happy about having her nails clipped as she had got used to having her feet touched, so we had a very happy outcome. if it was a choice of having these on, or a family arguing over the damage the cat is doing to all the furniture in the house I would definate go for the covers.

Mo
 

GSDFan05

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#10
I work for a vet and occasionally we have people ask about those claw covers for cats as an alternative to declawing. Generally they're a huge pain and aren't worth the time, money, and effort, they rarely if ever stay one, the glue makes a huge mess, and it just freaks the cat out for something that doesn't even work in the end.

I have to help with declaws sometimes and I agree that they're sickening. They don't 'teach' you how to do it in vet school, from what I've been told, because it's more mutilation than surgery. When I'm a vet myself I don't plan to do them. This is how the 'surgery' goes:
An extra large pair of dog toenail clippers is used to amputate the first digit of each toe.
That's it.

I would recommend clipping the cats nails periodically, if you can't do it yourself ask your vet to do it, it just takes a couple of minutes and shouldn't cost more than five or ten dollars. The claw caps sound good but really just create a hassle. It's great that you're looking for alternatives to declawing, though!
 

Ash47

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#11
I assist in declaws also, and though I don't really agree with it, I like the method we use much better than ones I have heard of before. They put the cat under anesthesia and while it is sleeping, they get some forcips and pull the claw so that it is fully exposed as if the cat were showing the claw itself. They then laser the entire "finger" off which includes the nail. The laser basically seals everything up, but just in case there is a bleeder, then they use tissue glue to close it.
I'm not saying I agree with it, but I think this method is safer, less messy, and more sanitary.
 
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#12
I'm completely against declawing. I have two sisters that have cats (one has twelve, the other two) and none of their cats are declawed (as far as I know).

I've seen the covers too, and personally I don't think I'd use them, actually. They seem hard to get on and off and annoying to the cat.
 

bogolove

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#13
I heard they fall off really easily. I just clip my cats nails. She is used to it even though she does whine when we do it, but that is just for effect. She whines when we do anything, such as brush her, pet her, kiss her, love her. The only time she doesn't whine is when we are putting food in her bowl.

But anyway, I do just clip her nails and I don't have to that often since she had a scratching post.
 

Barb04

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#14
Renee, how does catnip help in clipping their nails. Tiny I can do without a problem, but Bear lets me do maybe one or two nails at a time before he runs. I never can manage to do the back ones.
 

Sheba

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#15
soft paws thingies are torture.Cats NEED their nails!What if they get loose and get to a stream with fish?how are they gonna catch one?How are they gonna get mice?
 

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