Gamom3 Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I purchased the kitten size and they are to big. All but one has come off and I glued them on really well, they are just to big for her. I have cut her nails and cut her nails, she still claws at my couch!!!:angry: I know that she will do this, I purchased a scratching post..she won't even look at it! She is a little over 3 months old..shouldn't those things fit her?!?!? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Even if they did fit her you may still find that keeping them on is a challenge. At least that is what I hear from clients who have tried them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Do you have a water bottle? You have to squirt her every single time she claws something she isn't supposed to. Also, where does she claw? You might be able to put something in her way that will deflect her; for example, one of my cats likes to get on the back of the sofa and attack it.:glare: So if I just drape a throw or even a plain old hand towel there, she doesn't do it. Why? I dunno. Also, she used to claw the back of my recliner. So I draped a throw over it such that it hung down the back, and she won't claw, even though the throw is just hanging loose, IYKWIM. Why? I dunno. It's not enough to put those thingies on your dk's claws. You must also teach her not to do...whatever it is she's doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamom3 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Even if they did fit her you may still find that keeping them on is a challenge. At least that is what I hear from clients who have tried them. I keep meaning to pick up a spray bottle. I keep her nails cut, but they grow back so quickly. We had a cat a while back and someone had trimmed her nails for us and they did such a WONDERFUL job..you couldn't tell she had nails for about a week and a half! It was SO nice! We don't leave her out when we are not here or at night...I do not want her messing up our furniture. I will definitely get a water bottle today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamom3 Posted January 9, 2009 Author Share Posted January 9, 2009 Do you have a water bottle? You have to squirt her every single time she claws something she isn't supposed to. Also, where does she claw? You might be able to put something in her way that will deflect her; for example, one of my cats likes to get on the back of the sofa and attack it.:glare: So if I just drape a throw or even a plain old hand towel there, she doesn't do it. Why? I dunno. Also, she used to claw the back of my recliner. So I draped a throw over it such that it hung down the back, and she won't claw, even though the throw is just hanging loose, IYKWIM. Why? I dunno. It's not enough to put those thingies on your dk's claws. You must also teach her not to do...whatever it is she's doing. I don't know why..I don't want her to get to our new couch!!! I have heard of putting doublesided tape on the edges to make then not want to do that, but I am worried about it leaving tape residue on my couch. Is there a spray that smells good to us that they can't stand that will keep her away and not scratch?? I will pick up a spray bottle today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KS_ Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 Use a spray bottle, try things like wrapping the corner of the couch she likes in tin foil (anything that will not be as nice to her to scratch). But then, on the other side, find some carpet or post that she does like (if she doesn't like the one you have, do you think it's the type of carpet? can you find scraps/remnants of any other carpet to try?) and make the acceptable scratching item as attractive as possible. Rub catnip into it, praise her a lot whenever she takes any notice of it, maybe even give her a special treat if she scratches there. There's something particular about the couch she prefers over the post you have, but you can teach her to not use the couch. My cats never cared for the store bought posts - they like berber carpet, so we just make our own. You can wrap a piece of carpet around a piece of wood, or if you have a flat piece of plywood, you could even just attach the flat carpet piece to the wood with screws and lean it up against a wall. The point to begin with is get her interested in something else (no matter how bad it looks at the moment), retrain her off the couch, and then you can find or make a nicer looking post that she likes. And when they're little, they often love to play with toys - does she have those, too? She's going to have a lot of energy to get out and the more things she has that are acceptable to play/scratch, the easier it will be to train her not to use the couch :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I think there are different sizes for the soft paws. Make sure you have the right one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2cents Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I did Soft Paws for awhile and when you get them on, they work....for about 3 days. There are diff sizes so you have to be very careful about measuring to the chart. My biggest issue with them is that they do not allow the claw to retract naturally and that can lead to the cat chewing on them. Also,cat nails grow quickly and in our case at different rates so I was continually trying to keep all the claws covered at once. I kept finding little cast off Soft Paw shells around the house. And the best part....trying to superglue (yup-Soft Paws glue is the equivalent of superglue) onto a squirming, angry cat is a logistical nightmare. We gave up the Soft-Paws and bought some spray concoction that discourages cats from clawing. You can get that stuff at any pet store. Between the spray stuff and reprimmanding the cat, they eventually learned not to claw the furniture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 We had one cat who loved to use one made of natural fibers (something like jute). Our next cat refused to use those but preferred to use one made of carpet scraps. I used a spray on cat-nip to 'attract' him to the new post. Later I just got lazy and would occasionally sprinkle some dried cat nip on the post then vacuum it after a day or so. If you trim your cat's nails it will make them scratch MORE! I agree with putting some sort of foil or plastic wrap around the item (couch) that they should not be scratching...and then use the water bottle as a deterrent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammy Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 My cats didn't like the scratching posts either....but they love those cardboard things you put on the floor.....it comes with catnip, LOL! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle T Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 I purchased the kitten size and they are to big. All but one has come off and I glued them on really well, they are just to big for her. I have cut her nails and cut her nails, she still claws at my couch!!!:angry: I know that she will do this, I purchased a scratching post..she won't even look at it! She is a little over 3 months old..shouldn't those things fit her?!?!? I had them put on two different cats by our vet a couple of times. One of the cats would just chew them off within a day or so, the other cat didn't chew at them, but they still would all be gone in less than ten days. You could try a squirt bottle, but for that to work, you have to be there when the cat scratches. You could also try covering up the preferred scratching spot with tin foil, or some other sort of covering that doesn't feel so good to scratch. Michelle T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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