Does anyone recommend or have tried the cat nail caps? Which brand if any would you recommend?

No, i wouldn’t try them.

But you could try kitten mittens…

@eponymoushipster that is hilarious :)

@eponymoushipster I must say Always Sunny is an amazing show!!!
However, i think my cat is smart enough to claw, bite and/or tear his way out of mittens!

@Elerie worth a shot. those caps things are seriously dumb though. i think they might be making fun of them in IASIP.

My mom and I fostered a kitty with claws that had been shaped (similarly to the caps) with a grinder/file of some sort. It worked well, but would need to be done regularly.

My local HS recommends the caps, but they suggest starting young. (It depends on if your cat is comfortable with you handling his/her paws/claws as to whether or not it’s easy to do.)

You could ask at your local groomer or vet to see if they will do it for you, if you don’t feel like attempting it.

You can trim their nails with a people nail clipper, the nails are usually relatively soft and brittle but it tends to make them sharper, then you can try to file them but the bottom line is cat’s nails are sharp and there isn’t much you can do about it. You can use the can full of marbles training routine and shake it when he scratches or a water gun and let him have a shot when he does something you don’t like. Cats aren’t the easiest creatures to train, but it can be done.

@Elerie No, the claw caps are not harmful to kitty and yes, you can easily do this yourself….if you can easily cut his nails by your self.

See this brand found at Dr. Foster & Smith They will give you free vet-tech advice for any questions you have regarding how to easily put them on your cat, too.

I have used soft paws for the first time recently and been pleased. Two of my three cats tolerate them quite well, one of them removed them all the first night. Luckily, the cat that removed the caps is my least worst offender for clawing the furniture, so it works out well. They’ve been on for about 4 weeks now and I’ve had to replace only two or three individual caps on each cat. They do not harm the cat. I recommend trying them.

@eponymoushipster Awesome! Kitten Mittens FTW.

I’ve never tried claw caps and I don’t think I ever will. They just seem risky and harmful to the cat. Plus, there’s no guarantee they’d even stay on long enough to make any difference. I would be worried about the cat pulling them off with its teeth and possibly choking on them. You don’t want that!

My kitties can be scratchers when they play too rough, and they enjoy scratching on my furniture as well (especially mattress corners!) There are plenty of ways you can “train” your cat to change these behaviors. Put double-sided tape or aluminum foil on the things you don’t want your cat to scratch – they hate that! There are also plenty of anti-scratching sprays, but I’ve never used them.

As for scratching you, whenever your cat gets rough, sternly say “NO. DON’T.” or something like that, then walk away from your cat. Saying “Ow, stop it!” and then going right back to petting them does nothing to change the behavior. Eventually the cat will get the picture, but it does help if they’re still pretty young.

@ParaParaYukiko Risky and harmful how? The caps are smaller that a piece of kibble and if swallowed, are pooped out. They are pretty universally recommended by veterinarians. And as for “no guarantee they’d even stay on long enough to make any difference”, if you’ll look up one post, you’ll see that I have used one package on 3 cats and mine have stayed on 2 of them for 4 weeks and still going strong. I would consider that a damned good investment for $18.00

I used Soft Paws and hated them. I don’t know how, but a bunch of my cats’ claws didn’t shed the caps and they became ingrown. I won’t use them.

@syz It’s great that you’ve had a good experience with Soft Paws. I don’t have any concrete evidence of how it would be harmful, that’s just my impression. I just think it’s better to try and change your cat’s destructive behavior before trying more artificial means to solve the problem. I’m curious, if your cats stopped Soft Paws, would they go right back to scratching and destroying furniture?

I suppose the effectiveness of things like these also depend on the cats. My cats would probably hate them, but if you started using them early enough (or if you have more docile cats), that might not be the case.

Your argument swayed me to think that they’re probably worth a shot if you’re that desperate. I’m just a skeptic about these sorts of things, heh.

@ParaParaYukiko “I just think it’s better to try and change your cat’s destructive behavior before trying more artificial means to solve the problem”.

It’s actually not destructive behavior. It’s essential, natural, scenting behavior that is hard-wired into a cats brain. Scratching cannot be “trained” out of a cat. Period.

@poofandmook Did you by chance use too much glue? This is why I recommend a novice gets assistance for the first usage of these protectors

@SpatzieLover: I tried to be really really careful not to use too much glue. maybe I did? I don’t know… but now I’m hesitant to try them again.

@SpatzieLover Yes, I know it’s a natural, instinctual behavior for cats. It’s destructive when a cat rips apart your couch or mattress, not when it scratches on a tree or scratching post. I’m not saying that we should teach cats not to scratch period, just to narrow down the things they do scratch. That’s why people make scratching posts in the first place.

I think it is possible to train your cats not to scratch indiscriminately. Classical conditioning has been proven to work in many species of animals, not just humans. Why do you think so many cats are scared of crates after a few times of going to the vet? It’s the same thing.

@ParaParaYukiko My cats aren’t afraid of the crate. I employ positive not negative training for my animals.

BTW- if you’re not looking that’s when kitty cat goes to scratch all those things you said “No!” to when you were looking. ;) They’re smart creatures.

I never heard of them. I have heard that humans with false fingernails can develop some sort of nail disease from wearing them. Dirt gets under or something. If the cat is scratching in a litterbox with these things on, can they cause problems?

@rooeytoo that’s a great question? i’ve actually not thought about that particular problem. That’s a great question to ask my vet!

@Elerie – thanks, let us know what he says, I am curious. I personally can’t stand the feel of false fingernails glued onto my nails, drives me crazy!

It would also be interesting to know if Soft Paws or something like that would be a good idea to use on an outdoor cat. Indoor cats don’t have a particular need for sharp claws, making declawing (and humane alternatives) pretty practical. I wonder, though, if your cat is allowed to go out every once in a while, would Soft Paws be something you’d want to put on your cat’s claws?

@ParaParaYukiko pet cats shouldn’t be outdoors

@ParaParaYukiko: I don’t agree with cats being let outdoors, personally, but unless you have a completely fenced in yard, I wouldn’t use those caps. Even if you did have a fenced in yard, I don’t think I’d suggest it, unless you were watching the cat. If they happen to encounter another animal and need to defend themselves, they’ll be helpless.

My roommates let their cats out into our fenced-in backyard… I could never let mine out, EVER. Indoor babies only.