Cat nail caps, suggestions

[sgtnosboss]

Hello Era,

We will be bringing in an outside cat soon after he gets all his shots, wellness check, ect this weekend. Neither of us want to declaw so rule that out as a suggestion please. Back to the subject though, have you used them, is their a particular brand that is best, are their knock offs to look out for, ect?

 

[Volimar]

I can't help you about the caps, but thank you for not declawing.

 

[BWoog]

I have two cats and have grown up with cats all my life and have absolutely no idea what a "cat nail cap" is.

I just clip their nails once every few weeks.

 

[dragonchild]

 

[Envelope]

Get the cat a good scratching post

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Most don't stay on long, maybe a few weeks at best? Regular nail trims and placing scratching posts/mats would be my suggestion.

 

[Transistor]

I tried the nail caps with one of my old cats. They stayed on for about a week. Your best bet is to get them a nice scratching post or two. And just remember to be patient. If they scratch the furniture or some curtains, they're not being malicious. They're just being cats :P

 

[Inugami]

Give your cat plenty of good options to scratch at home, and use a spray bottle if you ever catch them scratching something they shouldn't. I've had cats all my life and it only takes a couple days of training and having scratch materials available to the cat, then you don't have to cap or declaw or even cut the nails.

For scratch posts, get something actually made of wood. Cardboard ones aren't going to last and they make a mess and cats (in general) prefer something that actually doesn't have a lot of give.

 

[Brandino]

In my experiance, they find them annoying. We put them on our 4 cats, and they would just chew them off after a few days. Also, we had to pay someone to put them on, cause they hated when we tried to do it.

We just clip them occasionally now. We have plenty of scratchers around the house, so they dont go after the furniture or anything.

 

[BWoog]

100%, after looking to see what these things are, my cats would rip them off within an hour and eat them.

 

[ThatRebel]

In addition to cat towers and stuff, the cheap cardboard scratching blocks work too. My cats love those. I've also seen people just use collapsed cardboard boxes.

 

[TheIlliterati]

Hello Era,

We will be bringing in an outside cat soon after he gets all his shots, wellness check, ect this weekend. Neither of us want to declaw so rule that out as a suggestion please. Back to the subject though, have you used them, is their a particular brand that is best, are their knock offs to look out for, ect?

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I haven't used them, first off. Just as one anecdotal experience, they just sounded like a pain to constantly have have put on or to put on myself. I think I would've rather clipped his nails if I had to choose. My cat always uses the given scratching posts so -purposeful- damage to furniture is never a problem. There are tiny pinpricks in things over time of course, it just depends on your level of concern over that.

 

[Fliesen]

I have no idea these things existed.
I feel like my cats would just pull these off, given how thoroughly they clean their paws / nails.

Personally, since i don't care for expensive(!) furniture, but rather just get an IKEA couch every 5 years or so, my cats are pretty much free to do whatever they please. Sure, i'll yell at them when i catch them clawing the couch, but the new (3 months old) couch is already showing some wear.

 

[GK86]

My roommate has a cat and we were worried he would fuck up the new couch. The caps my roommate bought didn't stay on for long (a week, two at most). For the most part, the cat didn't mind them, and I don't think actively tried to take them off, they just fell off.

Putting the caps on the cat was a mixed bag. Some of them were easy to put on, but some claws for whatever reason, were harder and we had to try multiple times before it would go in. Also, after we put the front paws caps on, we gave him a break before we put the back ones on.

We put some sticky tape on the couch to deter him from trying to scratch it and a new scratching post. Those two things have helped, even though he still takes swipes at the couch.

 

[Palantiri]

Utterly useless in my opinion. They are a pain to get on for everyone involved, they tend to agitate the cats and they will chew them off, and if even one falls off then they can still do damage scratching - and you have to buy a new kit.

You also need to replace them quite frequently if they do stay on. It is better to just take the time to train them out of scratching or find out what they like of yours to scratch and get them something like it that you dont care about.

 

[Bakercat]

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This and some scratching posts to allow good scratching behavior. Cats need to scratch regardless, might as well give them an area that they are allowed to do it. Just have spray bottle to punish for bad scratching.

 

[Tigress]

Hello Era,

We will be bringing in an outside cat soon after he gets all his shots, wellness check, ect this weekend. Neither of us want to declaw so rule that out as a suggestion please. Back to the subject though, have you used them, is their a particular brand that is best, are their knock offs to look out for, ect?

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HOnestly, they claim to only last three weeks and you have to clip the claws anyways to put them on. If you clip the cats' claws every 2-3 weeks and do a good job of getting close to the quick (with cat nails you can see the quick so it's not as tricky as with some dog nails), you can keep the cats' nails decently short. Short enough they will be almost as good as having caps on (when my cats nails are freshly clipped they don't hurt at all, and one of my cats doesn't know how to be gentle). Also the more often you do it the more they will start to realize you are not trying to kill them. THey might still fight but they'll probably be easier and less insistant about struggling.

So I'd just say they sound like a lot more hassle than just clipping the claws often (cause not only do you have to clip the claws and keep the cat still for that, now you have to keep him still while you try to place a small little cap on their small little nails). Also keep in mind the three weeks is the company's claim... which they'll usually claim on the more generous side to make it sound better. If they can only claim three weeks, reality probably is shorter than that.

What I do to get my cats to comply is keep nail clippers near the area they like to sit on me at. That way sometimes I'll just randomly surprise them (and if you can catch them quickly they are a lot less squirmy cause they haven't had enough time to build up even more fear about it ... the more you have to chase them the more freaked out they'll be and harder it is to clip them). Sadly doesn't work so often with my current cats who don't tend to get on my lap all the time but oddly the very fighty one that is not gentle and likes to bite is pretty complient about getting his nails clipped. THe other one not so much but she just struggles to get away (the belligerent would fight me if he really didn't want it done and have no compunctions about biting and scratching). Also, I usually roll them on their backs on my lap and hold them down with one of my arms so both my hands are free to hold the paw I'm working on. I find it's the easiest way to get control while also getting a good view of the claw I'm clipping and where to clip.|||

What I do do for my current cats is suddenly scoop them up and get them to the couch. THey know what's happening when that happens but I don't give them a choice and I make sure I don't chase them (as I said, the more you chase them the more they'll work themselves up against it). I just do it when they're wondering nearby and don't expect it.

 

[sgtnosboss]

I think the general consensus is these things suck, which is a bummer. I saw a video on them and know a friend that uses them, but I often hear the same complaints that they fall off. That is where the brand question came into play honestly. I wasn't sure if there was a good kind or bad, but sounds like most fall off quickly. I don't know why it didn't occur to me, but I didn't even think about that we would still have to clip the nails. Our current indoor cat has no nails(I know, something we will never do again after being educated) so this part will be new to us. We will definitely pick up some quality scratch posts instead it sounds like, and use a spray bottle. We don't have a lot of expensive furniture, but we are also cat sitting my BIL's cat who has claws and he is a kitten and already tearing stuff up. We only have him till Monday though.

 

[Tigress]

I think the general consensus is these things suck, which is a bummer. I saw a video on them and know a friend that uses them, but I often hear the same complaints that they fall off. That is where the brand question came into play honestly. I wasn't sure if there was a good kind or bad, but sounds like most fall off quickly. I don't know why it didn't occur to me, but I didn't even think about that we would still have to clip the nails. Our current indoor cat has no nails(I know, something we will never do again after being educated) so this part will be new to us. We will definitely pick up some quality scratch posts instead it sounds like, and use a spray bottle. We don't have a lot of expensive furniture, but we are also cat sitting my BIL's cat who has claws and he is a kitten and already tearing stuff up. We only have him till Monday though.

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What I'd do is put the scratching posts near where they like to scratch. And you can use double sided tape or this stuff called sticky paws (which is a really thin double sided tape made specifically to deter cats) on the areas you don't want them to scratch. Put catnip on the scratching posts to encourage them to go there. That way they can still scratch in the area they like (part of why they scratch is to mark areas as theirs) and have something they like better than your furniture. Occasionally you'll get a cat like I had that just scratched where he happened to be when the urge hit... you just need to find something he likes a lot so he gets picky (I had a cat like this, preferred horizontal areas even which most cats don't and would just scratch on whatever area of carpet he happened to be on. He really loved the cardboard scratcher and would go to it once I got one).

Find the scratching post material they like best (a lot of cats like sisal cause it catches their claws. THey like things that will catch their claws cause what they are trying to do is pull off teh old claw sheath, they shed their claw sheaths like snakes. This is part of how they keep their claws so sharp compared to dogs). Also, cardboard scratchers are very popular with cats (Though messy). But every cat is different (I recommend buying from a place with a good return policy so if you find they don't like it you can try a different oe).

If you get them to consistantly go to the scratching post you may have gotten it so they prefer the post and you can slowly move it away from the area (if you don't want it in that area ultimately). Cause they'll follow their favorite scratching post (but they do prefer scratching in certain areas so you don't want them to notice it's moving away from it).

Spray bottles may or may not work. My current cat just gets pissed off if you do something he dislikes (he doesn't care about being sprayed but he hates air blown in his face) and just gets fighty back. But to be honest I haven't figured out how to dissuade him to do stuff cause of this (and I'm usually trying to dissuade him from randomly biting me cause it hurts cause he's not gentle even when he's biting just cause it's fun I think. He's a little jerk and honestly fits the stereotype most people who dislike cats have of cats).

 

[HeySeuss]

I've actually heard good things about some of these that will stay on for about a month. I've never used them so I'm not sure what brand is best

 

[Linkura]

This and some scratching posts to allow good scratching behavior. Cats need to scratch regardless, might as well give them an area that they are allowed to do it. Just have spray bottle to punish for bad scratching.

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Yup. Clip regularly and give them a variety of scratching posts and pads.

 

[HellforLeather]

Give your cat plenty of good options to scratch at home, and use a spray bottle if you ever catch them scratching something they shouldn't. I've had cats all my life and it only takes a couple days of training and having scratch materials available to the cat, then you don't have to cap or declaw or even cut the nails.

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Unfortunately spray bottle training doesnt always work. Ive drenched my cat for clawing at furniture and he doesnt give a shit. He goes right back to it. What worked for me (at least so far) is to put tape on the furniture where he would scratch. I read that cats dont like the feeling of tape and after a couple weeks, he stopped trying. You will just look like a crazy person with tape all over your furniture for a while.

Back to the OP, yeah, just learn to trim their nails. My cat hates it but eventually he gives up or I just do it in quick spurts over the course of a few days (clip 2 nails and let him go, clip 2 later that day, let him go, repeat).

 

[Meatfist]

Kind of off topic, but how on earth are you guys cutting your Cat's nails unless you've been doing it regularly since they were kittens? It's annoying enough to cut our dogs' nails and they're relatively cool with it, but I feel like even attempting it with sharp retractable kitty nails is an easy way to get mauled

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

I bought them a couple of times. They're very expensive and last for a few weeks.

Buy a lot of scratch posts, you won't even need to cut their nails if you have scratch posts.

 

[sgtnosboss]

Unfortunately spray bottle training doesnt always work. Ive drenched my cat for clawing at furniture and he doesnt give a shit. He goes right back to it. What worked for me (at least so far) is to put tape on the furniture where he would scratch. I read that cats dont like the feeling of tape and after a couple weeks, he stopped trying. You will just look like a crazy person with tape all over your furniture for a while.

Back to the OP, yeah, just learn to trim their nails. My cat hates it but eventually he gives up or I just do it in quick spurts over the course of a few days (clip 2 nails and let him go, clip 2 later that day, let him go, repeat).

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specific type of tape or what do you mean? like scotch on all the edges or like the whole frames?

 

[One Eyed Willy]

We've been using them on our cat for a year now, work as marketed and my furniture looks brand new :)

 

[sgtnosboss]

Kind of off topic, but how on earth are you guys cutting your Cat's nails unless you've been doing it regularly since they were kittens? It's annoying enough to cut our dogs' nails and they're relatively cool with it, but I feel like even attempting it with sharp retractable kitty nails is an easy way to get mauled

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very carefully I assume lol I am sure I will learn real quick if he lets me or not

 

[toadsworth]

Negative reinforcement doesn't really work for cats, so I give mine treats whenever she claws stuff she's supposed to.

But she still claws the couch when we go to bed 🤷‍♀️

 

[HellforLeather]

specific type of tape or what do you mean? like scotch on all the edges or like the whole frames?

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I dont think the type of tape matters much but I used packaging tape and I only taped where he scratched (corners and back of this particular chair)

 

[sgtnosboss]

I dont think the type of tape matters much but I used packaging tape and I only taped where he scratched (corners and back of this particular chair)

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well I will keep this in the back of mind depending how he acts when moved inside! Thank you!

 

[bluepolicebox]

Kind of off topic, but how on earth are you guys cutting your Cat's nails unless you've been doing it regularly since they were kittens? It's annoying enough to cut our dogs' nails and they're relatively cool with it, but I feel like even attempting it with sharp retractable kitty nails is an easy way to get mauled

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I do it when they're fast asleep. I can usually get through two paws before they fully wake up and start squirming so I sometimes have to take a few passes at them to get both cats clipped. They always get treats when we're done which they've come to expect.

If you have someone who can help you, holding the scruff of their neck gently like their mothers do can calm them down a bit.

 

[Gabbo]

We tried it with our first cat. She didnt mind them until her nails started to grow long enough that they were breaking at the edge of the cap when she scratched her bed.

They lasted about a month but we never used them again and our second cat will wail like a banshee if we try to cut his nails, so i cant imagine hed like them.

Id suggest them as a last resort

 

[Cascadero]

As mentioned by others, scratch posts and pads plus a nice pair of nail clippers specialised for cats are all you should need.

 

[nekkid]

You can try and be precious about your furniture and belongings and try things to avoid them getting scratched. But realistically you just need to let it go if you want a cat in the house - because your stuff is very likely to get fucked up at some point.

 

[abracadaver]

Sounds horrible for the cat. Is this another american thing?

I've been living with cats all my life and we never did anything to their nails. Also never heard anyone ever talking about this.


Just get a scratch tower for the cat.

 

[jeelybeans]

Sounds horrible for the cat. Is this another american thing?

I've been living with cats all my life and we never did anything to their nails. Also never heard anyone ever talking about this.


Just get a scratch tower for the cat.

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My cat walks right past every cat tower to go straight for the furniture.

 

[Masquerade Overture]

Clip every two or three weeks or get ready to experience pain.

 

[Darth Karja]

I've used them. The cat immediately chewed them off.

There is a double sided tape meant to out on furniture to keep cats from clawing it. Use it for a while and the cat won't claw whatever it is.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

I'll never understand, even if I live till I am 1000 years old, why you would get a cat and then mutilate it. If you are not cool with your shit being scratched don't take in a cat. I've had them my entire life and if my shit gets scratched then my shit gets scratched. I would not have them if I thought more of my shit than them. Living breathing thing versus shit? I'll take the unmutilated living thing every time. It's just unneeded pain and stress on a living thing all for what? unscratched shit yet you willingly took in an animal that scratches. Just don't get it. As for claw covers? I've no clue as stressed above I accept them, claws and all. No smart-arsed replies about getting them sterilised either. Medical reasons are not the same as having unscratched shit.

 

[ThatRebel]

well I will keep this in the back of mind depending how he acts when moved inside! Thank you!

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Oh, tape or tin foil. Foil may look worse than tape though.

 

[Fiction]

I've used them.

They are difficult to put on but my cat hates nail trims.

Hers lasted a week before one fell off and I had to replace it. Repeat.

 

[Corran Horn]

It took my cat like 6 years before she would start scratching on scratching posts. I would buy everything I could and she wouldn't use it. Tried everything I could think of. Luckily now she has this cardboard type thing she lays on and scratches instead of my bed. I thought about those claw cover things but always heard crappy things so I didn't get one.

 

[Typographenia]

As a general rule, I have always heard that the claw caps are not good for cats.
Cats are going to scratch. It's what they do. The trick is just directing them where is okay to scratch when they start clawing things they shouldn't be.
It still doesn't work 100% of the time with our two, but they are pretty solid at using scratch boards and poles. Be patient, and just remember that scratching is hardwired into their brains.

 

[Cilidra]

Here a good link for tips and tricks to bring an outdoor cat inside.
https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats

 

[Rampage]

I used them on my kitten. They worked for the purpose I needed them for- to stop him climbing up the curtain lol. They are good short term solution.

As an adult, I don't use the anymore, just trim and provide plenty of scratching post.

 

[MadMike]

Caps are a waste of time. Plus, they seem super uncomfortable. Clip the cat's nails every couple of weeks instead. You don't even need special nail clippers. Regular toenail clippers work perfectly for me. Just make sure they're sharp so they cut cleanly instead of crushing the nail.

You should also get some kind of scratcher. I have a Bergan Turbo Scratcher that the cats absolutely love. Just sprinkle in some catnip once in a while to bait them, and replace the insert when it gets too torn up. The scratcher is only like $10, and the inserts are about $5 for a pair. They usually last a couple months here.

 

[Dyno]

I gave my cat a post and he still chose the front door. Just have a front door and you should be OK I guess

 

[Masquerade Overture]

I'll never understand, even if I live till I am 1000 years old, why you would get a cat and then mutilate it. If you are not cool with your shit being scratched don't take in a cat. I've had them my entire life and if my shit gets scratched then my shit gets scratched. I would not have them if I thought more of my shit than them. Living breathing thing versus shit? I'll take the unmutilated living thing every time. It's just unneeded pain and stress on a living thing all for what? unscratched shit yet you willingly took in an animal that scratches. Just don't get it. As for claw covers? I've no clue as stressed above I accept them, claws and all. No smart-arsed replies about getting them sterilised either. Medical reasons are not the same as having unscratched shit.

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Clipping nails are not the same as declawing.

 

[affeinvasion]

We brought in an outside cat and she's never once scratched our stuff because we gave her plenty of her own scratching posts and cardboard scratch areas that are just for her. It's about territory, not just the act of scratching so giving them their own little spaces with scratchers will make them not want to go after 'your' stuff as much.

 

[Cilidra]

Don't declaw your cat please. You know what declawing is? It's amputating the first bone of every fingers. I don't do it anymore. I never liked doing it. Since I now own my own clinic and don't have a boss to fight over it (vet irl).

Declawing is a painful procedure which cause pain for a long time AND also end up causing long term effect down the line like contracture of some of the digital muscles which them requires more surgery and it still doesn't fully resolve the pain.

Cats can be trained to limit their scratching to certain items. Just learn their behaviors and provide what they need (see above link). Declawing is just a lazy fix.