Hi

Does anyone have any experience of those cat claw cover things: small plastic adhesives that you put on your cat's claws to prevent any damage when they sharpen their claws on the furniture?

In my current house my naughty cat has trashed various places by sharpening his claws there. The wallpaper in the stairway is a mess and he has also destroyed some of the dining room as well. He also takes to the carpet but not the furniture so much thankfully! I will be shortly moving and don't want him wrecking that house too.

I discovered these claw covers on ebay which are meant to be pet safe but I'm wary of anything that uses adheseive. Does anyone have experience of this?

Before anyone suggests, I do have scratching posts and while my much loved female cat, who I sadly lost earlier this year was as good as gold with using it, my little man ignores it completely! It's so frustrating!

Good luck getting them stuck on

If he goes out AT ALL then a definite no-no as he'll be seriously disadvantaged. He won't be able to climb - though he'll probably still try - so can't escape from dogs. foxes, other cats etc. He won't be able to hunt properly.

Even indoors I'd say they are dangerous as using claws when climbing on furniture is second nature - even my Layla who doesn't really climb will use hers when getting on the sofa - and sometimes my lap

I'm afraid scratched furniture is one of the joys of cat ownership You can try rubbing his scent on the scratching posts to encourage their use, cover areas he likes to scratch in tin foil but he's probably scratching the furniture simply because he can

Cruel.

A cat claws are its weapons for defending itself when out side against other cats.

Get a small water spray bottle. When the cat goes to scratch where it shouldn't, spray a bit. It will learn eventually.

Gluing plastic to a cats claws is just down right cruel.

Indeed - why else would they take so much time and effort to keep them sharp?

Claw covers and declawing prevent a cat from performing natural behaviours (scritting, marking etc) and can lead to no end of behavioural problems. The most common of which is excessive scent marking (males in particular). Don't do it. Instead encourage your cat to scratch in the correct place (a scratch post) by using positive reinforcement and ignoring the bad scritting. Don't cover the scritts/marks as that will encourage remarking.

All round bad idea. Find another solution.

when my cat cleans herself you can hear her picking at her claws with her teeth. She really goes for it. Your cat could end up swallowing claw covers. Get a few scratch posts.

Cats have claws for climbing and other natural skills. If you want a pet that doesn't scratch get a goldfish.

ive heard the rspca will prosecute as is classed as cruelty put is this way you would like it if someone basically super glued your fingers together you would be able to function especially if you are used to using your finger like other posters have said get scratching posts i have 4 cats and they all use it no demolished furniture at all and invest in a cat tree they love them

Outdoor cats need their full claws , indoor cats you can clip the sharp ends off , the vet showed me how as even with scratching posts galore one of mines claws were a bit too long for her for her own comfort the vet said it was one of those things as the other cat is fine , you should be very careful and never clip below the clear bit and if at all unsure ask your vet before doing it.

Declawing which they seem to do in the USA but is thankfully illegal in the UK is a vile, cruel procedure and from what I have heard of claw covers they are a nightmare , they also prevent the cat for retracting its claws and should be avoided.

In fact I still cannot get my head around how some people in other countries stil think declawing a cat is acceptable and most often just for their furniture

So true I work for Cats Protection and to date I have seen 3 cats originally from the USA rehomed by us and only one has been declawed which is one too many
Fortunately a number of the States are moving to ban this practice but there is still some way to go.

I agree 100% de clawing is cruel, hence why I was looking for a temporary situation. Thanks for everyone's feedback. While my little man isn't confrontational at all and is mostly a house cat I didn't take into account a lot of the factors mentioned here. Of course I would never consider such a thing without thorough research - hence my post. I will take on board the other ideas mentionend here.

Glad to hear it - it's easy to google a quick solution but the practicalities don't always work out so good.

I hope you do find a solution that works for you, your cat and your sofa

Try a product called Sticky Paws scratch strips. I think you can get them from amazon.

sticking double sided sticky tape to the things he scratches usually helps stop them...i know it might not look great but ive used it and it worked, once the cat got out of the routine of scratching my sofa i took the tape off and they never did it again.

Reading this thread reminded me how horrified I was when I first read about the matter-of-fact way (some) Americans treat de-clawing a cat.

As though their furniture was far more important than the cat's well-being.

When we had cats our young man used to really enjoy 'going to the beauty salon in our bedroom'. In the morning when I put my make-up on he used to jump up to get his cheeks blushed and hair brushed. Then when I cut my toe nails there he was again looking at me. In the end I trimmed his claws too, just the ends where they were sharp. He really loved this and put up no resistance at all, infact he used to offer up his paw on my wrist. I just gently squeezed his paws to get the claws up and trimmed them. You should have seen his face.

His sister did not want any girlie make up or hair brushing, although she was partial to wearing bead necklaces around the house, only where we could see her constantly.

They both died years ago but we still miss them like mad. Such wonderful characters.

Reading that declawing makes it sound worse than when our cat had the snip!

Exactly, if someone suggested cutting of their kids fingers at the first knuckle joint to stop them touching things that they shouldn't you would be arrested and the kids removed.

try catnip on the post - i am sure it is because he doesnt know what it is, i had to do this to mine so he knows what it is for and that was it no more catnip he just jumps on the climbing frame and uses his small one when he isnt in my living room

Rhian