Are Soft Paws helpful in the short term?

[tricollie4me]

My little daughter, age 2, likes to help with feeding the cats. However, due to Levi's enormous interest in food (he circles the bins, jumps on top of them and if he can, he jumps inside! We always shoo him off, but he's ever hopeful I'll just let him free feed 15 lbs of Royal Canin, I guess...lol), he gets all three cats circling and hopping and excited about mealtime! Twice now, my daughter has been too close to Bonnie during these few minutes of chaos and gotten scratches on her nose and cheek that have drawn blood. I would love for mealtime to be peaceful, but it appears that feeding the fur-kids mimics the same circus as when I feed all my people-kids!

I truly don't want to ban my daughter from helping feed the cats -- she isn't always part of feeding time, but when she's interested/available to help, I think it's a positive activity. What I need to do is eliminate the potential for the kinds of scratches that draw blood :( I've taken to trimming all the cats nails more regularly, and I'm wondering if using Soft Paws on Bonnie for a while will help keep my daughter safe while we figure out if there's a better routine to feed the pets. Right now, I prepare all their food dishes in the small half-bath because that's where Bonnie and Bijou (our collie) eat and where we keep the food bins. I then bring Levi & Charity's food downstairs to their little meal station, where Levi circles and dances his way to "his spot." Perhaps with the combination of closer nail trimming, trying out Soft Paws on Bonnie, and giving everyone more room to move during prep time, things will improve?

Anyone use Soft Paws for reasons other than scratching furniture (none of the cats do this, which is awesome! They love their scratching posts and use them often)...

Thanks for reading, I didn't mean to write a book, lol! I could just use a little encouragement :)

[catmandu]

I have thought of Soft Paws,but the odds on a Geezer my age being able to put them on My Cats is laughable,at best.
Maybe another PTER can advise you.

[kb2yjx]

hi!! Do you clip the cats claws on a regular basis?? I have 8 cats and every Thursday, it is claw clipping night. I have suggested the Soft Paws to people whose cats refuse to use the scratching posts and that probably saved the cats from being declawed or given up. Give your vet a quick call, I am sure they would not mind your question. Good Luck!! Sandra

[Randi]

I would have suggested clipping their nails, but I see you already do. :) I have never used SoftPaws on Fister, although I WAS planning to - but then, to my amazement, he let me clip his nails. To begin with, I could only do two at a time, but now, if I'm lucky, I can do the whole paw!! :D

Good luck finding the right solution!

[tricollie4me]

I have typically trimmed the cats' nails monthly, but clearly this isn't often enough -- Bonnie's nails, in particular, get quite sharp. She's my best scratch-post user! I'll begin trimming them weekly and see if that makes her little paws more kid-friendly -- I really do believe that Levi's mealtime antics just get all the cats riled up and excited...put three hungry cats, one hungy dog and a toddler in a small space and it doesn't surprise me that a scratch ocurrs -- I just need to make sure everyone is safe and happy!

Thanks for the support :)

[Laura's Babies]

I would try it, they aren't that expensive. I would do it at least until your daughter is old enough to learn to get out of the way of the claws.

[Uabassoon]

We used them on Tuna when he was a kitten because he enjoyed climbing legs! The soft paws were great until he learned to calm down that that climbing people was not a good thing.