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How Can I Keep Soft Paws® on My Pet?
Maybe you've never tried Soft Paws® nail caps on your pet, and you're wondering how on Earth you will get them to stay on. Maybe you've used them, and your pet has chewed them off or, worse yet, they fell off. Don't worry; these situations are easy to resolve so you can enjoy the many advantages offered by Soft Paws® nail caps.
Get the Right Size
If the Soft Paws® you use aren't the right size for your pet's claws, they may fall off. You can find helpful tips for choosing the right size for cats here: Size Guidelines for Cats and for dogs here: Size Guidelines for Dogs.
Before you open the bottle of adhesive that comes with your Soft Paws® kit, check to see if you've chosen the right size. Place a cap with no glue in it onto one of your pet's claws. It should fit snugly, like a glove, but you shouldn't have to push too hard. The cap should fit all the way to the base of the nail without touching the skin.
You can trim the open end of the nail cap to adjust its size for a better fit. Sometimes, especially with dogs, each claw is a little bit different, so each cap can be sized individually.
Make Sure You Use the Right Amount of Glue
Soft Paws® caps can fall off if a sufficient amount of adhesive isn't used when they are applied. It's also important not to apply too much glue because it could overflow out of the cap and onto your pet's skin and hair. This is uncomfortable for the pet and can trigger him to lick and chew at the Soft Paws®, removing them.
It may take a little practice to get efficient at putting just the right amount of adhesive in the caps, but luckily there's an easy way to make sure you get it right every time.
Before you apply each nail cap to your pet's claw, put glue into it and squeeze the sides gently. If it overflows, there is too much. If it doesn't cover the entire inside of the cap evenly, there isn't enough. Once you've got the right amount of adhesive in the nail cap, place it on your pet's claw, and apply pressure evenly all around it. Be careful not to push the cap up into your pet's skin while putting it on because that will cause discomfort and trigger licking and chewing.
Pets Can Chew Soft Paws® Off
Sometimes pets will chew on their nail caps until they get them off. This is especially common the first time the caps are applied, but some persistent animals will do it after future applications, as well. Fortunately, there are some easy fixes for this situation.
- Distract your pet. When you are applying Soft Paws® to your pet, use a calm voice and demeanor. Many people find that it helps to do the application when their pet is sleepy. As soon as you're finished applying the nail caps, distract your pet with a play session, cuddle-fest, favorite treat, or by giving them a meal.
- Apply a deterrent to the nail caps. Pets can be discouraged from licking and chewing at their Soft Paws® by applying a deterrent like Grannick's Bitter Apple Spray or Yuk to them. In the beginning, you may need to reapply the product every few hours, but as your pet gets used to wearing the nail caps, you may only need to do it once when you first apply them.
- Make sure you're not touching your pet's skin with the caps or glue. If the Soft Paws® are being pushed into the skin around your pet's nails, he will be irritated by them and will probably chew on them. When you place the nail caps on your pet, don't push them into the skin. This is another great reason to check out how much glue you have in the cap before you place it on your pet's claw: too much glue will squeeze out and onto the pet's skin and fur, which will also cause him irritation.
- Check the Soft Paws® periodically, and replace any lost ones. When you first start using Soft Paws® on your pet, replacing any lost ones right away will help him get used to wearing them faster and let him know that, even if he chews them off, they won't be gone for long.
Customer Experiences
Great alternative for those with leather furniture or just don’t want to get scratched. They last us about a month. My only complaint is she usually loses one or two in the first week.
Soft Paws® Feline (Large)
Great alternative for those with leather furniture or just don’t want to get scratched. They last us about a month. My only complaint is she usually loses one or two in the first week.
Soft Paws® Feline (Large)
The claw caps save the carpet from being ripped up. Fezzik doesn't care for having the claw caps put on. It's about the same as trimming his claws. After the initial struggle to get all 10 on at once, replacing them as they fall off one or two at a time is no big deal. And it's much less often than if I was only trimming claws. He certainly does not mind them once they're on. And he gets lots of compliments on how fashionable he is.
Soft Paws® Feline (Large)
My dog, Stilgar (GSD x Kuchi Dog mix) is disabled. He had distemper as a puppy due to his mother's owner not vaccinating the litter of puppies. Stilgar is one of the lucky very few puppies who survived distemper (~10%), but it left him with severe disabilities, including full-body uncontrollable myoclonus (muscle twitching), balance issues, and mobility issues. When he walked, he would sometimes "cross" his toes and scratch his toes/pawpads with the claws on the crossed toe, leading to open wounds and bleeding. Even clipping his claws super short and filing them did not help. I then thought of Soft Paws, as I used them years ago on my older cat (admittedly mostly for fashion purposes, lol) and loved them. Lo and behold, they work PERFECTLY to solve Stilly's self-injury problem! Despite him being mostly-outdoors (his livestock guardian breed blood demands outside time), the Soft Paws hold up amazingly well and stay on his claws for weeks. He no longer cuts his own toes open with his own claws. Plus, they look amazing on him and he gets SO many compliments! I just wish the Jumbo dog size came in more colors, haha XD (The cat ones come in a huge variety and I was able to get appropriate sets for all the holidays!) That being said, the solid blue are lovely in color and perfect for my canine gentleman. They do not bother him at all (I'm not sure he even notices he has them on...) and he's never tried to bite or chew them off. Thank you, Soft Paws, for making the Jumbo dog size. You have a fantastic product that helps a disabled doggo have a better life. I'd never buy any other brand of claw caps other than Soft Paws.
Soft Paws® Canine (Medium), Soft Paws® Canine (Jumbo)
