Kitty using wood for scratching post

Question
To start, my problem is that my ten year old neutered male cat is sharpening his claws on not only my brand new wood furniture but the doorways and such. He's never done it before..  I have had nim two years. Um... any way I can get him to stop this? We have a scratching post and he does use it as well. Also have a black two year old male neutered cat as well as a old tiger-striped cat (ten years old, neutered) both of whom I have had 'since their births.

Answer
Hello Andrea!

It's so frustrating to have your kitties scratching furniture and such that you love.  I do have a good idea for you.

There's a relatively new product out now called either Soft Claws or Soft Paws (same product, two different companies, so different names).  You can check it out at www.softpaws.com or www.softclaws.com.  The product is a vinyl cap that you adhere to your kitty's claws with an adhesive much like superglue.  The cap then remains until the claw sheds naturally in about four weeks' time, at which time it falls off with the layer of nail that was shed.

All you do is trim your kitties' nails, out the adhesive in the nail cap, then slide the cap onto the kitty's claw.  If your kitties aren't quite in favor of you touching their paws, take a few minutes a day and massage their paws.  If you do this for about a week, it'll be easier to do the Soft Claws.

Another thing you can do is ask your vet to do the first full set of Soft Claws, so you can see how easy it is.  Most vets just charge what they normally would for just a simple vet visit.

Our kitties have Soft Claws, and they're GREAT!  They're no longer able to scratch the furniture, or hurt us while we're playing with them (in the cases where they get a little too wild), which is nice, since our six-year-old daughter wasn't too keen on getting scratched.  :o)

Let me know what you think!  :o)

Hugs to you all!

Rosie