Putting nail caps on your cat

Does your cat love to ignore the scratching post and sink their claws into your furniture instead? Nail caps or claw guards are a great solution to protect your furniture and your skin without declawing your cat, which is a procedure that all Globalvet clinics stopped performing in January 2019. Nail caps are vinyl caps that are glued to a cat’s claws that still allow their normal, instinctive behaviour.

Before you try to put nail caps on your cat, get them used to having their paws touched. Then All you have to do is pick the right position and the right moment—then putting the caps on will be a breeze! To learn more about the basic rules for pet hygiene, read our article.

KEY POINT

• Nails caps are meant to be temporary. Once your cat learns to use its scratching post, you can stop using the caps.
• Once the caps are on, they shouldn’t prevent your cat from retracting its claws. If they do, please contact us.

WHAT YOU NEED

You can pick up everything you need at one of our stores.

• Your kitty’s favourite treats
• Nail clippers

• Vinyl nail caps* (e.g., Masked Claw®, Soft Paws®)
• Adhesive
• An applicator for the adhesive

*Choose the right size caps for your pet. Refer to the size chart provided by the company.

WHAT TO DO

• Clip your cat’s nails first. Read our article for more instructions on this step.
• Fill one third of the cap with the glue provided.
• Gently squeeze the cap to coat the inside of it with glue.
• Get your cat to extend its claws by holding their paw between your thumb and forefinger and gently pressing on the pad.
• Slide the cap onto the claw, being careful not to get any glue on your cat’s fur.
• Hold the cap in place for a few seconds before releasing it.

Here is a short video of our team demonstrating how to put the caps on.

The caps should last for four to six weeks. If one of the caps falls off, simply repeat the steps above to put on a new one. If any caps have not fallen off after eight weeks, snip off the end of with a pair of nail clippers. This should make the cap easy to remove.

Feel free to share pictures of your cat’s snazzy new claws with us on Facebook or Instagram!