Alternatives to De-Clawing Your Kitten

Whether or not you should de-claw your kitten has become quite a controversial issue. Opinions differ on the matter. Some people see nothing wrong with the practice while others view it as inhumane. De-clawing can also be expensive ranging between $40 and $300 depending on several factors such as your veterinarian, your kitten, and what type of procedure is used. If de-clawing is not for you, yet you still don't want your kitten scratching you or your furniture, here's some alternatives to getting your cat de-clawed.

1. Nail caps. Nail caps are caps that cover your cat's nails and keep it from being able to use its claws to scratch anything. They are applied with adhesive and come in a variety of colors and sizes so you can customize them for your kitty perfectly. They only cost about twenty bucks and last for about six months so you will have to purchase them twice a year, which means your total cost will be about forty bucks a year for your cats nail caps.
2. Nail Trimmers. You could also trim your kitten's nails yourself. You could either trim them with pet nail clippers or with Pedi-Paws. With pet nail clippers, you clip the very tip of your kitten's nails, and then file them to a smooth edge with a nail filer. A pet nail trimming kit only cost between five and ten dollars. Or with Pedi-Paws you turn on the battery-operated filer and apply it to your kitten's nails and file them down that way, and Pedi-Paws costs around twenty dollars. How you choose to trim your kitten's nails are up to you. Some cats are more tolerant of certain methods than others.
3. Scratching posts. If you're one of those people who have a temperamental kitten that, no matter what you do, will not permit you to apply nail caps to its claws or trim them, then scratching posts might be your best bet. You can teach your kitten to use the scratching post by placing the post close to the furniture that your cat normally likes to try to scratch. And a scratching post that has catnip on or around it will catch your kitten's attention as well and maybe persuade it to use it rather than your furniture. You can purchase a variety of different scratching posts ranging from around seven dollars to thirty dollars, depending on where you buy it and the kind you want.

These are the alternatives to having your cat de-clawed. You can cap your kitty's nails, trim them, or buy your kitten a scratching post. You might have to experiment with a couple of methods to find the one that works best for you and your kitten.