I do have 5 cats, though, and I had seen videos of them in action (sadly, I don’t have one of those for you here. It would have been too hard to make one and brush Mr. Baby Cat one handed.) They just looked so impressive! I’ve seen the video of someone using it on a big dog at the vet’s office and there are just piles and piles of hair!

So eventually I acquired one and when I actually remember to use it, it really is awesome. I have another comb that gets used some too, but it’s more to keep my one kitty detangled, since he develops clumpy mats in his mane. Poor Muffin! He even had to get shaved last summer. He looked ridiculous. So now I comb him pretty much every day, sometimes multiple times.

When I want to get a lot of extra hair off, though, I go straight for the Furminator. Here’s a video of what you get after just a couple minutes of furmination! And I’ve seen worse!

Enter Softpaws to save the day!

“Soft Paws® are vinyl nail caps that are glued on to your cat’s existing nails. They look like a cat’s nail, only hollow.”

They claim it’s as easy as sliding the adhesive filled caps over the cat’s nails. This is true in theory but giving a cat a manicure isn’t quite as easy as they make it sound. Usually I have to sneak up on them and do it little by little so they don’t catch on. This is mostly successful. By the end of it I’m usually sitting on them to get them to cooperate. But cooperate they do. Oh sweet victory! They last for a long time and are pretty affordable.

And after the fighting, the wrestling and the capping are done? It’s like having new cats! Grandma’s Christmas present remains in one piece. I can stand facing the counter without fear. If Biscuit tries his little tree-climbing maneuver on me, I’ll feel his little soft paws hit the back of my leg before he slides back to the floor with a thump. My hands are bandage free.

Pretty much any scratchy kind of thing the cats might want to do is now softer and safer. They still try, it just doesn’t make me threaten them any more. For a while anyway.

Yay for Softpaws!

(Softpaws review)