Reaching for declaw alternatives? Four products to recommend

Your cat clients might pounce on these products that can help pause inappropriate scratching. (Shutterstock.com)With the AAFP's new position statement that strongly opposes declawing in cats, your veterinary clinic may decide to no longer offer this procedure in your feline patients and, thus, be on the lookout for surgery-free alternatives to recommend to clients to help them stop the damage caused by a cat's scratching around the house. We scooped up a few ideas to help keep every house beautiful and cat content.

“A pedicure, mais oui! Hold the polish, please.”

Take the edge off the dagger-like destructive power of a cats' claws with the Cord/Cordless Nail Grinder (Andis Company). The grinder comes in two speeds (normal and turbo) and is whisper-quiet to eliminate the fear factor.

“Now that's a solution to set my cap at.”

Cover up a cat's nails with Soft Paws (Soft Paws Inc.), which are vinyl caps that glue onto a cat's nails-just place adhesive in the cap and slide it on. The caps and glue are nontoxic to cats, and the caps come off naturally and require replacement every four to six weeks.

“Is that piece of furniture just for me?”

Scratching posts are the traditional go-to for redirecting a cat's itch to scratch. If your clients want something fun for cats that's also out of the way, you might recommend the Cat Climber (Pioneer Pet). It hangs over the top of a door and features multiple climbing platforms alongside a sisal scratching post. A clawing solution and environmental enrichment in one!

“This smells like a place I can really dig into.”

Clients can train their cats to redirect their cat-astrophic clawing behavior to scratching posts with the help of Feliscratch by Feliway (Ceva Animal Health). The pheromone solution has been clinically proven to stop and prevent horizontal and vertical scratching on unwanted items.