Never had thought of pipe cleaners. Have used old panty hose in the past too and it does work well. But the last several years I've used the green rolls of nylon tape for tomato plants as it's easy to use, stretch, and cut/snap into the right lengths. Another plus, once the growing season is over I'll recycle the tapes by cleaning them up in a bucket of water/bleach to prevent any possible pathogens spreading to next year's plants.

For one thing - runsnwalken - I have worked for and volunteered at MANY MANY MANY cat shelters, rescues, and organizations - NONE of them ever used the adoption fee to pay for declawing the cat! Especially since the adoption fee barely covers (usually it doesn't!) the care given to the cat. When adopting a cat from a legitimate rescue or shelter, the cat should have all its shots and vaccs up to date. Usually, rescues also neuter and spay the cats as well. For cats too young to get spayed or neutered, most rescues will either give you a voucher/rebate or schedule a time when you can bring your new pet to their vet and have it spayed neutered at no cost to you. Given that shots, vaccs, spaying, and neutering is so expensive why would a rescue or shelter take perfectly good cats and have them declawed when all that's going to do is cost them more money! And basically, you're scaring people away from adopting a cat and paying a reasonable fee for adopting. In my eyes, the rescues much deserve the adoption fees they charge - it costs a lot of money to care for a pet and 99.9% of the time, the adoption fees only cover the shots and maybe the spay/neuter. They don't cover all the food and medications and time spent caring for that pet. It's highly unlikely (nearly impossible) that a rescue would spend more of their money (when they have barely any money at all anyway) on declawing cats. And the whole thing about rescues and shelters giving dead bodies to food companies...maybe some hole-in-the-wall, small town shelters do that, but I seriously doubt that it's common. One book does not an expert make. Anyone can write a book about anything. Doesn't mean it's true. Sorry for rambling. That whole thing just really ticked me off. As for the soft paws, they do work but you need to know your cat first. Some cats really tolerate them well. Most cats get really irritated when you put them on, but once they are on they don't notice them. Other cats hate them and chew on them until they come off. I, personally, have never had problems. And actually, you don't always have to keep putting them on. My sister-in-law only had to put them on her cats for about 3 months. The whole time, whenever the cats would act like they were scratching at her furniture or carpets, she would scold them and place them at a scratching post. When the cats would scratch on the post, she would give them a treat. Now, her cats don't wear the soft paws anymore and they don't scratch at anything they're not supposed to. I've just started putting them on my kittens and they're doing fine with them. They never really scratched at furniture or anything, but they did use their claws to climb up furniture and after they tried to climb up my expensive leather ottoman, I went out and bough the soft claws. Now, they can't climb on stuff and I'm training them on where they can use their claws. I only have to replace 2 or 3 caps a week and that's mainly because they're kittens and their nails grow faster. Here are my tips to you: 1) Have a partner with you who can help you! If one isn't available, or if you ever need to replace a cap by yourself, wear long and thick rubber gloves. Wrap the cat tightly in an old towel with just the foot out and do it fast! 2) Make sure to reward the kitties after you cap their claws. After a few times, they won't resist and they will actually enjoy having their nails capped. Of course, some cats have different temperaments and they may never like it at all. 3) Make sure to clip the nails but only just the sharp, pointy part. Definitely don't clip too close to the quick! 4) Before gluing the caps on, try them on the claw without the glue first, just in case. Some cats don't fit in the sizing guidelines. This way, you might be able to exchange them for a different size. 5) If you have a long haired cat, you might consider trimming the hair on the feet back a bit. Sometimes if you get the hair stuck in the glue or in the cap, it really irritates them and they will chew the cap off. I have to trim the hair back on my kitties feet a little. It helps! 6) If you're still having troubles, you might consider finding a vet or groomer (groomer would be cheaper!) who would help you put the claws on. Some will do it for a pretty reasonable fee and after you watch them do it, you can usually figure it out on your own. Oh - and they also sell soft paws at Target and they're cheaper than pet stores. At Target sells them in store where I live. Just an FYI. Good luck!

My cat's nails used to snag the sofa when she walked on it, though she never intentionally clawed the furniture. Next time you go to the vet, ask to have them show you how closely you clip the claws. It's possible you aren't clipping close enough. Also you might want to use a regular cat claw clipper instead of a human style clipper. Maybe then the claws will have fewer snags. You could also get a pretty throw and put it across the loveseat for now. I know he uses his clawing post, but another thing our cat loves is the cardboard clawing box, the one that sits flat on the floor, you put a little catnip in it to pique the kitty's interest. Just a Christmas idea for His Majesty. Get the velour seat; leather is too cold. Aerobeds are pretty tough, so I don't think you need to worry about that. If he did puncture it, it would just deflate. Don't get kitty declawed.

Yes. We have had two cats with this. Stomatitis has nothing to do with the type of food they eat, although Lydia's suggestion of food to keep the tartar from building up might help. Although soft food might be easier with inflamed gums and throat. Our cat's stomatitis was caused by a virus that all cats are exposed to, but some with weakened immune systems cannot shed and they become chronic carriers. Because of the pain in their mouths they tend to stop eating, so it's imperative that you feed them whatever they are willing to accept. There is some theory that this might be related to a food allergy, but no studies have verified this. You might try experimenting with different foods, but again, don't try to force them into eating something they won't accept. It's caused by either a Feline Herpes (not contagious to humans) or a Calicivirus virus. When we adopted Boots the ulcers had gone all the way down his throat. You need to do a couple of things. First, Lysine, lysine, lysine! Lysine interferes with the Herpes virus' ability to replicate, so maintenance doses will keep the virual load down, and this helps to alleviate the symptoms. We get the 500 mgm capsules from Solaray. The maintenance dosage is 250 mgms twice a day. For severe flare ups you can go to 500 mgms twice a day. I open the capsule, put 1/2 or the whole thing into a little bit of canned food gravy, pull it up into a syringe without a needle and just squirt it into their mouth. It's a little bitter and some cats get upset tummies, so you need to be sure they have eaten first. Secondly, because of the ulcerations it's imperative they have their teeth checked and cleaned frequently because the bleeding gums can open up a pathway for infection. The vet might prescribe an antibiotic if the gums are bad. Next, because these viruses are usually a symptom of an immune problem these cats cannot tolerate steroids. If the vet MUST use a steroid to halt the inflammation you need to watch for secondary symptoms of the virus which can be either eye infections or an upper respiratory problem. We have had to use steroids twice - once on Boots and once on Sammy to get the problem under control. Boots developed a secondary URI and Sammy developed a Herpes eye ulcer. Both were controlled with other medications but it took a while because viruses don't respond to antibiotics. A better choice for inflammation is a non steroidal anti-inflammatory called Metacam. Lastly, let me tell you that Boots lived to be 17 and Sammy is now 20 - both indoor only cats. This problem can be managed but I will tell you that the Lysine is the absolute best thing you can do for it. And stay away from steroids unless there is no other option because the steroids suppress the immune system and can possibly lead to secondary symptoms occurring. This post was edited by tally on Thu, Dec 5, 13 at 10:53