Use of SoftPaws on rabbits

[Jaguara]

we have some expensive slate flooring in our home and my hubby keeps saying that Cinnabun’s nails are ”ruining it”.  Now I know that isnt the case since slate is stupid hard, but what he is noticing is the sealent being scratched which is an easy fix. I mentioned soft paws to him and I was wondering if any one has tried them before on their rabbit.

[Monkeybun]

I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t even use them on cats. Just seems wrong.

[Jaguara]

can you please elaborate on why you feel its wrong?

[Monkeybun]

Well, its somethign that attaches to their claws, right? Well, bunnies freak out easily enough as it is, and gluing something to their claws would just cause far too much stress. And you’d have to redo it constantly as their nails grow fast.

[Jaguara]

I couldnt imagine that it would be any more stressful than when you normally clip their nails, it just adds an extra step. If you can trance your rabbit while you do it and they stay calm how is there an issue? You only have to replace them as they fall off, and in the event that all of them fall off at once and you have to replace them and they last about a month, to me that would be a pretty normal nail clipping schedule any way.

[peppypoo]

Maybe you could just file their nails a little when you clip them? My main concern would be that the bunnies might ingest the softpaws.

[Jaguara]

I actually do that now, still scratches the floor. I cant imaging that if he managed to get one off and then proceeded to eat it that it would be any worse than if he decided to chew his plastic litter box and eat that, as long as he had plenty of hay it should pass fairly easily. (which he of course has unlimited access to as much hay as he wants at all times)

[Beka27]

Rabbits use their nails to assist with daily grooming. I would be concerned about that causing issues in that regard.

[Tate]

Hmmm… Firstly, the pet store I used to work at sold Soft Paws and everyone that bought them, returned them. They don’t last. My concern is that you won’t be replacing them monthly, but DAILY. That’s a lot of work, stress, and money.
Secondly, and this is totally for you to decide… How will her quality of life be affected if you DON’T get the SoftPaws? We can brainstorm other solutions but let’s just say there is no alternative and you decide not to use SoftPaws. Will she be stuck in a cage? Put outside? Given away? Etc, etc… There’s always going to be some kind of “lesser than two evils” situation that arise. Is the money and stress and potential blockages/vet care worth it?
I don’t have any suggestions as to what else to do. Sorry! I have to imagine someone else has dealt with something similar though, so hopefully someone will reply!

[Sarita]

Your rabbit is very young isn’t he? Usually when they are very young their nails are very soft, so I think you are right that his nails cannot be scratching the floors and the bottoms of his paws are fur.

Could it be something else like shoes that is scratching the sealant?

[Jaguara]

@Tate
if in the event that we decide to not use softpaws then things would remain as they are now, he will still get time out of his cage and he will still be indoors. He will never be an outdoor rabbit for a few reasons, the two main ones are, we live in Phoenix, AZ and it gets HOTHOTHOT HAWT!! in the summer time and we live in a condo. I also wouldn’t consider giving him away when I did all of my homework before we got a rabbit and my husband is being stubborn and thinks that he knows it all >.>

@Sarita
he is 4 months old, and it is unfortunately defiantly him who is scratching the sealant, we dont wear shoes in the house. he kinda gets spazzy and likes to, I kid you not spring out of his litter/diggy box and Slide on the floor and of course its always in the same areas. Im personally not too worried about the long term damage as the sealant can be redone at any time. My husband, on other hand has mentioned *cringe* wanting to have him declawed…but I would NEVER do that to any animal it is cruel and just not right. Thankfully I some how convinced him that they dont do that for rabbits, which he believed by some miracle. But I know in the long run that until Cinnabun continues to grow on him (slowly but steadily) he will still fight me on the floor.

[Sarita]

Is your husband obsessive about a clean home :~) Not that there is anything wrong with that, I’m the same way. I can get persnickety on keeping my house clean too – my husband is not nearly the neat freak I am – not even close. Sounds like you have it all under control! Remind him that Cinnabun is young and will eventually calm down (you hope).

[kralspace]

Odds are 10 to 1 my bunnies would eat anything I put on their feet.

[Stickerbunny]

I would rather use them on a cat than declaw, but I wouldn’t use them on a cat as it stops them being able to retract the claw… and that has to be uncomfortable for them after a while! For a bun, I would be worried about them eating it (it’s vinyl, not plastic and neither is good for tummies) or the glue and also it would stop them being able to groom properly. Powder uses his back nails A LOT in grooming. And a bun would likely be knocking them off all the time since the glue is non-toxic and doesn’t hold as well as say super glue.

If your hubby is so concerned about the floor sealant, why not get a rug for the areas he is scratching? Or one of those clear vinyl coverings for floors? Then he could scratch up the rug/cover but not the floor itself. When he’s not around or when you have guests you could roll the cover up and that is that.

[Jaguara]

Posted By kralspace on 09/08/2011 02:45 PM
Odds are 10 to 1 my bunnies would eat anything I put on their feet.

LOL

@Sarita
Neat freak doesn’t even describe it. Its like crazy obsessive, you should see the routine I have to go through to pick up just one rabbit raisin…its insane… @.@
I keep trying to explain to him that Cinnabun is a really well behaved rabbit. His testicles dropped and we are getting him neutered yesterday and so far not one ounce of bunny hormones are noticeable. he still acts the same as when we first got him a sweet sweet bunny ^_^

[Jaguara]

@stickerbunny
Cause he is stubborn and it will “ugly up the place” he barely tolerates the few things I managed to keep downstairs for Cinnabun as it is now. We actually never have any one over, so I dont know why he is picky about how it looks to in order to keep things from being damaged. What ever, I tried to talk to him about it and again like I mentioned, he is just subborn and wont budge.

[Stickerbunny]

Tell him he can pick out a nice looking rug then!

[Jaguara]

LOL, he wont listen but eventually I will win. >;D

He still tells me that we will never get another rabbit. LMAO >.> yeah cause that is gunna happen. about a year ago we got our first pets together, two robo hamsters, Cinnamon and Meats. Now we have 4 robo hamsters and a rabbit. He never wanted the pets in the first place, but Cinnamon is his baby and it seems I keep winning the pet battles so eventually someday I will prevail!

[TriBun]

First, as an interior designer, I KNOW her nails are not hurting the floor at all. As a man, I think your husband is worried about his investment. Reassure him that the floor is fine. You are correct that it is just the sealant and if the slate is not in a kitchen or bathroom, the sealant is just a precaution. Second, my mother-in-law used to get those SoftPaws for her cats and they don’t work. Tate is right about having to replace them daily. They come off very easy and one of her cats wouldn’t even walk with them on. Animals HATE them.

If you’re already filing her nails that’s the best you can do.

[Stickerbunny]

lol hrm, your husband would love my female rabbit – she destroyed our brand new (less than 6 month old) carpet completely

If he doesn’t like anything that looks like it’s there, you could get something like http://www.bltllc.com/clear_floor_protector.htm

 

… roll it out when bun is playing, roll it up and store it away when bun is away. He only has to deal with a slightly shinier floor for exercise time. lol

[Jaguara]

yeah I figured his nails wernt that bad since I get scratched quite a bit and he hasnt broken skin yet. He hates being placed on his back and will fight me but I have to do if Im to keep his nails trimmed and to keep an eye on his teeth.

that plastic cover thing may be a good idea, but I really think that my husband still protest and in the end will eventually get over it and deal with the floor and Cinnabun’s nails. He has gotten over Cinnabun chewing the ends of the wine bottles he collects XD. I dont blame the rabbit at all I blame my husband because he refused to make them inaccessible to Cinnabun. So if he wants to be stubborn I think that I may just let him be stubborn till he realizes that he needs to give a little more.

[Stickerbunny]

Probably. Men like to be stubborn like that. My boyfriend leaves his socks on the floor – first time he found the heel chewed out of one of them, he got mad. I told him if he didn’t like it, don’t leave them on the floor. He still leaves them on the floor, but he doesn’t complain any more. lol

[Beka27]

The bun would probably prefer having a rug for exercise time. I’ll bet he doesn’t get enough traction on that floor. Is there somewhere else with carpeting he can be relocated to?

[Jaguara]

unfortunately no, title is cooler and easier to keep clean in the desert

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

My only concern is-are; hubby worried about ruin via bunny nail; not possible Just worried that hubby may have a long break-in period to get used to bunnies (lol so did Dave)

Next concern; bunnies can and will chew on their nails so that’s my concern there. On cats they are fine, cats wear them safely all the time. In fact it helps those people who would declaw their cats, with an alternative. I think soft paws are AWESOME!!! My concern is a bunny would chew them off.

And lastly ditto on bunnies loving carpet-my bunnies have not left their room (Except briefly) in two years because of the flooring we chose. They just love carpeting and other tracky flooring.

Regardless-be it real slate, bunny nails wouldn’t hurt it at all. Tell hubby to be patient H

[RabbitPam]

I agree with K&K and the others and I think she put it well. It sounds like hubby is a bit on the far end of the spectrum when it comes to sharing his environment with others, human and animal, and needs to learn a bit about compromise.

I found a great variety of area rugs at Target that are low pile, attractive, safe for bunnies and good traction. The baby bunny (4 months is still young) will do many things that it will eventually outgrow.

[KatnipCrzy]

If you do decide to try Soft Paws- the cat ones definietly will not work because of the curve of a cats nail- look at their website. Possibly dog ones might work if you can get them small enough- but they will be difficult to put on and possible painful for the rabbit. Rabbits paws are just not like a dogs or cats- they have no pads and a LOT of hair. The amount a glue you need to have in a nailcap for it to stay on- some will ooze out when applied to the nail and will stick into the fut- and that is the bunnies only protection for their toes. I am concerned that if they tried to remove the nail caps they will rip out the fur that is also affected by the glue.
I have applied Soft Paws to hundreds of cats- I don’t think it is cruel but they are high maint. Once you get the initial set on- they don’t fall off all at once- so you need to reapply the missing ones often and check the ones that are still on to make sure the nail does not overgrow without shedding the nail cap.

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