Double Happiness

Just a quick post to show some pics taken today at the playground:

(click images to view full size)

Yesterday we finally received the soft claws package from the US, so it was time for a little manicure for Storm. If you recall, we bought that solution after Storm scratched Tristan very badly. We picked the blue pads so it is very easy to spot whether she is still wearing them, or whether some claws need replacement.

Storm was not happy when we fitted the pads, but since then she has tolerated them without a fuss, looks like this solution might really be a winner for us.

The package contained 40 pads, supposedly for 2 full applications (4 legs x 5). In our case, since we are only worried about the front claws, we should have enough for 4 applications, which is great.

Here are some pics of our beautified Storm

In case you haven’t checked the soft claws’ website, this solution causes NO HARM to the cats whatsoever, muuuuuuuch better than declawing.

As you may, or may not, know, we have 3 cats: Storm, Yuki, and XiaoBao. The three of them are all very adorable, but have very different personalities.

XiaoBao is a natural born coward, he spends most of his time hiding somewhere, coming out only for his basic needs (eat, pee, poop). And even then, he will hold on if he senses that any unknown presence is in the house. He’s only really comfortable with Yvonne or me around.

Yuki is the pretty one, she craves affection and does not have an ounce of shyness in her. In fact, she will tolerate a lot of abuse just for the chance of getting a good caress.

Storm is the snobbish one, she likes Yvonne and me and only tolerates the rest of the world. She’s not shy but she just doesn’t care about people. And although Storm likes us for sure, and follows us around, it’s all on her own terms: she likes some distance between her and us, about 1.5m. She comes closer once in a while to get a caress but don’t you try to force her to come closer or force her to stay there.

XiaoBao and Yuki, by their nature, are very peaceful, they have never, and probably will never, scratch or bite. XiaoBao, in uncomfortable situations, only aims to escape. Yuki, might move a bit but will stay around in the hope of getting something back. Storm on the other hand might hiss, scratch or even bite.

This has not been a problem for us because we’ve learned early on to give Storm the space she needed. It’s a problem now though because the babies do not understand that. Storm will not try to harm them. But when Tristan sees her and runs after her, if he manages to corner her, there’s danger for him.

Yesterday, that just happened. Storm was hidden under a cabinet and Tristan spotted her. As he went towards her she panicked and scratched. Apparently cats aim for the eyes. She aimed well. Below is a picture of the result:

It could have been a lot worse...

This is not acceptable and we are very worried. We love our cats but we cannot let them get to the babies’ eyes. We’ve considered declawing, but I cannot bear to do that to Storm, declawing is horrible: it’s basically an amputation of part, or whole, of the last bone of the cat toes. We’ve considered giving her away, but I cannot bear to do that to myself. Storm was our first cat, and we got her when she was only about a month old. She was literally our first baby.

I found an alternate solution called soft paws, which are basically glued-on rubber paddings for cat claws, preventing them to scratch furnitures (and people in the same stride). We’ve ordered a pack yesterday and we hope that it will work out. If not, we’ll have to seriously reconsider the dreaded first and second options again. I don’t want to think about it just yet…