Our Wild Cats

As you may recall, we took custody of two cats (Daisy & Jack) in July. They belong to someone Dave works with and are with us for an indefinite period. Like pretty much everything else in HK, having them is like nothing we've ever experienced.

Our cat, Clancy, who had to get a new home before we moved, was a big fur ball that flopped on his back whenever he was happy, scared, or unmotivated to move any further...he really was lazy, exerting as little energy as possible (Clancy was a purebred Ragdoll - Dave says the cat was bred right out of him).

These cats, on the other hand, have boundless energy. They don't flop. They jump, run, and scratch. They are incredibly curious and are into everything. I guess you could say they are real cats!

While it is funny to see a cat leg hanging off the top shelf in my closet, cats jumping on the table to take drinks out of my water glass is less amusing (though I must admit, I admire their independent thinking and bravery).

I can't be as generous about their scratching. They came with a scratching post that appeared very well used, but they quickly abandoned it for our upholstered chair and leather furniture. No amount of spraying them with water (I think Dave secretly takes pleasure in this "sport"), saying NO! firmly, or any of the other "gentle" training methods have worked. I was ready to get these little creatures declawed when I learned that it's illegal in HK.

The situation was getting pretty dire when I found a miracle product online, promising to rid our cats of the scratching habit. Soft Paws. They are vinyl "caps" that go over a cat's nails, making it impossible for the cat to shred furniture. Even better, they came in a variety of colors! I opted for purple rather than buying the seasonally popular (at the time) Halloween-themed nails. Needless to say, Dave was positively thrilled at the prospect putting nail caps on our cats!

The Soft Paws arrived, but it took us a few weeks to summon the courage to actually apply them. It was a two person operation: Dave held; I trimmed and glued. Jack, the worst scratching offender, is the more docile of the two cats so we started with him. He wasn't excited about the situation, but he went along with it. Daisy, on the other hand, began putting up a fight before we even got started. She writhed, hissed, and snarled. Her long, sharp claws were out, ready to attack. After trimming just two of Daisy's nails, we decided that the damage that she would inflict on us would far exceed anything she could do to the furniture, so she got a free pass.

Here is Jack sporting his K-State purple paws...




As for the results - the scratching has decreased. Just seeing Jack's paws may have diminished Daisy's desire to destroy. Meanwhile, Jack is fervently trying to chew the Soft Paws off. Let's hope if he succeeds, he doesn't try to make up for lost time...or seek revenge.

If you see a headline of "Expatriates Mauled by Housecat in Hong Kong", you'll know what happened!