The Kitten Chronicles: Meet Finn!

 As an owner of a small business, a mother of two, and already having a fair number of pets, I was not in the market for another cat.  Sometimes however, a kitten comes along who gives you no say in the matter.
At Copper Hill Animal Clinic, we run our own kitten rescue. I tend to admire those cats from afar and avoid getting attached to any of these little charmers.  Finn came to us for an eyelid abnormality from Forgotten Angels cat rescue and I found myself cuddling him daily after his surgery. When I heard he would shortly be picked up, I started to worry that whoever adopted him wouldn’t appreciate how wonderful he was. That’s when I realized I had a problem. So I found myself the proud owner of a four month old cat. He is my first kitten ever as I have always adopted adults.
As he raced wildly from one end of the house, clawed at the furniture and climbed our legs like trees, we remembered one of the things about kittens we had forgotten. Though cats have retractable claws and adult cats usually have the decorum to sheath them, this little rascal used his nails as much as he could. Though we sternly told him “no” his enthusiasm was quite unquenchable. Twenty years ago declawing would have been a solution, but now we understand that declawing is an amputation and can lead to chronic pain, so obviously that is not an option. Fortunately, a better solution already exists. We promptly purchased some Soft paws in a blue glitter color and glued them over Finn’s sharp little daggers. After six to eight weeks they will fall off and we will replace them. Now he can act like a kitten, and we are safe from his shenanigans. As he grows older he will learn about the delicacies of sheathing his claws when he jumps into my lap and in a few years it will no longer be a concern. And until then, he will be quite stylish in his glittery nails!
Copper Hill Animal Clinic is located at 27935 Seco Canyon Road in the CVS shopping center. Please call 661-296-8848 to schedule an appointment.