As you can see from Molly's face, she isn't pleased with these nail covers.
To answer your immediate thought/question, no, we didn’t paint Molly’s nails (or claws, somedays talons). Our arms would be covered in blood and scratches. Sadly, she is also the most cooperative cat of the quartet when it comes to clipping.
What we finally got around to last night was applying these plastic covers on her nails. First you have to clip the cat, then get someone (Somara) to hold the cat, fill half each cover with adhesive, apply one per nail (we skipped the dewclaw or cat thumb which couldn’t be accessed) and finally, here’s the tricky part…get the animal to stay still for five minutes while the glue dries. I was successful. I only got some of the gunk on my fingers; the last was washed off this morning.
How long do these things last? According to the box, around eight weeks.
Why did we do it? It’s an experiment since the other three are even less cooperative: Miette and Kuroneko get clipped in multiple sessions, Nemo howls as if we’re murdering him (should I prove he’s the hallway pisser, he might be). Experiment in what? To stop them from tearing up a couple pieces of furniture and to halt the minor pain they inflict when they hop up on me with sharp claws. I know there’s no malice with those incidents (except for Nemo) but when I’m lying in a bed, trying to read a book…ouch!
The four of them have also been fighting more often recently. My current theory is there’s a power shift happening as Molly ages. The nail covers may decrease the minor cuts, scratches and abrasions they’re inflicting; I found a scab on Molly’s ear the other day.