Don't Declaw.Get Sticky Paws!

Angela Ruben stretched her back and arms and then she rubbed the bottom of her feet. I am "bone tired" she thought as she stood up to pack her company's display booth. She and her husband Chris had just completed marketing the Sticky Paws product line for Fe-Lines, Inc. (Fe-Lines) at the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (APPMA) trade show in Orlando, Florida. They both loved working trade shows but it was physically and mentally brutal. In addition to setting up and tearing down the exhibit booth, they both constantly stood for ten hours each day to encourage buyers at the trade show to learn about the Sticky Paws product line. Generally there was hardly any time to eat or take a bathroom break. Performance at the trade show set the pace for sales for the upcoming year.Overall, the two days have been successful. Although they had only been working with the owner of Fe-Lines, Bonnie Pemberton, for a year now, the Rubens were excited about the progress they have made in growing the company! Chris startled Angela as he walked up and exclaimed: "hey, Sticky Paws won the "Cat Fancy" Editor's Choice Award.. .1 am so stoked! We have to call Bonnie and tell her the good news!"COMPANY BACKGROUNDBonnie Pemberton worked in Los Angeles, California, in broadcasting as a voice over performer. She loved her job and enjoyed the challenge of effectively communicating in the different roles she played. When she was not working, she volunteered for several community organizations including a no kill animal shelter. She was an avid cat lover and wanted to help get as many cats as possible adopted. Being around the cats was always difficult because she wanted to bring them home. But she knew that she couldn't have a house full of cats so she enjoyed the time she spent with all of them at the shelter.One day when she arrived at the shelter she found a box of kittens that someone had dropped off outside of the building. She immediately fell in love with the smallest of the litter. He acted very courageous and tried to protect his three larger siblings from her. This bravery earned him a new home - she couldn't resist him. Soon after adopting Buddy, she learned that she needed to return to Fort Worth, Texas, to help care for her mother. After being in Fort Worth for a few months, Bonnie realized that the broadcasting opportunities she had in Los Angeles were not going to be available for her. She had to reinvent herself.As Buddy grew, he started to use her furniture to sharpen his claws. Bonnie had a lot going on with the care of her mom and trying to discover her new career path. It was a tough time and the last thing she needed was to have to buy new furniture! He also started shredding draperies, wood, and her house plants - he was an equal opportunity destroyer. She researched ways to stop Buddy from this path of destruction and found that there really wasn't anything on the market that was effective. It seemed as though declawing was the only option to eliminate the daily sharpening. Bonnie researched the declawing process and was horrified to learn of the potential problems cats experience as a result of declawing. In addition to the pain, infection often invades cats' paws after they have been declawed. Curing this infection often took a lot of time and money. She was not shocked to learn that cats were abandoned or surrendered to shelters for two main reasons: scratching/destroying furniture and the behavioral change in cats associated with de-clawing, including inappropriate elimination.Clearly, Bonnie faced a dilemma. She could not allow Buddy to destroy thousands of dollars' worth of home furnishing and plants. However, after her research, she simply could not have Buddy declawed. She continued her trip to pet stores in search of a product that could help train Buddy not to scratch and shred. During this time Bonnie also started to experiment with potential solutions she invented. Finally she found that a double sided adhesive application she developed worked. …