Guide

How to take your cat's paw print at home

Without holding their paw and without waking them up. With a cat, you do not choose the moment: you choose to be ready when it arrives.

3 min read · 5 min process, on whatever day they choose

What you need

  • The kit that comes with your PETJA. Their paw does not touch the ink: it sits underneath, under a protective film.
  • The spot where they already sleep. Do not move them to another room: you lose the only advantage you have.
  • Someone to give you a hand, if your cat takes it well. If not, it is better to do it alone: two people leaning over them puts them on guard.
  • A day when you are not in a hurry. With a cat, rushing guarantees you will not get it done.

Nothing else. No paint, no mud, and nothing to clean up afterwards — least of all from a paw that is going to be licked.

Step by step

The paw of a tabby cat resting on the protective film of the PETJA paw print kit, held between hands

The leg rests on the protective film. The ink remains underneath, sealed.

  1. 01

    Wait for them to choose the moment

    With a dog, you choose. With a cat, you do not. The good moment comes after eating or in the middle of a nap, when they are lying on their side and stretched out. If they are sitting with their paws tucked underneath, it is not the moment: get everything ready and wait.

  2. 02

    Leave the kit within their reach a while before

    Put it close, in plain sight, and do not touch it. A new object that suddenly appears under their paw puts them on alert; one that has been there for ten minutes no longer exists for them.

  3. 03

    Look between the toes

    Cats have fur between their pads, and that fur is what blurs the print. If it sticks out too much, push it to the sides with your finger as you press down. There is no need to cut anything.

  4. 04

    Bring the kit to the paw, not the paw to the kit

    This is the big difference. You do not hold a cat's paw: as soon as they feel they cannot pull it back, they pull it back. Hold the kit with one hand and press it up against the pad from below, with the paw where it already was.

  5. 05

    Press more lightly than you think

    Their pad is much smaller and softer than a dog's. If you press too hard, the lines merge and you get a smudge. A couple of seconds of firm, gentle contact is enough. Take the kit away straight, without twisting it.

  6. 06

    Two tries, and that is enough for today

    If they pull their paw back a second time, put everything away and try again another day. Nothing is ruined: the kit comes with two identical cards, and your patience comes back with a night's sleep. A cat that associates the kit with a struggle will never let you.

Seeing it once is worth more than reading it three times

The full process, uncut. In the video you only see the hand: the gesture is the same.

Common mistakes

With cats, almost everything is lost in the first ten seconds. Four things to know before you approach them.

Holding their paw

The natural reflex is to grab and squeeze. With a cat, that is exactly what does not work: the paw tenses, the toes spread, and the claws come out. Hold the kit, not the animal.

Waking them up to do it

It seems like the ideal moment, and it is the worst. A cat woken up by having its paw handled will startle, and from then on there is no second chance that day. Wait until they are awake but relaxed.

Expecting a complete paw print

Almost none of them come out whole. What is normal for a cat is the central pad clearly marked and two or three toes, not all four. That is not a flaw: it is the actual size of their paw and that is how it stays.

Trying with a back paw

It is harder to get without holding it, and the print comes out narrower. Always start with a front paw, which also has the extra toe and gives a more recognisable shape.

Frequently asked questions

What if my cat won't let me do it no matter what?

It happens, and it does not always have a solution in one afternoon. What works is to spread it out: one attempt today, another the day after tomorrow, without insisting. Many paw prints appear on the fourth day, not the first.

If it is an older cat or an unwell one, do not force anything. Write to us and we will talk it through: sometimes the best paw print is a partial one taken in ten seconds.

Does their paw get stained?

No. The kit contains ink — which creates the dense black and all the grooves — but it is on the underside, under a protective plastic film. Their paw only touches that film. It comes out as clean as it went in.

This matters especially with cats: if they got dirty, they would clean their paw straight away and swallow whatever was on it.

Do their claws need to be out?

No, and it is not a good idea to try. The paw print comes from the pads, not the claws. If you press to make them come out, you tense the whole paw and the result gets worse.

Does a cat's paw print look good in gold foil?

Yes, and it usually looks better than people expect. Because it is smaller and the toes are more spread out, the gold foil stands out very sharply on the paper, especially if you choose black paper.

I have a dog and a cat — can they go together on one sheet?

Yes. Take each paw print separately, on the same sheet or on two, and send us the photograph. We put them together into the same piece at actual size, each at its true size — which is part of the beauty.

Do you have a dog?

The technique changes quite a bit: with a dog you can hold their paw and position it yourself, which makes the process much faster. I have explained that separately.

How to take your dog's paw print

Their paw print doesn't exist yet. Let's create it.

We send the kit to take the paw print with no ink on their paw to your home. Once the print is how you want it, we apply the gold foil by hand onto 180 g paper and send it to you framed.

Create my PETJA

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