Kitty advice, please

I don't believe declawing cats is inhumane at all. It doesn't cut off the toe or pad. Cats also do not use the last bone to walk. Your cat doesn't feel any irregular pain outside of the normal post operation pain. Do you plan on fixing your cat? I'm sure that won't feel too well either. It isn't even necessary for your cats to have their paws shaven or for them to bleed. Laser removal works great and minimizes the recovery time. I have never heard of a cat that was traumatized by the loss of their claws. I have owned many cats and they have all had their front and back claws removed.

Spaying and neutering are done so that there arne't thousands upon thousands of homeless cats and dogs running around fending for themselves (many of which will die very young because they are domestic and nt able to properly care for themselves in the wild). Not to mention that male cats that are not neutered get injured in fights and female cats who have even one litter of kittens have an increased chance of getting cancer.

Declawing is done simply because people care more about asthetics than the animals in their care. No comparison. If you don't want your furniture clawed, don't get a cat. Or work with the cat to ensure the best outcome.

How do you know what kind of pain the cat feels from being declawed? How would you like a bone from each toe removed, plus every nail?

There is nothing inhumane about it. Declawing isn't only for aesthetics. There are many other reasons to declaw a cat. Also, contrary to popular belief, declawing a cat is not comparable to removing a bone or fingernail from the human body. I don't understand how you are coming to this conclusion.

Try google. You will see what everyone is referring to. In fact, there is a website - www.declawing.com - which is run by a vet that explains why a cat needs claws.

I will rip through the world to find you and take that poor kitty off you if you even think about the idea of considering to maybe declaw it.

That is the cruellest thing you could do and I cannot believe people still do it.

please don't.

Worse than dropping it off at a shelter or in the woods somewhere? Or on the side of a road? Really??

For the sake of arguing my point in this situation yes it is worse.

All cats scratch. Scratching is a natural and necessary part of feline life. In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a cat or kitten NOT to scratch.

A cat’s claws are as important to it as your fingers are to you. When you declaw a cat, you aren’t just removing its nails. Declawing removes the tool cats use to grasp; when climbing, running, reaching and any number of activities a cat might engage in

1. Claws are a cats first line (and really only line) of defence, without them in a confrontation its like you have put your cat in the middle of a highway at peak hour traffic, they don't stand a chance.

2. claws are essential for their paw, front leg, shoulder and back health, this relates to their fitness.

3. to catch prey/ have fun, without claws it is estimated that a cat with claws has a 82% more chance to catch dinner than a de clawed cat. so if it escapes/got out one night and couldn't find its way home it would have a s*** all rate of survival. and even though she will keep it inside, we all know cats get out one way or another they always do.

4. declawed cats often stop using their litter, after the operation and sometimes when they are completely healed the pads on their paws are still so tender they cannot handle walking into a litter box.

5.personality changes - generally after a massive operation and such pain afterwards you cat loses all trust it had in you, become either fearful or withdrawn.

6. The same way you need all your toes for walking, cats need those clawed joints to move naturally. In fact, cats need that part of their feet even more because they are far more physical creatures than humans are.

I firmly believe that cats can be trained. More specifically, training a cat to use a scratching post (and other scratching toys) is certainly possible! Cats are smart animals and if consistently trained with love, patience and care…you can turn their destructive behavior around.

I own three wonderful fully clawed cats, I wouldn't change a thing about them and I would never willingly put them in harms way. You choose to declaw you cat, you choose to put that cat through one of the most painful procedures a cat can go through. the physical rehabilitation can be endless, the cons far outweigh the pros (who bloody cares about furniture, if you love your furniture more than your cat you shouldn't have a cat).

Australia, England, Brazil, Japan, Scotland, New Zealand to name a few recognise this as completely barbaric and have made it illegal and i can tell you some US states are looking into that option but once again they are behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to animal safety. - NOT AN ATTACK ON AMERICAN PEOPLE

http://www.declawing.com/

At the end of the day it is up to you but I would strongly advise against declawing, it is cruel and inhumane to be honest. It should be illegal. If you put the time and effort into training your cat, (s)he won't claw your furniture. I've had cats my whole life and our couches are in perfect condition. My cats have a scratch pole and they know that is the ONLY thing in the house that they can claw.

Think of it this way - if you had a child and that child scratched you because it didn't know any better, would you remove your child's nails completely? Or would you teach it not to scratch?

Hurting a living and breathing creature for the sake of your furniture is just... I cannot even fathom it.

ETA:

I firmly believe that cats can be trained. More specifically, training a cat to use a scratching post (and other scratching toys) is certainly possible! Cats are smart animals and if consistently trained with love, patience and care…you can turn their destructive behavior around.

You know how I trained my cats not to claw our furniture? I lifted them away from the couch when they attempted to claw it. None of this shooting them with water, smacking them, and yelling at them business. You need patience and a lot of love!

WE have two cats, and I am really a dog person. When we first got the first cat we wanted to declaw, but then we too discovered how painful it was be to the cat, and I think it demoralize them for life.... sounds a bit silly but we decided not to declaw. We have no problem with furniture and we had one cat for 8 years and the other for 2 years.

this spring we are getting a dog, finally! (we will not declaw the dog either).

I work at two different veterinary clinics.

1 clinic will not even perform the surgery any more as the Doctor thinks it is not worth the pain and potential complications to the pet. The other clinic I work at still performs that procedure (which I have assisted in). If this caused the animal no pain or discomfort, why do we put a Fentanyl patch onto the cat before surgery to help control pain? Why are the legs bandaged so well and why do we require the cats stay with us in hospital for 3 days after the procedure? It is not a simple spay or neuter. The nail and first joint (bone) are taken right off.

We had a couple bring their 2 cats in for declaws. The cats were very uncomfortable in hospital and required additional pain medication on top of the pain patch that delivers narcotic through the skin. 4 days after going home, their one cat had the surgical site on each toe open up. He had to come back in, put back under anesthetic, and have them repaired. Fast forward 2 weeks, their other cat developed an infection in his feet from using the litter box after surgery. The owners regularly come in and say they shouldnt have done the surgery. Their cats wont even jump up and down off the couch due to pain.

Soft paws actually work. I would get your kitten used to playing with his feet and trimming his nails. Do that and the spray bottle route and that should work. If not, you can move to the soft paws.

im a vet tech- please try sofy paws and scratching post etc before declawing- they actually extract the whole nail from the paw
also since it is a kitten- start doing your own kitty pedicures at home - you can get the cat used to doing it and sometimes with cats less is more meaning you dont have to forcable hold them esp if you begin training them early

So... I have not read through any of the responses... just a disclaimer.

I have a kitty. He is indoor (he has to be... he is blind as a bat!!!) We considered De-clawing him because he accidentally put a claw through our bunnies ear... BUT ultimately we opted not to. I cannot speak to the morality or humanity of De-clawing, but... since the incident, we regularly clip his claws, and have had no issues if we keep up with this. Some cats may be more difficult to clip, but with ours, if you catch him mid nap, he barely notices. If you can keep up with the maintenance, and the kitty allows, this may be an option...

We also just got a new kitten in our house (four weeks in our home, 12 weeks old). It's the first non declawed cat we've had.

Things I have found: Provide scratching posts of adequate height in a central area where the cat can access it when ever he/she feels the urge. Encourage the use of this scratching post by playing near it and having the cat claw it in play to introduce them to it.

Make it clear that this is the only object that is to be clawed... and finally cut your cat's claws! I touch, squish, and generally won't leave my kittens feet alone every day so that the process of cutting his claws is simply a matter of holding still.

I'm no expert, but I can clip my kitten's claws without trouble and he uses his scratching post for his clawing. If he starts messing with something else, I reprimand him and find him something to play with. (it seems to have more to do with boredom than anything else, in this case). Good luck! Our previous cats seemed fine after their front claws were removed, but I do think it may cause them some level of distress. Either way, I do think leaving your cat with claws is a viable option and haven't had issue with it (yet).

PLEASE DO NOT DECLAW HIM!!! It's cruel

I'm on my third indoor cat and have never had a problem with scratched furniture. I keep their claws clipped regularly using an ordinary nail clipper. If you train them from an early age, they are happy to let you do that. Just be careful only to clip the end not the quick. http://www.catscratching.com/htmls/article.htm gives very clear instructions.

Only my current cat has used a scratching post and is very good at it, but the others weren't. If you catch him scratching something he shouldn't, squirt some water at him using a small spray bottle - he'll soon learn.

I'm not reading through everyone's advice, just giving my own...forgive me! LOL

I have four cats, I do not believe in de-clawing, all of mine are indoor only. I trim their nails myself once a week. We also have several inexpensive cardboard scratching posts around the house. All of our furniture is fine. :bigsmile:

I'm not reading all the responses, but I am going to school to hopefully become a veterinarian. I have seen this procedure done once and I do not believe it is humane. Although the cat was under anesthesia, the veterinarian cut the claw which is an actual bone completely out. He said its rarely done any other way because they usually wind up growing back if you just clip them down. So instead they remove the entire claw. It is awful to watch, the one I did see there was a ton of blood and he said it wasn't as bad as he has seen. After the cat woke up later on it looked absolutely miserable. I can't imagine how much it must hurt.

Just from seeing the one operation, I would never do this to a cat. The unfortunate part is I will most likely be required to do it once in vet school. Hopefully if I land a job with the SPCA like I want it wont be a frequent operation....it breaks my heart.

Water bottle + water= spray him/her when she claws!!! My cat used to claw the wood in our house, and now she doesnt!!! Declawing is awful.

Yes - please don't declaw - it is removal of an entire digit of the toe. There are side effects of removal.

Better option - in addition to keeping claws trimmed, get the inexpensive corrugated cardboard scratchers. Cats LOVE them. They won't claw furniture if they have something they like scratching on better. If you see it starting to scratch on something, place it on the cat scratcher. It will learn. Get several - one for each room that the cat likes to hang out - so there is always one near by.