Declawing cats

[Meenah]

Any thoughts on declawing cats? I have always had cats and never had them declawed, BUT I'm seriously thinking about it this time. These two cats can do some serious damage. I have tried cutting their nails but that has turned into a really dangerous mission for me. I cannot believe how many scars I now have. They don't go outside so that isn't the isssue, but it seems so cruel.

[rainbabies]

our cats are declawed. my cat pre dh had it done when she was a kitten. dh's cat..pre me..had it done when she was 5. the vet encouraged me to do it sooner than later if i wanted it done. she prefered to do it before they were over 5yrs old. both cats never missed a beat. they still kneed things and they manage to slap the crap out of the dogs with good effect just fine.
good luck with your decision!

[DCJenn]

Mine aren't because someone told me it's like cutting your fingers off the the first knuckle.

and they escape all the freaking time and we have tons of dogs that roam the 'hood.

Jenn

[Rapunzel]

We had both of ours fully declawed (front and back) when they were young (less than a year old).

Best thing we could have done (outside of getting kittens whose mama litter trained them VERY well)!

Both cats recovered from the surgery within a couple of days. They do still "knead" everything (and, I know that all of those things would be ripped to shreds right now if they had those claws). They wrestle with each other. They do NOT bite. They haven't had any sensitivity or other problems (such as lameness). They use normal clumping litter which doesn't appear to cause them any problems.

They are exclusively indoor cats, however. They don't have their back claws so they WOULD end up dead pretty quickly I think if they got out. But, since they have always been exclusively indoor cats we don't have any problems - they have no desire to roam. In fact, the one time the female cat accidentally was shooed out of the house by a visitor she roamed the yard frantically crying very loudly until dh came out and "rescued" her and brought her back inside.

But, I don't have cats climbing the curtains (literally), sharpening their claws on our furniture, accidentally digging into my leg when they want to leap away, etc. It's been a very, very good investment for us and the cats.

Forgot to add: The cats managed to put our dog in his place when we got him (and, he was a good 45 lb puppy when he came to our home). The female bopped him on the nose a couple of times hissing loudly when he got too close for her comfort. After that he was terrified of displeasing her - and this is a dog that isn't afraid of a mountain lion. So, as far as dominance among household pets goes - it hasn't really seemed to make a difference that the cats don't have their claws.

[poky]

Mine aren't because someone told me it's like cutting your fingers off the the first knuckle.

That's because it is. AFAIK, the claw part is like fingernail; it'd grow back if anything less was taken off. I don't think the vet we had in Portland would even do it.

We try to keep ours trimmed. It helps if you get them used to it when they're young; most of ours don't fight it at all. One was *terrified* and fought as if we were killing her when we started trying (she was 5 when we got her), but we very slowly and gradually desensitized her to it. Sometimes that meant just doing one claw at a time, sometimes it meant just holding her paw without actually doing any trimming. She's pretty much OK with it now.

[Michele]

A declaw done right is done by removing the last phalanx of each digit (yep the same as removing the tips of each of your fingers at the knuckle). Some vets refuse to declaw. Most won't do all 4...but will do front declaws. Many won't do them after a year of age. It's a hot topic in vetmed.

Have you given the cats an appropriate place to scratch? Are they scratching you or your furniture? I bet if you do a google search you can find some good ideas...a lot of junk....but there should be some good ideas thrown in there too. BE WARNED you will find a LOT of anti-declaw info out there.

My "unfair fight" picture was taken the night before the cats went to the vet to be spayed/neutered and declawed. That was last week. They have fully recovered from their surgeries, although their front feet were tender for a couple of days.

They still sharpen their "claws" on the furniture, so if there were claws in there, the furniture and curtains would be getting ripped to shreds.

My vet wouldn't declaw unless they were already fixed, or were getting fixed at the same time.

BTW, the kittens are now almost 6 months old and are indoor-only.

[Meenah]

Both are a year old, spayed and neutered. They mostly scratch us, but not on purpose. Trying to cut their claws has resulted in multiple bites for me. I do have scratching posts and they use them. The furniture isn't a problem, they really don't bother it. I'll have to research this more and hope to find a better way to trim the claws. I'm hoping they will "grow out of it". Thanks for all of the responses.

I can remember with my last cats (both died in the past few years at ages 10 & 14) I couldn't imagine declawing them unless there were medical reasons for owners (i.e. Diabetic and potential wound healing problems or immunocomprimised) but now that I have real biters / scratchers I'm understanding. I think it is sort of like motherhood, nurse vs not nurse, work vs not work

I would NEVER declase my cats. I cannot imagine someone doing that to me. Ugh.

My cats do not scratch the furniture ever. We have scratching posts in the LR and the BR and hanging off the front door (which they never use). They never go outside as we live in the middle of the city.

Have you tried something like this?
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/P ... 002+113036

[SuzySunshine]

Interesting I wonder if they make something like that for dogs, cutting Molly's nails is a PIA!

[Rapunzel]

Before I had my cats declawed they did literally climb the curtains, scratch up anything that they could reach (which, with their climbing abilities was pretty much anything in the house), and had a tendency to dig their claws in to your leg before leaping off. My male kitty had also begun a very, very bad habit/*game* of lying in wait for people to walk by and then swiping bare ankles with his paws. NOT a good thing.

But, now my cats are happy and we're happy. I suppose there were people (and, probably still are) who recoil at the idea of popping out male animal's testicles or giving hysterectomies to female animals. I think there are probably also people out there who take issue with removing the dewclaws from some breeds at puppyhood (to avoid the horrible tearing that can occur if the hang on something). :huh: The bottom line is that 1)cats are not people (so, no need to imagine having it done to you - you also don't have retractable claws, a spine that can spin around like a whip should you fall, or superb night vision), 2)we modify domesticated animals all the time to facilitate the relationship between owner and animal, and 3)the procedure done correctly does not cause damage to the cat in question and can be a HUGE blessing for those who love their animal(s) AND want to preserve their property.

I just never, ever equate animals (ie pets in question here) with people. That's a mistake that warps realty far too often. I'm a mom to human beings and an owner to animals.

Wow, TR, that was very well said. I agree with everything in your prior post.

The way things were going with the cats ripping the fabric of our new furniture and climbing the curtains, they could not have stayed with us and kept those front claws.

[Momo]

Interesting post TR ...I bet ya we could move this to the debate forum now

[Rapunzel]

Judging by a ton of people's bylines I think you're right about that, pinkpickles!



I'm not vanquisher - but I understand where she is coming from on some things....

And, I love - nay, adore my pets.

But, I'd give my life for my children.

I had my kitten declawed in the front on Monday of THIS WEEK! It was a VERY difficult decision for me. I had read so many articles about it. We did it for the safety of our very young DS and baby on the way. I tried to keep her claws clipped but as she got stronger, it was becoming almost impossible for me to clip them. And usually I looked like I'd been in battle with all the biting. ---I don't think that bag thing pictured above would have worked for her...it was her teeth that became her weapon during nail clipping sessions.

It's now Friday, 4 days post surgery, and the kitten is doing fine. She's about 4 months old, so that might have something to do with how quickly she's healed. They use glue now instead of stitches and we were able to pay extra for a pain medication shot that lasted 4 additional days post surgery. Because they use glue now, there is less risk of infection. We didn't even have to use any special kitty litter. (It used to be that you'd have to use newspaper or special paper litter for several days back when they used sutures.