Cat declawing

[CheshireVal]

I would declaw your cat and let it go in and out at will.

It would less cruel just to euthanize it.

Declawed cats have no business being outside.

 

[DVCLiz]

It would less cruel just to euthanize it.

Declawed cats have no business being outside.

Sorry, I don't agree. I think it would be far worse to kill the cat than to have a properly done, medically supervised procedure with appropriate pain meds, and to allow the cat to go outside at will. As others have said, cats with no front claws have been able to adapt and even climb trees with their back claws.

 

[neatokimmo]

If you live in the country I would make it an outside cat. Some cats are geared that way and need more activites that what an indoor enviroment can offer. I personally think the clawing is part nature and part boredom.

I have a really bad situation. If anyone has a good answer, I know my DIS friends will.

My husband let my son bring home a kitten about a year ago after we agreed we didn't want any more cats. I should have insisted he take it back right then, but of course then I would have been the bad guy to crush a 5 yr. old.

Anyway, the cat has destroyed our front and back doors, some of our windows and is now trying to scratch our new bedroom furniture. A closed door is like a magnet to this cat.

My husband now says either get it declawed or it's gone. Now I've never gotten a cat declawed, because I just can't stand the thought of it. This cat loves to go outside and climb trees and sometimes stays out all night. We live in the country. You can't keep this cat inside. I just can't bear to get her declawed under these circumstances, but I know my husband is serious about getting rid of this cat if I don't.

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions, alternatives? Thanks so much.

 

[LeslieG]

As I was re-reading my initial post, it may not have been clear. This cat has destroyed the OUTSIDE of my windows and doors, not the inside. And like I said, it's not that she doesn't want to be outside. Sometime when I go to let her in, she runs. Other times she comes in but five minutes later she wants back out, and this goes on all day. She just seems to be doing it for fun or attention or something. This cat has lots of odd behaviors that I've never seen before. Do you think cats can have mental disorders or something just like people? She seems almost neurotic. It would be a little hard to put scratching posts outside by our doors, but maybe I'll give it a try.

 

[eeyoremum]

This cat has lots of odd behaviors that I've never seen before. Do you think cats can have mental disorders or something just like people? She seems almost neurotic.

I have had two cats with odd behaviour in my life. As a child one went physco (actually attacked someone) and had to be put down, turns out she had a tumour. The other was psycho from the day i brought her home. I really should not have kept her as long as I did. She would attack me but loved my DH and DS. When I had DS2 problems really started. The cat bit him one night just above the eye. It was really a close call, a little lower and it would have been his eye. The cat was taken that night to the SPCA and put down. She was too unpredictable to keep and she had a long line of offences in terms of behaviour.

I would say just keep an eye on your cat. In terms of declawing or not it is one of those things some people do or don't do depending on the comfort level. My cat is declawed and has no trouble defending herself against our dog who is about 10X her size. The dog is actually afraid for her. She does go out on the deck in the summer to sun herself but is too fat and lazy to do anything else.

 

[tonilea]

Allowing a cat to be outside is FAR more dangerous (other animals, vehicles, *people*) than having it declawed. I hate hearing people say it's impossible to keep a cat inside. We have always, *always* had indoor, declawed cats and they have *all* been loving, sweet, playful, and contented and have always lived long lives. The average life span of a cat allowed outside is 5-7 years.

That's all I have to say about it.

Ditto

 

[DVCLiz]

As I was re-reading my initial post, it may not have been clear. This cat has destroyed the OUTSIDE of my windows and doors, not the inside. And like I said, it's not that she doesn't want to be outside. Sometime when I go to let her in, she runs. Other times she comes in but five minutes later she wants back out, and this goes on all day. She just seems to be doing it for fun or attention or something. This cat has lots of odd behaviors that I've never seen before. Do you think cats can have mental disorders or something just like people? She seems almost neurotic. It would be a little hard to put scratching posts outside by our doors, but maybe I'll give it a try.

Why don't you tell your vet about this stuff and see if they might recommend some sort of pill? It really does sound like this is something outside the norm -maybe a kitty valium would help!

 

[ShariVT]

How about a doggie door so the cat and go in an out at will. If she is clawing to get in that would solve that problem.

 

[rockyroad]

I am a former show Persian breeder and cat club president.
And at that time was strongly against declawing.
However, the Persians were not really into clawing.

I now have four rescue kitties.
And they are declawed.
We have one who still has her claws and she will rip up nylon screens in a second in order to get outside.
It makes it difficult when you want to open a window.
She also attacks furniture and carpets, which means that she stays in the sunroom.
I really need to have her declawed and wish I had done it when she was a kitten.
Plus she is weird and it is so difficult to trim her claws.

A tip, if you want to try trimming the claws frequently, look for a pair of Bird Claw Clippers. They look like fingernail scissors with a groove and work great without crushing the claw like the dog sort of clippers do.
http://www.zootoo.com/birds_nailtrimmers/catbirdclawclippers

Three of the four declawees had no problems at all.
One has extremely tiny feet and did experience obvious pain for a month.
It helps to get it done very young.
With ours we do neuter and claws at the same time to cut down on surgery risk.

If it comes down to declaw or dead, your cat is better off declawed.
If it comes down to constant friction between you and your hubby, then declaw is best.

I had an indoor outdoor cat that had claws and two years ago the coyotes got him.
Claws and all.
So outside is always a risk anyway.

 

[tinaninea]

She might just be scratching to get in. A cat door is my advice. One of my cats jumps up on our grill and then jumps and hangs on to one of the tiny windows at the top of our back door when she's ready to come in. She just hangs on and stares at me until I let her in!

 

[girli565]

I have two cats. The older one was declawed before we got her but it went really bad, she ended up having an absess (sp?) and we had toput meds and creams on it for almost 2 full months. Well when we got the younger one she destroyed the house, my mom gave me the ultimatum of declaw or she goes...

I researched and researched because I did not want to do that to another cat after my bad experience. Well I met with a woman from the Cat Network who feeds strays from our balcony, she urged me not to declaw but I was in a position where I had no choice so she suggested a specific vet office who does the procedure with a laser and not the normal way with the barbaric cutters. There's no blood, no swelling and my cat came home virtually pain free. She was a bit swayish for the first 2 days because of the knock out but that was it, she was jumping and climbing within 1-2 days!

So yes, I don't like declawing because it seems bad but if you must do it find a vet who performs it with a laser and not the clippers.

 

[LeslieG]

To those who have offered helpful advice, thank you so much. I have some good ideas now to try. Keep them coming if anyone has additional ideas.

 

[merryweather's twin]

I will say when we were in collage we had a great cat. And we had her for 4years then we had our son and she was so mean to him. She would claw and try to bite him. She was finally put down after she pounced on top of him while in his bouncer for a nap and dragged him out of it by biting his neck. (he was 3mo) I think cats can have mental problems.

Then a 2 years ago we gave one to the kids from Santa. Well she was great and did good as far as the kids and the house goes until we installed new carpet and the carpet guys let her out for 2 days!!!! She got into a bad group of cats in the area and wanted to go out all the time . She would scratch and whine at the doors to go out and was hurting the furniture and even the kids if they got in her way(6 stiches on the now 4yo face!). I went to the vet and he told me to give her to a farm family or a shelter !

I was hoping to have her de clawed and hoped that would help but he said that if they want out and are damaging the house to get their way that often when de clawed they will begin biting and spraying to get their point across! She wanted out to play and only in for a few minutes a day and that was not ok in our city.

We found her a good farm(vet helped) and she has been happy there and to my surprise the kids were as sick of it as DH was and seem fine now.We now have no pets and the house is clean and quiet (as it can be with 6 kids) and you could not pay me to start over and have to have to change the litter, re stain all the windows, and replace the doors agian with a cat! I never thought I would feel that way but it is bliss. I hope this helps some. Losing a pet is hard but your marriage and home are more important than the cat.

 

[PatriciaH]

I am not going to agrue about how it feels when they are removed, my duaghter had a toe-nail removed and I imagine it was the same, yea it hurt a little bit but she took medicine for a day or two and then was fine.

Declawing is nowhere near the same as loosing a toe-nail. They don't just pull their nails off (nails grow back.) They have to cut the bone (like cutting a persons finger off at the first knuckle.) It is physically like 10 amputations. It is basically cutting pieces out of an animals body for convenience. Posture is altered-they have to learn how to walk in a whole new way. Balance is impared. If you are worried about the stuff in your house do not get an animal. Or a child for that matter

Try using citrus spray and sticky tape or aluminum foil where they scratch. Spray them with water when they scratch an off limit area. Give them scratching posts that are more attractive to them. Good luck!

 

[phragmipedium]

I'm an advocate for keeping cats indoor cats, and using some of the behavioral/barrier methods mentioned earlier (claw caps, spray bottles, etc).

If that's not an option, they make cat doors. Since you're in the country and might have concerns about other animals getting in, there's kinds that you can put a collar on the kitty and the door only works for them, I believe.

I agree with others that declawing is a potentially dangerous operation and if it comes down to that, I would suggest rehoming your kitty (not at a shelter, but with another family). Your kitty should not be an outdoor kitty if it is declawed, and declawing has many critics for good reasons, as you are well aware. I know you like your kitty, but it might be better to give it to someone else rather than put it through that kind of pain and potentially serious complications, if it's not medically necessary.

My cats are both indoor cats and what has worked best for me are the Alpine Scratchers - they're $10 or less, and they're a cardboard slope structure with corrugated cardboard scratchers inside. You can buy replacements. When my kitties fight they run for the scratcher and let out all their aggression. I no longer have any furniture issues.

That should probably help while your cat is in the house. I really believe cats are very adaptable and can be happy, healthy indoor cats with long lives, but if your cat insists on being outdoors and you do not want to acclimate her as an indoor-only cat, the cat door (and not declawing) sounds like a good choice.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I haven't read through all the replies yet so someone may have mentioned this already.

There are plastic tip things that I've seen people put on their cats front claws that stops them from clawing.

I can't remember what they are called but I'm sure your vet knows about them.
Good luck.

 

[Kate and Pete]

I didn't read all the posts, so sorry if this is a repeat:

1.) You can trim your cat's nails. We do that with ours!

2.) Dr. Foster and Smith (and lots of other places, including PetCo) have these nail tips that can be put on kitty's nails. They're latex-y and keep kitty from scratching.

Good luck!

 

[azgal81]

My two cats aren't declawed. I keep the nails trimmed or use soft claws they aren't really scratchers though.

 

[lisajl]

Wow! What great responses.
I agree that if possible do not get it declawed. I have had cats declawed before and will never do it again.

I work for a vet and we just had someone come in with two large, 16 pound cats, 3 years old, that she wanted declawed.
We had to keep one three extra days because of the bleeding (we use a laser), and the other cat had to go home early. It was so crazy it kept hitting itself against the cage to get out. There was blood everywhere!
Not good.

If you HAVE to have it done, have it done with laser. Also don't let your cat out. Our neighbor behind us lets her declawed cat out and the neighborhood strays beat it up all the time. She complained to me but I told her the cats only defense now are its teeth. That is not enough against some of these other cats.

Good luck to you, but I wish more luck to the kitty.

Lisa

 

[JacobsMommy11002]

I thought it was pretty clear the OP wasn't interested in declawing the cat...she is looking for alternatives.

I wish I had some advice for you...sorry! Try the vet or a pet store?