Declawing cat or soft paws?

[punkin712]

Now, one of the other cats has decided that getting new carpeting means she should use it as her personal litter box, she is 4 years old and has NEVER gone outside of the litterbox before. I have tried everything and there is nothing physically wrong with her (vet checked) so just today I have started to let her outside in the hopes she would rather go out there. She is a loved pet, but we cannot keep her if it continues to be an issue, she will have to be put down

She may be confused by the new carpet smell. If she continues to have behavioral issues with the new carpet, I truly hope you reconsider your decision. She is only 4 years old with no other medical issues - it doesn't seem fair to give her the "death penalty" for this kind of thing.

Please try to find someone who is willing to adopt her. I'm sure she would make another family very happy.

 

[kacaju]

Over my lifetime I have owned 18 cats. 16 of the have been declawed. The two that were not were seniors when I got them and I would not do that to them at their age. All the others were kittens or young adults.

Out of those 18 I had only one who had behavior problems (peeing all over) and that was not from being declawed, but due to the fact she was a very shy feral kitten who took MONTHS to warm up to us and once we had kids and they reached toddler stage she couldn't handle the noise and movement of the kids.

I used to work for a vet and first hand have witnessed hundreds to thousands declaws (worked there for 11 years) and it was a procedure that was done daily.
I have no problem with it and will continue to declaw any future cats I may have.

 

[kacaju]

To your second point- There is a difference between piercing ears- which does not cause permanent pain, and declawing, which causes phantom limb pain, early onset arthritis, and behavioral issues.

I can tell you 100% my cats have not suffered from phantom limb pain from being declawed. How do I know? Because all of my cats look act and behave exactly the same as the 2 cats I had that were not declawed. I had to have one of my cats tail amputated at Christmas this past year (her tip of her tail got caught on something and ripped the skin right off..no idea what happened) She DOES have phantom pain. Every once in a while she will look back at her tail, cry, flip around and try to lick it and make a mad dash around the house.

 

[Princesca]

There are so many cats out there that need a home. My county even made national news for having a huge feral cat problem. The mayor said, "At least we don't have a mouse problem." Har har.

Anyway, even thinking of it in terms of being a human being, if my choices were:

1) Experiencing a mild-moderate level of discomfort every day of my life (and I'm not sure that's a given anyway) but having a home in a house full of people who fed me and provided for my every need and snuggled and loved me at every opportunity until I had exhausted my natural lifespan

or

2) Being homeless, forced to live out in the extreme elements, surviving maybe a year, maybe two, until a slow death by hypothermia, being ripped apart by a coyote or hit by a car to die slowly laying on the side of the road while buzzards slowly closed in to finish me off (this happens in my neck of the woods all the time)...

I'd pick #1, I think.

 

[Princesca]

Incidentally, just got to share... I got some of that bitter apple spray to get my dog to stop chewing on woodwork?

He immediately went to the spot and licked it clean. With gusto.

 

[Mickeyflower]

My cat would NEVER let me put the soft paws on him. I dare anyone to attempt to trim his claws as well.

Yeah, I had a cat like that. The vet had to draw blood from her once, and they tried the "bad cat bag" (I don't know what it's really called, but it was supposed to be a way to contain a cat who needs medical treatment) and they ended up having to sedate her. That cat was sweet and lovable unless you were trying to hold her down and do something she didn't want you to do.



And that's another example of some cats being trainable and some not. DH and I have had 4 cats during our marriage. Cat #4 is the only one who is interested in catnip. So yes, all cats are different and some simply cant be trained, just like some simply don't like catnip.



You know, many people think it's cruel to let a cat go outside...

I wish I knew how to seperate the quotes, but I dont so here I go. The vet told me "WOW! You;ve got a fighter here!"

We had 4 cats at our house at once. My cat was the only "drug cat" as my nieces called it . Although Rajah is my first cat, I am well aware that I am lucky that he completely ignores my furniture.

What I love about the USA, everyone is entitles to their own opinion. IMHO, it is mean to try and force my cat to stay indoors, when he CLEARLY does not want it. I am fortunate to live in a residential area with very little traffic and lots of trees and birds for him to chase.

BTW, after the first year was up (I was still trying to force him to be an indoor only cat, because that is what everyone said was best for him), he escaped again, and this time, was not caught. He was missing for 2 weeks, and came back with a broken tail and displaced hips. He is fine now (after amputating his tail) and now goes outside, but he has learned to stay in the front yard and backyard only; and comes in at 9pm for the night.

 

[herdtoDisney]

I actually got my order of SoftPaws today-we just finished putting them on kitty about 30 minutes ago! It wasn't hard-one person held him and one put them on. Kitty licked at them a bit and then was playing, now he is laying nearby. No human or cat was injured in the application of the SoftPaws

 

[britfish]

I actually got my order of SoftPaws today-we just finished putting them on kitty about 30 minutes ago! It wasn't hard-one person held him and one put them on. Kitty licked at them a bit and then was playing, now he is laying nearby. No human or cat was injured in the application of the SoftPaws

Let me know how they work! We have an apt. to get kitties booster shots in three weeks and the vet said if we want to bring in our soft paws they will put the first set on for us. Please keep me updated on how your kitty tolerates them!

 

[tlbwriter]

Incidentally, just got to share... I got some of that bitter apple spray to get my dog to stop chewing on woodwork?

He immediately went to the spot and licked it clean. With gusto.

Yeah, my dogs consider that stuff a condiment.

 

[okeydokey]

There are many studies that have shown this. You can choose to believe or not but this are based on facts.



Not sure were you were going with the second part of your response. There are studies that have shown this.


That is something you have to consider being a pet owner, besides there are other solutions to the problem.

I would like to read these studies and see who paid for them Would you post some links to the studies you have read?

 

[herdtoDisney]

Let me know how they work! We have an apt. to get kitties booster shots in three weeks and the vet said if we want to bring in our soft paws they will put the first set on for us. Please keep me updated on how your kitty tolerates them!

He's tolerated them very well! I don't think he even notices them. After the inital 5 minutes or so of licking at them, he hasn't had any reaction to them at all. He's jumping and playing and sleeping like always

One fell off-it was the first one I put on so I probably didn't put in enough glue. I put it back on.

I'm happy so far.

 

[SaraJayne]

He's tolerated them very well! I don't think he even notices them. After the inital 5 minutes or so of licking at them, he hasn't had any reaction to them at all. He's jumping and playing and sleeping like always

One fell off-it was the first one I put on so I probably didn't put in enough glue. I put it back on.

I'm happy so far.

I'm glad you've found a solution that seems to work for you.

 

[JaymeC]

I'll just say our kitten has no problem with soft paws. He's not a furniture scratcher, but he has this knack of hiding behind a shower curtain and attacking. Cute as a kitten, but then he gave one of my kids a nasty scratch on the cheek. And yes, we have tried many things to change this behavior. The kids are the only ones he goes for, probably because he knows they're afraid of it. Softpaws fixes all that. As our five year old says his claws aren't "sticky" anymore. Ironically, the kitten would scratch and the 70lb dog has never left a mark on either kid... And the cat has no issues with the soft paws at all. I will say though, I have never seen anything phase our cat. He's a bit psycho in a positive way.

I will also say that our dog has no issues happily licking up the bitter apple spray. I will say however, do NOT get that stuff on your hands. It will not wash off with anything, and everything you touch to eat will taste like bitter apple. Not good. Unless you're on a diet then it may be an idea...

 

[c3363]

I'm glad you decided to try soft paws.

I have very strong feelings against declawing. As for vets always doing what's best for pets? Ultimately they are running a business. Their goal, like anyone who owns a business, is to make money. There are many services and products offered by vets which are not in the best interest of pets. People need to do their own research. Would you take the word of a MD in this scenario? "I'm going to amputate your fingers down to the first knuckle even though there is nothing wrong with them so that you can't scratch that mosquito bite. Don't worry, it's completely painless and there will be no long-term physical or emotional side effects."

I personally know someone who has several small children who intentionally physically harm their cat (pulling tails, pinning it to the ground, jumping on top of it, kicking it, squeezing it as hard as they can, throwing it in water). When the cat lashed out and slightly scratched one of the children (who was holding it and kicking it) the adults decided they wanted to declaw it. One of the "adults" is a vet. I will never understand how a person can allow their child to intentionally harm an animal repeatedly without enforcing ANY consequence. Thankfully, the cat is indoor/outdoor and has since left.

My view is that when you adopt or purchase an animal, you agree to care for the animal and do what's in the best interest of that animal. Declawing can never be justified as something that is beneficial to the cat. Hopefully the US will follow in the footsteps of all the other countries who have already banned declawing.

 

[Fyrefly]

Glad the softpaws seem to work. I'm against declawing as well but as that topic has been done to death in this thread there is no point in my adding anything else to it.

I expect the kitten will mellow out, both due to age and increase in size. With ours, a lot of the claw usage at the kitten age is just to get up onto things, up the steps, because they can only jump up halfway onto the couch with us, etc. We trained them to scratch on the scratching post, and they always did but early on it was a mobility issue and they stopped on their own eventually. As the little one gets taller and better able to jump, you might find that hyperactive type of clawing stops.

 

[jewjubean]

In my short life we've had about 20 or so foster cats. They have ALL declawed and have never had any problems with them.I understand the pro's and con's of the procdeure but realize in the long run if it came down to keeping a cat, or giving them up. I would much rather spend the 100 bucks and get them declawed. Because unlike the posters who can afford the 15-30 bucks a month to use soft paws, or the 500-700 it cost's to replace the furnature,carpent ect. I have a small budget and it fits to foster animals. But I would not be able to take these cats in if they were runing my furnature.
Its just a personal opinion. Everyone has them, and this is mine!

 

[momto3nh]

We have 2 cats and got them declawed. BEST, BEST, BEST $300 we ever spent!! They are fine and have no after effects from it. We tried the soft paws first, but they were horrible to put on, and kept falling off. Best of all, they can no longer scratch our carpets and furniture. I am a lot less stressed!

 

[tinkerbellmagic]

I haven't read the entire thread. I'm sure my blood would boil if I do. I find the whole idea of declawing barbaric. Before doing such an inhumane thing to a cat, please adopt one who has already gone through this horrible ordeal, rather than subject a new cat to it. I think it's only fair to the cat to also have the owner's nail's pulled out and have their finger tips cut off first, to see how "humane" this terrible practice is.

I also agree with the pp who said that just because a vet says declawing is "humane" does not mean it is, because a vet is a business first and foremost and I would not trust any vet who would do this.

When I look in my local shelters, about 15% of the cats there are declawed. Perhaps those who regard their furniture more highly than a living feline member of their family, should not have a cat to begin with. My 2 cents.

 

[herdtoDisney]

. Because unlike the posters who can afford the 15-30 bucks a month to use soft paws, !

It is not $15-30 bucks a month. One pack cost $20 and has 40 softpaws. I and most people do just the front paws, so that is 10 claws. So one pack should last for 4 applications and each application should last 6-8 weeks. That is about 2 packs a year (roughly), or $3 a month. They might be cheaper on Ebay, but I haven't priced that out yet.

 

[Lizzy2]

We just had our three year old "kitten" declawed in April because we were moving to a place that wouldn't allow us to bring him otherwise. At our last house we had to pay $700 in new carpeting before we could move because he just wouldn't stop tearing it up. We tried everything, clipping, filing, scratching posts, etc. and nothing worked. I had read a lot about the possible consequences of declawing and was concerned but let me say that he is EXACTLY the same as he was before. He is not in pain or traumatized or anything close to it. He still uses the litter box and is as sweet as he ever was. OP, don't let anyone scare you off if you need to have your kitty declawed. It is your personal decision and you don't have to defend yourself to anyone. The kitty will be fine.