Anyone Declaw their kitten? No Debates please I have seen plenty of websites...

[PrincessPAC]

I've had cats nearly my entire life & never had any of them declawed - until this one. We had several scratching posts that she would sleep on, but never use. When she was a kitten, she destroyed my curtains, furniture, rugs, and even a section of wallpaper; but, what put me over the edge was when she started scratching my children. I know that she wasn't being mean, she was just playing with them, but we knew that she was going to be an indoor cat & we just couldn't deal with all the scratching anymore. DS's teacher even commented on all the cat scratches he had.

That said, when we took her in to have her spayed (sp?), we also had her declawed. I never noticed any sort of change in her at all. She's completely spoiled & constantly pampered. If the declawing has affected her, she doesn't really show it (or at least she hasn't said anything ). Now, she can at least play with the kids, but instead of scratching them, she just "hits" them.

We did have a scare last summer though. DS went outside & left the door open & she got out. She was gone for 2 days & we just knew that something had happened to her b/c she was essentially defenseless. However, she eventually showed up at the front door!

I was against declawing, but DH talked me into it & I don't regret it at all.

ETA: right after she came home from the vet, she didn't go "in" her litter box, but she did kind of "back into it" -- but she still used it.

 

[Chloe'sMom]

If I may turn this back on you.

You don't want the cat clawing at your nice furniture so the question is what is your hesitation to declawing the cat?

My FIL is a Vet and all 5 of my cats (not all at once but over time) have been declawed and there was never a behavior issue after. Also if you have a good Vet they will knock your cat out to do the surgery and will give the kitty pain killers after the fact. I look at it like having your wisdom teeth out. They had to cut into my bone to remove them but they were a nusissance if I didn't have them out.

~Amanda

 

[golfgal]

We had cats growing up and my dad still has cats and they have all been declawed, no problems for any of them (15 cats over all the years). Since they were all rescue cats having a safe, loving home and being declawed is much better then the alternative.

 

[darlak]

I can attest to their tree climbing ability after they've been declawed. We've never had one declawed, but we adopted a Siamese after she had been declawed by her previous owner. She got out once and before she was 10 feet from the house, a dog came running into our yard and chased her up a tree. She clinbed that tree as fast as any cat I've ever seen. No one would have guessed that she was declawed.

 

[enyaj40]

one cat i had declawed ended up with infected paws, but this was due to a poor choice of vet on my part...this was about 15 years ago and my first cat that i was responsible for as a 'grown up'

however, he had no behavior issues

any cat i've had since then, i've chosen not to declaw BUT none have torn up my things, either

those that we adopted that were declawed have been two of the BEST friendly and sweet male cats ever

that said, i think it's better to declaw them if their clawing behavior cannot be modified than to have to give them up

 

[EthansMom]

Both of my cats are declawed... which was the right decision for us.

With my older cat, I was going to be away from home all day long and made a rather uninformed decision to have her declawed based on that. I had it doen at the same time I had her spayed. The vet's office that did it released her to me almost immediately... the poor thing was sooo sick from the anasthesia and had her paws all wrapped.

With our kitten, I really wanted to try NOT declawing. We tried Soft Paws, but she would literally chew them off. And she started climbing our walls... I kid you not, she would use her claws to climb the barn beam in our house (two stories tall). We had a scratching post, sprayed the cat with water when she scratched elsewhere... nothing was working. I finally decided to have her declawed when I had her spayed. This vet's office kept the cat for 3 days, keeping her under their care, and returning her only after she was recovered... they charged for that, of course.

We haven't noticed any behavioral changes in either cat. If declawing is the right decision for you, then it is the right decision for you. Do ask the vet's office if they keep the cat for a couple days after the declaw procedure... After our last experience, I would require it of any declawing we might have to do in the future.

 

[NAB]

My hesitation to declaw came from all the websites I was looking at that said that it was so mean and how would you like your fingers cut off.

Then they continue to say that your cat will never be the same and will bite and not use the litter box and will be bow legged etc.

So that is why I started this thread to see if you did declaw you had problems after.

 

[Carole]

My cat was declawed by the laser method. No blood, no stitches and no problems. He still constantly "claws" everything and is very "mouthy." If I don't pet him enough or he's tied of being petted, I get a love bite. Not too bad unless he wants petted in the middle of the night.... Loves to sit in my lap when I try to cross stitch but ignores my lap if empty. Any future housecats will definitely be declawed.

 

[WDWguru]

My philosophy has always been to try training and behavioral deterrents first. If all else fails, resort to declawing. Thank goodness we never had to do that, but would have if nothing else had worked.

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Our adopted 7-month-old kitten just got declawed. She was LITERALLY climbing the walls and leaving claw marks in the drywall. And climbing the fabric honeycomb window shades all the way to the top, then hanging from the trim around the top of the window. And climbing the topiary on the landing. And chawing on the dog while clawing her.

Now that she's declawed, she's STILL doing all that, but it's not sticking (heh). It hasn't affected her obvious catnip-smoking habits. She's fine and was using the litterbox within three days. We just put shredded newspaper in there for a few days.

It's a personal choice, I think. Do what's right for you and your cat.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

My cats were declawed and my son had a circumcision.

 

[Breezie]

My family cat was declawed many years ago when she was a kitten. She is now sixteen years old, walks fine, uses the litter box, and her personality is still wonderful.

I also believe it is a personal decision, and this is what worked for my family.

 

[monsterkitty]

We use the Soft Paws on the Monsterkitty and they work very well. They come off about 6-8 weeks later with no problems. If he is being good, we put clear nails on him. If he has been bad, it is pink.

If the Soft Paws would not have worked, I would have gone against my own personal belief and had Monsterkitty declawed. His name is Monsterkitty for a reason..

 

[vettechick99]

I declawed (front only) my cat when she was younger. She was tired for a few days but bounced back easily. She's never had any apparent pain or side effects from the surgery. She never goes outside but we do have a dog that knows better to go near her. She may not can claw but she can hiss and bite like nobody's business. She can certainly hold her own.

 

[denisem]

I'm also glad this discussion is remaining civil. Sorry if this is long.

I, too, wasn't crazy about declawing and didn't find the need until we got our little marble monster pictured below. Over the years, I've had success with my various cats with the following:

1. My dad made a scratching post from from an actual hunk of tree, complete with bark. The cats loved it!

2. I had a chair with a burlap type fabric on it and so it became their "sacrificial chair". (They didn't bother anything else as long as they had that chair.)

3. Then I adopted a little black shelter cat who wouldn't take to ANYTHING - she got Soft Paws. Watched the vet do her first set and, while she always vocally protested during the procedure, I was able do the upkeep myself. (Note: while Soft Paws eventually shed naturally with the nail, she had one that was stubborn and had to be cut off before it grew around back into her pad. Not a big deal as you have to monitor them anyway, just a hint to watch for that if you choose Soft Paws.)

4. My husband always had success in clipping his cat's claws.

Then we got Rocko. From kittenhood, he DETESTED anyone holding his paws. Even the vet had to anesthesize him in order to cut his claws. (I think it may be a bengal thing: bengals generally don't like being held tightly or confined in any way. They'll CHOOSE to drape themselves around your neck or ride around on your shoulder, but don't try to hold them.) Anyhow, not only was he hurting us and the furniture, but even himself as he'd get his claws caught in things.

So we made the decision to front declaw. Our vet does laser, and it was amazing. Rocko came home the next day, no bandages and evidently no pain as he was running all over the place. (He DID have a few crash-and-burns when he'd make a bengal leap onto something and found he didn't have his claws to dig in, but he adjusted quickly.) No changes in litterbox habits or biting.

We later adopted his great-grandma, Millie, who'd also been front declawed. Both still regularly (and vigorously) "paw" against the sisal on their cat tower, so I can only assume there is no residual pain involved.

BTW, we did Rocko's neutering and declawing as seperate procedures as we were really trying to avoid the declaw - don't know if that had any bearing on the success.

Good luck on your decision!

 

[PrincessPAC]

Then they continue to say that your cat will never be the same and will bite and not use the litter box and will be bow legged etc.

I'll have to tell DH about this. He's bow legged & sometimes I tease him. I'm going to have to ask him if his mother declawed him when he was little.

(If you don't hear from me again, then DH has finally had enough & taken away my DISing privilages. )

 

[NAB]

PrincessPac -- that is funny

SwedishMeatball-- circumcision was an easy call I am afraid...

 

[yeartolate]

My cats were declawed and my son had a circumcision.

That is funny.....my cats were circumsized and my son was declawed.

 

[donald&daisy]

I had my persian declawed this past year. He was 1 1/2 years old. We got him when he was 1. He was always sinking his claws into our clothes and ruining them. Also he likes to touch our faces with his paws, as you can imagine this was not the best situation when he had claws. We had all four paws done with the laser. We are much closer now because of it. He was on pain meds for a few days after, but other than that it did not affect adversely at all. Now I love it when he touches my face.

 

[maelstrom]

We had Chloe declawed and spayed at six months old and she's fine. We were going to Disney World for Christmas and she'd be boarding with her vet anyway, so he did both surgeries at once while she was boarding, that way she only had to be anesthetised once and she was in the vet's care during her recovery. She never had any problems afterwards. The only thing I noticed is that she knew that she used to have front claws, and now she doesn't, and she'll be extra nasty with her back claws if she wants to fight. She loves to have her paws held in your hand, especially at night when sleeping. She still scratches at the furniture and kneads things, but she doesn't ruin anything now. She loves to knead my face and neck when I sleep, and that just wouldn't be able to happen if she had claws.

We tried the claw covers at first, but she hated them. She actually bit them all off.

I think you can liken declawing to circumcision. They are both technically unnecessary removals of body parts. But for some reason, circumcision is looked upon as being normal, but declawing your cat makes you mean. I guess I'm backwards from most people in that I'll declaw my cat but if I ever have a son, I won't have him circumcised.