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

[NAB]

I have done research. I know that is not just a matter of clipping there nails etc. It is the bone they cut. That is why this is a hard decision for us.

Our kitten is 61/2 months old and will not use the scratching posts. We have one that lays flat and another that is a post. Catnips does nothing for him either to make him go to these post or toys for that matter.

I know some will say we shouldn't have got a kitten if we didn't want scratched furniture. It is not a matter of just scratching furniture he scratches the the lining in the couch and chairs and climbs up inside. Now he is doing that to the beds. I know what you thinking he is hiding but he doesn't stay there. Believe me he is a lap cat for sure, you sit he is there.

I read that behaviors change in declawed cats, they bite in some cases. Wonder if anyone has had troubles after declawing.

He is a an indoor cat and always will be. He doesn't even try to go out when the door is open, not to say if he saw something he wanted to chase that he wouldn't I guess. But we are pretty careful as are the kids.

 

[flipturngirl]

our cat is not declawed just because we have dogs. she does not scratch up the furnature.. just homework and books lol.

my grandmas cat was declawed and nothing is wrong with her.

our two cats, that have since gone to heaven, were declawed. Both of them still were able to do catly things and not ruin furnature. Our white cat was a mouser and would catch and kill mice without claws.


I see why declawing is a bad thing for animals but I do not think that people should judge others for doing it to their own animal.

I think the decision is yours to make. And we have loved both ways that we have choosen

 

[WDWguru]

We have five kitties - none declawed. Used to have the same issues as you with two of them. Tried posts, sticky tape, clear tape, you name it... finally we found something that works!!

At Petsmart (and other pet supply places online) I found this thing called a Sssscat. It's basically a can of air with a motion sensor trigger. You position that within a few feet of anything you don't want the cat near. If the sensor sees motion within two or three feet (longer if it's in direct sun), it squirts a puff of air. We have them on our kitchen counter, behind the couch, under the bed and in one particular corner where they loved to dig at the carpet. WORKS LIKE A CHARM!!

At first they set them off quite a bit, but now they are trained and know where not to go. They HATE setting them off so they avoid those spots. Occasionally they forget and set one off and they take off like a rocket! They are a little expensive - about $25-30 iirc though they are on sale a lot at Petsmart. We had to replace the cans after the first month or so, but since then we've only had to do it every couple of months at most. Also, a hint - don't buy the expensive refills! We get cans of air at Costco and just pop the plastic trigger tops off, then put the motion sensor on top of them. Works just as well!

Found it online: http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...rigkw=scat&kw=scat&parentPage=search&keepsr=1

 

[DVCLiz]

Yes, I declawed both of my kittens when they were spayed. They were under a vet's care with appropriate pain meds for both surgeries and boarded at the vet until they were comfortable to come home and resume their normal activities.They are both indoor cats and will always be. I grew up with a cat that shredded the furniture, and I wasn't willing to have that happen in my house. And I don't believe that having a cat declawed is wrong, or that I am a bad pet owner because of it.

 

[ilovejack02]

My two girls are declawed and all went well with it. The girls behavior did not change at all.

I Know there is a laser declaw sx out there now and the healing time is supposed to be alot easier.

 

[Aimeedyan]

Have you tried softclaws? They are glued onto the nail. My groomer applies them and they last a few months, from what I'm told.

 

[dmslush]

I have had declawed cats and non declawed cats. With my non declawed cats, I just cut their nails. If you cut it back to right where you see the little 'thing' in the nail, they won't be able to tear your furniture up, but will still be able to defend themselves if they get out. If you start them as a kitten with trimming their nails, they will get used to it and it will never be a big deal.

 

[Disneylover79]

My cats are not declawed.. instead they have soft paws on... here is the website and see if this could work for you and you kitty...

http://www.softpaws.com/

any questions about them I would be glad to answer... it does help them from scratching everything..

 

[freckles and boo]

It was a moral dilemma for me, too. Our vet used a laser and she had no bleeding or complications from the declaw. She did, however, split her belly incision from the spaying and needed to be restitched because the minute she came home she was ready to romp.

 

[NAB]

Never saw the ssscat before. Interesting.

This kitten also loves water so squiting him doesn't work he will stop and clean himself with the water ....he also jumps in the bath tub after anyone showers or baths and chases the water down the drain....Or sits on the ledge of the tub when dd has a bath. It freaks her out.

The vet told me about softpaws but he said they have to be done every few months but shouldn't be used as a life time fix. I have read that some cats can chew and pull them off too.

Our kitten is getting neuter on Thursday so I have until then to decide because they would do it at the same time.

 

[DVCLiz]

Never saw the ssscat before. Interesting.

This kitten also loves water so squiting him doesn't work he will stop and clean himself with the water ....he also jumps in the bath tub after anyone showers or baths and chases the water down the drain....Or sits on the ledge of the tub when dd has a bath. It freaks her out.

The vet told me about softpaws but he said they have to be done every few months but shouldn't be used as a life time fix. I have read that some cats can chew and pull them off too.

Sounds like your kitten is lots of fun!!!!

 

[NAB]

Buddy is a lot of fun and is a very playful kitten.I would like to keep him that way.

Mind you I didn't like at Christmas when every morning he would be in the tree, or should I say in the middle of the tree looking back out at you. It is like when your children do something wrong and you know that it is pretty funny but you have to discipline anyway.

I looked at the softpaws site. They come in many colours and look like they have there nails done....

 

[PrincessaC]

My cats are not declawed.. instead they have soft paws on... here is the website and see if this could work for you and you kitty...

http://www.softpaws.com/

any questions about them I would be glad to answer... it does help them from scratching everything..

Hello. I have never heard of soft paws. It sounds pretty interesting.

My cat hates taking baths and I am always getting "tore up" trying to give her one. Maybe these soft paws will make it easier at bath time.

I looked at the website and saw a few pics of the cats with the soft paws. I'm just curious....after you put them on does the nail go back into the paw or does it stay sticking out?

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm amazed at the thread so far. I've seen several of these types of threads and none seemed to go over so well. I wish you lots of luck in keeping it civil.

My cat is declawed. I almost wanted to just quote DVCLiz' post from above and say ditto, but I wanted to add a bit more. I agree with all she said though.

For us, our cat would constantly try to climb up your leg, or would somehow manage to work her way to your shoulder only to dig her claws in as she'd slide down your back. All the while you're screaming out in pain and trying to twist your body to get her off. She's certainly not a mean cat at all, but we tried everything and nothing seemed to work. My whole family would have tons of scratches all over their body, and these weren't scratches from playing around, like you'd get if you had a kitten. These were some pretty deep scratches and they'd be more up your legs or down your back rather than on the hand. These would literally be from her trying to climb your body. LOL

My dog was constantly yelping as the cat would scratch the inside of her mouth while playing, too.

Ultimately, we didn't want to get rid of our cat, but we had to do something. We didn't make the decision lightly, but I have never regretted having it done. She doesn't even know it because she's constantly trying to sharpen them to this day. We just tell her to do a good job and get them nice and sharp.

 

[WDWguru]

The ssscat has worked great for us for the cats that won't let us trim their claws. For those that will, it's simply and easy. We always used water bottles for training to reinforce the no scratching, but we also have one water-loving cat and it just didn't work on her. The air spray definitely does, though!

My sister used soft paws on her two kitties for years. Other than occasionally finding one around the house and the upkeep of having the groomer put them on (or fighting to put them on yourself), they worked great. You just have to keep replacing them as the nails grow out.

 

[DVCLiz]

I'm amazed at the thread so far. I've seen several of these types of threads and none seemed to go over so well. I wish you lots of luck in keeping it civil.

My cat is declawed. I almost wanted to just quote DVCLiz' post from above and say ditto, but I wanted to add a bit more. I agree with all she said though.

For us, our cat would constantly try to climb up your leg, or would somehow manage to work her way to your shoulder only to dig her claws in as she'd slide down your back. All the while you're screaming out in pain and trying to twist your body to get her off. She's certainly not a mean cat at all, but we tried everything and nothing seemed to work. My whole family would have tons of scratches all over their body, and these weren't scratches from playing around, like you'd get if you had a kitten. These were some pretty deep scratches and they'd be more up your legs or down your back rather than on the hand. These would literally be from her trying to climb your body. LOL

My dog was constantly yelping as the cat would scratch the inside of her mouth while playing, too.

Ultimately, we didn't want to get rid of our cat, but we had to do something. We didn't make the decision lightly, but I have never regretted having it done. She doesn't even know it because she's constantly trying to sharpen them to this day. We just tell her to do a good job and get them nice and sharp.

Thanks, N. Bailey - I'll quote you instead!!!

No one should mistake my declawing for not loving my cats. If you could have seen me last night about 2:00am, lying in bed desperately needing to get up and go to the bathroom, but afraid of disturbing one of my cats, who was sleeping in the "nook" created by the way my legs were bent, you would know that I am absolutely crazy about my cats.

I just found that there had to be a solution that worked for me and my possessions, as well as my cats. Having them declawed allowed them to be the loving pets they are today, looking forward to being catered to for the next 15 to 20 years. And I wasn't willing to live in a house with furniture that was either torn up or not nice enough to matter that it weas torn up. I don't want to live like that whether I have pets or not.

 

[Jpgirl]

We have 3 that are declawed and 2 that aren't. We use Soft Paws (or claws)-works great. They last about 6-8weeks although we have one cat that likes to pull them off now and then. If you start when they're really young they learn to hold still while you're trimming the nails and glueing them on. They really do work.
As far as the poster whose vet said Soft Paws shouldn't be a life time fix-find a new vet. My dd was a vet tech and that's how dd learned of them. The practice she was in recommends them as a safe alternative. You do have to be careful to not get excess glue on them because it's basically super glue and you do have to redo them, but it's really no different than trimming your dogs nails.

 

[NAB]

DVCliz I am the same way.

I would be so stressed if my furniture and house was a wreck because Buddy tore up the rug or couch and curtains( which he has done already done,pulled them right down). We love Buddy to death but my stress levels would be crazy knowing I wouldn't want anyone to come into my house because of the way it looked.

The websites say the worse, that cats will bite after, have other bad habits because of it so I wanted to know if anyone saw big changes in there cats that were declawed.

If I didn't love my kitten, I wouldn't be feeling so bad about doing something that my need to be done.

 

[Lisa_M]

As a child, we had a male cat that was neutered and declawed at the same time. He was never the same afterwards. He started peeing all over the house, didn't matter where, countertops (he especially liked the answering machine). It was awful. In addition to that change, his temperament changed as well. He became a biter. He was so mean, he had to be put down. I truly think it had something to do with the declawing because he was such a good sweet kitten before (cuddly, etc).

My two cats have their nails, but I trim them weekly and we have no problems with them.

Before declawing, maybe try getting a turbo scratcher for your kitty. Mine started playing with it as a kitten and we showed him how to do his nails on it and he followed suit. They are cheap and sell them at walmart. Also, if you don't declaw, you absolutely need to trim its nails. This should help with scratching on the furniture. Here's some pictures of kitties loving it!

http://www.amazon.com/Blitz-Turbo-Scratcher-Cats-diameter/dp/customer-images/B000084EEF/ref=$%7BreftagPrefix%7D_prvpg?ie=UTF8&sort=quality&index=0&page=2#gallery



Please don't count on the fact your cat is an indoor cat as a reason to do it. Cats are quick, sneaky things and can get out easily. My parents took in a stray declawed female that must have gotten out somewhere. She is lucky she survived considering she no longer has her claws. It may just be the cat, but she is very skiddish with people and other pets and although my cats are sweet, she just won't warm up to them.

 

[NAB]

Lisa_M--I read that some don't like to use the litter box after because of course they would be tender. And carpets are softer on their paws.

That is why I started this thread to see how many did indeed have problems. Thanks for your input.

The vet said that is why they only do the front claws and not that the back ones because they would still be able to climb a tree if they got out. Believe me I know cats are quick. Just drop food on the floor, guess who can get it first....