Cat declawing

[jenm2878]

All three of mine are front declawed and not one had a problem or complications. Our vet is willing to do front only and prefers to do it with the spay/neuter surgery, which is what we always did. Two out of three were up and running around the next day. My oldest cat had a umbilical hernia and had to have a much longer incision during her spay to fix it so she took a couple extra days to recooperate.

We have been going to the same vet for 10 years, so he is well aware what type of pet owners we are and what type of 'family life' we provide. He has never scolded us for our decision and I trust him completely with our pets. You have to do what's best for your family and not let anyone make you feel guilty for your decisions.

 

[DMRick]

Our rescue group that I work with has you sign something saying you will not declaw. The vet I worked for did declawing (including one of my strays that wasn't going to be staying if she didn't get declawed) and I can't remember one bad thing happening. Cats went home at the end of three days, and we kept them pretty doped up until them. It's a horrible procedure..one that shouldn't be taken lightly.
That said, my daughter had the laser declawing done on her cat, and it came hope later the same day. She had tried all the usual..many cat scratch posts, cardboard type, wood type, foil on her couch, etc etc. This was the last straw after a year of trying and much ruined furniture. If I was going to have it done again, this would be the way I would go..it truly seemed to be a blip in the cats day.
For the OP, the diagonal scratching cardboards seem to go over big in my house with my fosters. For the adult fosters we put catnip on them to get them going to it. We have two of those and two of the flat ones. I also have a hamper that they all love and we allow them to go at it. They hate being sprayed, so if they scratch where they aren't allowed, they stop as soon as I pick up the bottle..and soon don't ever start.
It's frustrating to get through, and sometimes a choice has to be made. I'd rather see a declawed cat inside than an undeclawed one outside.

 

[mis099dlm]

Yes, I believe kitties can have mental problem. My sister rescued a cat that was abandoned on the expressway. It was never very friendly and had some quirky personality traits (I grew up on a farm and we had at about 30 different cats growing up and she was quirky out of the norm), but she warmed up to my sister somewhat. At about 11 years she started acting nutty and would attack 1 of the 2 younger toms that my sister also has. The other tom she would mother to death. She's lived with the toms 7+ years so this was odd. Everybody's fixed in the house. Then she started #1 and #2 throughout the house - including sister's bed. Of course sis took her to the vet and the vet said she was marking her territory and maybe getting a little dotty. The potty problems went on for about 6 months. Then she starts hiding in the basement ceiling for up to 2 days (how the tub of lard got up there we could never figure out), not wanting handled at all, and acting spooked all the time. Doc started her on kitty prozac and that mellowed her right out. She went back to using the litter pan regularly. She's 14 now and 'o.k.' but still quirky. Best thing is the kitty prozac is only $4 a month. I don't know what went wrong, kitty menapause?, but the prozac seems to work for this cat.

 

[DisneyElf]

I've owned a lot of cats - and all have been front paw declawed since they are indoor cats and with several diabetics in the household it made sense. I've always done the spay/neuter/declaw at the same time. Every single one of the cats came home from the vet's - with no problems (not even limping) - even caught one jumping off the counter on the day he came home.

Only one cat was ever allowed outdoors again - he was my first - I had moved back home for a short time period - and he would dive off a second story back deck or porch roof to get out - so I figured it was safer just to let him out. FYI - he lived a good many years after that (once I got my own apt again - he converted back to being an inside kitty).

Currently we have 5 rescue cats at home - incl. a siamese seal point that wandered into our backyard starving to death this past summer. None are allowed outside - they are allowed on the back deck (fully screened), and when we have parties - they are locked into my room (installed a garden window just for them).