Cat owners...help! (added a pic)

[tvguy]

At this point of my life I just feel it's better for me to feed our colony of feral cats at work, and send a donation to the SPCA on a regular basis. I opposed getting out last cat after having my heart broken when the previous cat passed away. I then vowed not to get attached when I let in and we got another cat. That little black fur ball had different ideas and wormed her way into my heart. So much so I spent $11,000 in vet bills for 2 surgeries in the last 2 months of her life. She was really my daughter's cat, and my daughter had just left for a year to go to college in the U.K. All I wanted was that little furry face to be waiting for DD when she got back at the end of the year. It didn't happen. It still hurts.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

You can spay and neuter if you declaw. It's not either/or.

Of course but that's not the way the original comment was phrased thus how I responded.

Spaying and neutering is done to reduce the overall population.

Declawing is not done to reduce the overall population. Well I suppose you could make a case for the fact that the longevity chances of a declawed cat that gets outside may be less than a clawed cat but I don't think we want to curb population of cats by way of letting declawed cats outside to fend for themselves.

The original comment was "I think with so many cats that need homes, I think this could be more of problem." The way that has the largest impact on the "so many cats that need homes" is spaying and neutering not advocating for declawing especially given that majority of the U.S. finds declawing less favorable than it used to be. The number of potential adoptees that require the cat be declawed or require the option of declawing is likely less than it used to be.

But FWIW I find that there are plenty of declawed cats available at the shelters. The difference is once the clawed cats are at the shelters they don't tend to advocate a clawed cat be allowed to be declawed.

Look, I totally understand the arguments against declawing. I get the strong feelings. But I have mixed feelings because I think it makes them harder to place into homes. We try looking for already declawed cats when we are adopting. The last one we got was declawed but had been abandoned in an apartment for a long time (without food) before she was taken to the animal shelter. She's been a great addition to our family.

I can understand the mixed feelings. My mother-in-law and step-father-in-law required the cats be declawed in order to be in the house and I know they truly love their cats. But on the same token they have 7 cats. However, 4 of them are siblings because one of my sister-in-law's didn't get the cat she got from a friend of hers spayed and she got out one night and found she liked being outside and soon enough came back pregnant. They gave the momma cat up to the shelter however. There would have been 4 less cats out there if only the sister-in-law had paid for the cat to be spayed. Those 4 siblings are lucky however that my mother-in-law loves animals so much and didn't just dump them. The shelters in our area were all full at that time (it was the height of kitten season).

 

[LSUmiss]

It doesn't have to be an either or situation you know.

You present it like it's either declaw a cat or adopts cats. Shelters around me do not advocate declawing cats. The rescue agency I adopted my cat from put it in their contract that should you want to declaw you are to bring the cat back to them instead (yes yes enforcement yada yada yada). Anyways there's a difference in getting a cat and choosing to automatically declaw for no other reason than the convenience of humans (especially as our knowledge has grown on how declawing can affect cats) and adopting a cat that has already been declawed. FWIW it is banned in 22 countries around the world and seen as cruelty to animals in countries that have banned it. And in recent enough years the majority of those surveyed in the U.S. do not support declawing. Either way unless it is banned it is a personal choice. The OP can obviously make that choice for themselves provided it is allowed where they are at but posters are free to express their opinions on the matter as you have as well.

In order to reduce the population of cats the best thing to do is spay and neuter. The population of cats is not really related to declawing or not declawing cats.

No I agree it’s a personal choice. I just don’t think it’s a big deal. That’s just me...especially how it’s done now. I’ve had many cats declawed & never saw it as cruel. Also worked in veterinary medicine years ago so saw process firsthand (before it was as good as it is now) so it’s not that I’m naive. It’s not an either/or, but here most shelters are not no kill so if it increases adoptability I’m for it. For my cats it was an either/or choice. Take them in & give them a good home for 18 plus years & declaw or if I couldn’t declaw, I wouldn’t allow a cat inside to destroy my house so I wouldn’t take them in & they’d most likely stay on the street & have a shorter life.

 

[LSUmiss]

That can be true but the worse of the two evils is the amount of cats that get pregnant and have more kittens and then those kittens get pregnant and have more kittens, etc. That leads to far more shelter cats then the cat passed over because the place does not advocate declawing and the potential adoptee won't get a cat unless it is declawed or they can opt to declaw or the place the person lives in does not legally allow declawing.

If you're looking at reducing the population of cats overall or at least to control them more prohibiting clawing is going to have less of an impact than spaying and neutering.

Plus I don't care about my furniture in relation to my cat-if I cared about my furniture that much I personally wouldn't get a cat, declawed or not declawed as cats also shed too. If you had a situation where the health of the cat is involved it is different than cosmetic damage to material things. I find dog nails to be far more damaging to floors (especially as they do not retract into their paws like cats do) and people than cats claws YMMV.

But I don’t see how it effects the health of be cat. Has not on all my 20 years of having cats.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

here most shelters are not no kill

That's not an issue with declawing or desirability of declawed cats.

That's an issue with not only attitudes we have as a culture (that animals can easily be put down due to resource issues) but also the unfortunate reality that resources are not given to shelters and rescues adequately. It's also where relationships with rescues, other shelters, work on improving foster homes, etc can really help with the number of animals actually inside the shelter.

One of our more well-known shelters used to be a high-kill one. It was taken over by an organization in the area but partners with the city and put some serious time, money, work, etc into making it a no-kill shelter and between 2012 and 2016 (that's the year the article I am reading stops at) doubled it's adoption rate.

People also give up pets for the silliest reasons TBH. When I volunteered at a local shelter people brought cats back because they shed..yes if you get a cat that has fur count on it shedding at least some. People brought back dogs because it needed to go outside too often..yes if you get a dog it does need to go to the bathroom somewhere. Or they got a dog or cat and the dog or cat got outside and then got pregnant and the owner didn't want to deal with the puppies or kittens, etc.

But I hear you I mean you nor I are going to solve the larger issue of the number of animals in shelters.

I wouldn’t allow a cat inside to destroy my house

That's part of my issue is that it's done around 95% of the time simply due to prevention of damage to material things. It's a permanent procedure done with the exception of the horrendous times the nails happen to grow back and then more surgery is needed.

But I don’t see how it effects the health of be cat. Has not on all my 20 years of having cats.

I was speaking where for the health of the cat it was in their best interest declaw them.

But in regards to age of cats living in regards to your comment..the fact that your cats lived to X age doesn't in any way mean it didn't have an effect on them. Nor is it enough of a reason, for me that is, to advocate for declawing.."well I had 3 cats and none had issues" for example doesn't mean that all is peachy with the procedure.

 

[Soldier's*Sweeties]

I've grown up in a household with multiple cats and have two myself. None have ever been declawed and none have destroyed any furniture. They have multiple things of their own to claw(as cats like to do...that's part of being a cat) so they stay away from my stuff. My older cat DID try it when we got a new recliner a few years ago, but some fabric-safe, double-sided tape cured her of that in about a week.

 

[meghanb133]

Please don’t shame me but we declawed our cat when she was a kitten. It was about $500 but it was done by laser, no bandages were needed and she came home that afternoon. She had to wear a cone for a day so she didn’t lick but other than that we had NO issues. We have a small child who would hold and squeeze and it looked like Edward scissors hands got a hold of her face constantly so we made the desicion. She is a completely indoor cat.

We use Tidy Cats litter, we are super strict about cleaning it every day so it stays clean for her.

Her two favorite things are getting brushed and chasing the laser pointer.

Good luck with everything!!

 

[monsterkitty]

I've had cats my entire life and never declawed. That is until Monsterkitty adopted us. He was a feral kitten and would literally climb our walls. Our vet, who does not declaw, finally looked at me and said we had to declaw Monster or he was going to seriously injure himself.

Four years ago when I took Monster to the vet for his yearly exam, they had another litter of kittens someone had dropped off. Somehow Stitch ended up in the car as well (I'm no longer allowed to go to the vet by myself). When I took Stitch to get spayed they also declawed her because she was, well, Stitch. Actually we decided it wouldn't be a good idea to have one declawed cat with on that still had claws.

Would I declaw another cat? Probably not. However, if it means a cat gets a home then declaw.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've had cats my entire life and never declawed. That is until Monsterkitty adopted us. He was a feral kitten and would literally climb our walls. Our vet, who does not declaw, finally looked at me and said we had to declaw Monster or he was going to seriously injure himself.

Four years ago when I took Monster to the vet for his yearly exam, they had another litter of kittens someone had dropped off. Somehow Stitch ended up in the car as well (I'm no longer allowed to go to the vet by myself). When I took Stitch to get spayed they also declawed her because she was, well, Stitch. Actually we decided it wouldn't be a good idea to have one declawed cat with on that still had claws.

Would I declaw another cat? Probably not. However, if it means a cat gets a home then declaw.

LOL on not being allowed to visit the vet alone again.

It's nice to know how you got your username!

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Hi everyone - THANK YOU for all the replies! I greatly appreciate any advice I can get - amazingly enough, we have very few friends or family members who have cats, so this is a whole new world for us, lol.

Quick background - before this weekend, we had two dogs. One is a big goofy half-bloodhound, half-lab mix. Happy, friendly outside dog. The other is a stray that we took in about two years ago. He looks to be half-dachshund, half-something-else. He had been living in the woods for God knows how long when we found him. He had been shot in the leg, which had broken his shoulder. It healed (obviously without medical care) crooked, and he walks with a limp (so I named him "Bates", if you are familiar with Downton Abbey). He still has shotgun pellets in his leg, but the vet said that it would be best to just leave them there. He's our inside dog. He is sweet, but understandably not very social.

Now - as of this weekend, we have doubled our pets. In addition to the cat, we also took in a little dog that has been hanging around for a month or so. We have no idea what kind of dog he is, or how old, but like the cat, we couldn't leave him - we won't be going back to the camp for about a month so I'm not sure what he would have eaten. He seems sweet, but rambunctious....he will have to be an outside dog too. We live on several acres, so we have plenty of room, but it is going to be a handful!

Today was crazy. Due to the new animals and all the different personalities, I felt like that riddle where there is a fox, a goat, and a cabbage and you have to figure out how to get them to all cross a river in a boat that will only fit two of them. In addition to the juggling, my SIL decided to drop in for a visit with her 3 kids, so it was like a circus at my house, lol. I did manage to get to PetSmart and pick up some necessities.

After doing some research, I've decided against declawing. We will just deal.

I bought a cheap plain-Jane litter box to get us through the next few days, and I ordered that "roll-over" litter box from Amazon.

A couple more questions, if you don't mind...OMG the hair!!!!! I brushed her, and I swear there was enough hair for another whole cat. It is everywhere. Will that stop over time???

And any hints to keep her from jumping on the table and counter tops?

 

[mom2rtk]

Hi everyone - THANK YOU for all the replies! I greatly appreciate any advice I can get - amazingly enough, we have very few friends or family members who have cats, so this is a whole new world for us, lol.

Quick background - before this weekend, we had two dogs. One is a big goofy half-bloodhound, half-lab mix. Happy, friendly outside dog. The other is a stray that we took in about two years ago. He looks to be half-dachshund, half-something-else. He had been living in the woods for God knows how long when we found him. He had been shot in the leg, which had broken his shoulder. It healed (obviously without medical care) crooked, and he walks with a limp (so I named him "Bates", if you are familiar with Downton Abbey). He still has shotgun pellets in his leg, but the vet said that it would be best to just leave them there. He's our inside dog. He is sweet, but understandably not very social.

Now - as of this weekend, we have doubled our pets. In addition to the cat, we also took in a little dog that has been hanging around for a month or so. We have no idea what kind of dog he is, or how old, but like the cat, we couldn't leave him - we won't be going back to the camp for about a month so I'm not sure what he would have eaten. He seems sweet, but rambunctious....he will have to be an outside dog too. We live on several acres, so we have plenty of room, but it is going to be a handful!

Today was crazy. Due to the new animals and all the different personalities, I felt like that riddle where there is a fox, a goat, and a cabbage and you have to figure out how to get them to all cross a river in a boat that will only fit two of them. In addition to the juggling, my SIL decided to drop in for a visit with her 3 kids, so it was like a circus at my house, lol. I did manage to get to PetSmart and pick up some necessities.

After doing some research, I've decided against declawing. We will just deal.

I bought a cheap plain-Jane litter box to get us through the next few days, and I ordered that "roll-over" litter box from Amazon.

A couple more questions, if you don't mind...OMG the hair!!!!! I brushed her, and I swear there was enough hair for another whole cat. It is everywhere. Will that stop over time???

And any hints to keep her from jumping on the table and counter tops?

Congrats and I hope you get everyone settled soon!

This thread might be helpful on your question about the counters and table:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/h...do-to-keep-off-diningrm-chairs-table.3655217/

As for the hair: brush, brush, brush. And get used to there still being fur everywhere. Invest in good tape rollers!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Quick background - before this weekend, we had two dogs. One is a big goofy half-bloodhound, half-lab mix. Happy, friendly outside dog. The other is a stray that we took in about two years ago. He looks to be half-dachshund, half-something-else. He had been living in the woods for God knows how long when we found him. He had been shot in the leg, which had broken his shoulder. It healed (obviously without medical care) crooked, and he walks with a limp (so I named him "Bates", if you are familiar with Downton Abbey). He still has shotgun pellets in his leg, but the vet said that it would be best to just leave them there. He's our inside dog. He is sweet, but understandably not very social.

Aww poor things

Glad they have you

A couple more questions, if you don't mind...OMG the hair!!!!! I brushed her, and I swear there was enough hair for another whole cat. It is everywhere. Will that stop over time???

Just keep brushing and brushing and brushing. Seasonally our cat has more shedding but he sheds year-round. We have an attachment for our vaccum that doesn't get tangled up with hair and we use that. Funny as it sounds depending on what type of carpet you have a squeegee can be used for more stubborn hair (it was a lifesaver when we lived in the rental house) it's just labor intensive but it works.

And any hints to keep her from jumping on the table and counter tops?

Agree with mom2rtk regarding the thread.

 

[Callie]

She probably has a ton of hair built up in her undercoat. Hopefully after a few good brushings and possibly a bath that will help. Glad you decided to keep her claws. Just make sure to trim often. Those suckers get sharp! I give mine a mix of mostly dry food with some wet food thrown in since she suffers from UTI's alot.

 

[bellebud]

you're so sweet taking in the other dog too! You guys are angels. Just keep brushing, it will get better. that's great she let you do it, my cats don't like it. She sounds like a great kitty. Since she seems sweet (letting you brush her), trim her nails right away too. Look up on youtube how to do it. You hold their paw and push on the top of each toe to make the nail come out, and use regular, sharp nail clippers. Don't forget the thumb. And don't cut too much at a time, you'll cut the quick and it will bleed. Have the vet show you actually, until you're comfortable.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Hi everyone - THANK YOU for all the replies! I greatly appreciate any advice I can get - amazingly enough, we have very few friends or family members who have cats, so this is a whole new world for us, lol.

Quick background - before this weekend, we had two dogs. One is a big goofy half-bloodhound, half-lab mix. Happy, friendly outside dog. The other is a stray that we took in about two years ago. He looks to be half-dachshund, half-something-else. He had been living in the woods for God knows how long when we found him. He had been shot in the leg, which had broken his shoulder. It healed (obviously without medical care) crooked, and he walks with a limp (so I named him "Bates", if you are familiar with Downton Abbey). He still has shotgun pellets in his leg, but the vet said that it would be best to just leave them there. He's our inside dog. He is sweet, but understandably not very social.

Now - as of this weekend, we have doubled our pets. In addition to the cat, we also took in a little dog that has been hanging around for a month or so. We have no idea what kind of dog he is, or how old, but like the cat, we couldn't leave him - we won't be going back to the camp for about a month so I'm not sure what he would have eaten. He seems sweet, but rambunctious....he will have to be an outside dog too. We live on several acres, so we have plenty of room, but it is going to be a handful!

Today was crazy. Due to the new animals and all the different personalities, I felt like that riddle where there is a fox, a goat, and a cabbage and you have to figure out how to get them to all cross a river in a boat that will only fit two of them. In addition to the juggling, my SIL decided to drop in for a visit with her 3 kids, so it was like a circus at my house, lol. I did manage to get to PetSmart and pick up some necessities.

After doing some research, I've decided against declawing. We will just deal.

I bought a cheap plain-Jane litter box to get us through the next few days, and I ordered that "roll-over" litter box from Amazon.

A couple more questions, if you don't mind...OMG the hair!!!!! I brushed her, and I swear there was enough hair for another whole cat. It is everywhere. Will that stop over time???

And any hints to keep her from jumping on the table and counter tops?

I'm glad you decided not to de-claw! I have 3 cats and you just won't be able to stop the counter top and table jumping. I've been fighting that battle for 3 years with 2 of them (the 3rd can't jump high, as his legs are too short).

We have a cat tree, but my youngest cat still jumps on the fridge, cabinet tops, counter tops, bookshelves, etc. He's a climber.

As for litter we have found that Arm and Hammer 7 day micro guard is the best. We have a box for each cat in a closet, so we are able to keep the lids off. They didn't like being enclosed.

The hair is also a losing battle I am sorry to say. One of ours is a long haired guy, so we are constantly vacuuming and washing blankets, etc.

I loved reading your post. One of our cats picked us and I just love him. He showed up in my backyard almost 2 years ago and has been here ever since. We keep him inside now. He's a really sweet dude.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Informative cat thread!

I am not a cat person (wish I was, maybe someday!) so I'm in learning mode here more than offering advice mode.

But the one thing I will add is to make sure you scan these pets for microchips, as maybe they were just lost instead of throwaways. I read stories all the time of pets who got lost and years later wound up reconnecting with original owners through their chips. Of course, lots of animals aren't fortunate enough to have caring owners who place the microchip (usually during spay/neuter), but it's worth a try.

I'd also try to scan newspapers or local media for any "lost pets" in the area.

Good luck!

 

[Ariel Wanna-be]

Thanks again for the advice! This is *definitely* a learning process, lol.

We will absolutely have the vet check them for chips. Our other dogs are chipped, and I would hope that anyone that found them would have them checked. As far as checking lost ads, our camp is in a super-rural area....I don't know if there even is a newspaper. If they hadn't been hanging around for so long, I wouldn't have taken them. But I'm pretty sure they were dropped off.

Priority right now is getting those claws trimmed! Apparently cat claws are waaaaay different than dog claws. They are like little fishhooks!

We learned this the hard way because we ended up having to give her a bath...we saw some fleas on her last night, and there were a lot of clumps of dirt stuck in her hair. Even though we lost several inches of skin in the process, what a difference! She is such a pretty cat. Here she is, perched on our dog's bed, lol. I caught her mid-yawn:

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Aww what a cutie @Ariel Wanna-be

 

[DisneyOma]

No I agree it’s a personal choice. I just don’t think it’s a big deal.

Have yourself declawed then, right? I would think if it's a personal choice, it's up to the cat to make that decision, BTW.

But in regards to age of cats living in regards to your comment..the fact that your cats lived to X age doesn't in any way mean it didn't have an effect on them. Nor is it enough of a reason, for me that is, to advocate for declawing.."well I had 3 cats and none had issues" for example doesn't mean that all is peachy with the procedure.

Exactly! No issues with having their nailbeds removed. I challenge the owners who declaw their cats to get their own nails removed.

Please don’t shame me but we declawed our cat when she was a kitten. It was about $500 but it was done by laser, no bandages were needed and she came home that afternoon. She had to wear a cone for a day so she didn’t lick but other than that we had NO issues. We have a small child who would hold and squeeze and it looked like Edward scissors hands got a hold of her face constantly so we made the desicion. She is a completely indoor cat.

We use Tidy Cats litter, we are super strict about cleaning it every day so it stays clean for her.

Her two favorite things are getting brushed and chasing the laser pointer.

Good luck with everything!!

Gee, I think a better solution would have been to teach your child not to brutalize the cat.

 

[chartle]

We had a nasty flea issue on our 4 cats (now 5!) and got collars that last 8 months and really really work. We bombed we bathed we powdered and sprayed and while not a huge issue they hung around. After the collars after 2 weeks nothing and they somehow tolerate them.

Our cats get prescription metabolic/urinary tact food everyone eats.

We like the light weight litter. Had the litter maid box and it never worked.