Declawing cat or soft paws?

[Sinderelly]

Get rid of the cat (kitten)? or keep it outside? Cats have a tendency to be "evil" and are rough on household furnishings and flooring. My ex loved cats and had some that urinated places and on things because they were "mad".

JMHO alot of cats are mean, nasty, evil creatures and shouldn't be kept in a house unless you want your house ruined . Think long and hard about a pet before getting one. decide what you are willing to tolerate from said pet.

 

[si-am]

I have our new kitten sitting next to me, purring so loudly I can't hear the TV.

I found him in the woods outside MILs apartment- his eye was so infected it was crusted shut, he had tapeworm, fleas ALL over him, and he was starving. MIL said the rest of his litter died. He was about 5 weeks old.

I brought him home with me, and he purred in my lap the whole way. Took him to the vet the next morning, got Frontline, all the tests, etc. & gave him a flea bath 2x a day until they were GONE.

He's an indoor kitty, sleeps right next to me, has a bowl full of clean water and food.

He was declawed (& neutered) two weeks ago. Laser declawed. He had NO bleeding, never acted like he was in any pain at all. Vet said he'd have NO pain with a laser declaw & I believe the Vet because he has shown no signs of pain.

He would still be in the woods starving to death, being eaten by fleas, eith a tapeworm and possibly dead already... Instead of purring at my feet, curled in a ball.

No one will EVER convince me that what I did was cruel. Cruel would have been leaving him in the woods to die, and I'll never see it any other way.




OP, I've had front declawed cats my entire life with no behavioral issues, no litterbox issues, or why of the other stuff I read here. So that's 6 cats with 0 issues at all.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and until a cat can talk, that's all either side of the argument will ever be.

It is great that you rescued him. But really you are saying you would leave him out in the woods to starve to death rather than see a scratch on a couch?!

 

[GinnyEmma]

lol, a little bit of a leap there. I can just think of a few possibilities in between those two options!!

 

[SaraJayne]

Get rid of the cat (kitten)? or keep it putside? Cats have a tendency to be "evil" and are rough on household furnishings and flooring. My ex loved cats and had some that urinated places and on things because they were "mad".

JMHO alot of cats are mean, nasty, evil creatures and shouldn't be kept in a house unless you want your house ruined . Think long and hard about a pet before getting one. decide what you are willing to tolerate from said pet.

Where in the world do people come up with these ideas?

 

[chimo2u]

I would never have another indoor cat without declawing. I don't find it inhumane at all. My vet uses pain meds and I board my cat until healing is complete so the vet can administer pain meds as needed.

I think cats are wonderful pets and I love mine dearly but they are destructive if they have their claws and I'm not willing to have them destroy my furniture.

I know how this thread will go so I just wanted to post in support of declawing. It can be done humanely and happy cats can live long lives with responsible owners.

I haven't had time to read all the responses yet, but I wanted to say ITA with this I too, have declawed my last 2 cats, both healed quickly and my current cat was done as a kitten....before he was 1, and he bounced right back with no ill effects very, very fast. I am not against declawing if it helps pet and owner to live in harmony (my vet even stated this and was not against it at all) pain meds when needed helped any discomfort of the process

 

[tlbwriter]

It is great that you rescued him. But really you are saying you would leave him out in the woods to starve to death rather than see a scratch on a couch?!

There are people who will only have declawed cats (I am one of them - after our last cat shredded my couch and loveseat, I said "no more" and was able to adopt a declawed cat). If these people cannot declaw their cats, they won't have one, and that means fewer homes available for all of the cats in the world. It doesn't mean anybody on this thread would throw their pet out into the woods if it scratched the couch, but it does mean that they might not get another one.

 

[KigerKat]

Add me to the small handful of people here that do not disapprove of declawing. We have 3 cats that are all declawed in the front and none of them have behavioral problems or litter box issues.

I can see the inhumane argument if the vet was doing the surgery without anesthesia, improperly or without pain meds, but many vets today use lasers to cut, so it heals smoothly and quickly and without any deformities. And pain meds are prescribed to manage any pain or soreness the kitty might be feeling.

If the choice was either to adopt a homeless cat and have him/her declawed or not having a cat, then I think there would be a lot more homeless kitties out there!

Yes, Soft Paws are an option, but cats can bite them off and then there can be a struggle every time you need to replace them. Not to mention the added, ongoing cost of replacing them for the life of your cat. I think a package can run between $10-$15 for about 2 full sets, which would last about a month. So you're looking at a total of about $1500-$1800 in Soft Paws for the life of one cat, on top of any occasional damage the cat does to your furniture, carpet and clothes. Or, you can spend about $200 to have the claws permanently removed and a few weeks of pain meds and catering to your sore kitty for a lifetime of no more scratching.

Our cats do not go outside, they are strictly indoors. As I previously said, our cats do have back claws so they could defend themselves on the slight chance that they were to ever escape. And yes, we still get shredded by our cats (and I have plenty of scares to prove it!), but at least we don't have to replace any furniture.

 

[SaraJayne]

Add me to the small handful of people here that do not disapprove of declawing. We have 3 cats that are all declawed in the front and none of them have behavioral problems or litter box issues.

I can see the inhumane argument if the vet was doing the surgery without anesthesia, improperly or without pain meds, but many vets today use lasers to cut, so it heals smoothly and quickly and without any deformities. And pain meds are prescribed to manage any pain or soreness the kitty might be feeling.

If the choice was either to adopt a homeless cat and have him/her declawed or not having a cat, then I think there would be a lot more homeless kitties out there!

Yes, Soft Paws are an option, but cats can bite them off and then there can be a struggle every time you need to replace them. Not to mention the added, ongoing cost of replacing them for the life of your cat. I think a package can run between $10-$15 for about 2 full sets, which would last about a month. So you're looking at a total of about $1500-$1800 in Soft Paws for the life of one cat, on top of any occasional damage the cat does to your furniture, carpet and clothes. Or, you can spend about $200 to have the claws permanently removed and a few weeks of pain meds and catering to your sore kitty for a lifetime of no more scratching.

Our cats do not go outside, they are strictly indoors. As I previously said, our cats do have back claws so they could defend themselves on the slight chance that they were to ever escape. And yes, we still get shredded by our cats (and I have plenty of scares to prove it!), but at least we don't have to replace any furniture.

Front declaw at our vet is $80.

 

[KigerKat]

Front declaw at our vet is $80.

I wish I lived near your vet!!

We got our cats done when they were spayed/neutered and they spent 2 days at the vet in recovery, so that probably factored into the cost.

 

[SaraJayne]

I wish I lived near your vet!!

We got our cats done when they were spayed/neutered and they spent 2 days at the vet in recovery, so that probably factored into the cost.

I just called our vet last week when we were potentially adopting a kitten to ask a couple questions. Spay/neuter and front declaw, with two nights at the vets, is $180.

 

[Piecey]

It is great that you rescued him. But really you are saying you would leave him out in the woods to starve to death rather than see a scratch on a couch?!

Not entirely, but yes I can't afford to buy new furniture, nor do I have any interest in never owning anything "nice" & I've never ever seen a cat be successfully trained not to scratch. I also have zero interest in attempting to train/wasting my time on something I find futile.

Boma (said kitten) was also attacking my youngest son when he crawled. It didn't matter how many times I sprayed him, shooed him, yelled at him... He continued to attack Owen's legs and head, drawing blood. That was 100% not something I was going to put up.

Now Boma still "attacks" him but Owen giggles because it tickles vs. Hurting. They're becoming really close and play together often. It's cute.

& btw, it's unfair to say "a scratch on a couch" because he has already practically ruined our ottoman, a curtain (that I cannot find a replacement of so my living room is short a curtain) the couch, recliner & my sons pull out Mickey bed.
And he only had claws here for 6 weeks. So it's definitely more than "a" scratch.

 

[bumbershoot]

Living without claws is painful for cats. They can feel the loss with every step they take. The reason a lot of cats (note I said “a lot” not all) start peeing all over the house is because stepping on the litter in the litter box causes them too much pain.

I do have to say...30 years ago I ended up getting the end of my right ring finger lopped off in a door, and it took the nail off and took a bunch of skin permanently off my finger. I'm still not sure if it took bone off. The end of my finger is VERY weird looking (it actually changed the whole look of my finger), and the end of it is VERY sensitive. So I can understand how that pain could continue! I barely even like brushing the end of my "bad" finger against a smooth surface, let alone put weight on it as it touches something like kitty litter.

On the other hand, there are amputees who can strap on an artificial leg, put weight on it, etc, and don't have apparent pain.

Just goes to show that healing isn't something that you can ever be sure of. If humans heal so differently, I bet cats do, too.



Our cat was not declawed, and I kept her nails as short as I could. She was taken from her mother WAY too early, and had issues galore. Including drooling and kneading for hours. Before I got good at trimming her nails, I had to put her on a cushion before putting her on my lap. She would just knead and knead on the cushion. Later, once I got the hand of clipping, she could do that even on my leg and it didn't hurt me. Only one time did I cut too close, oh man did I cry when I did that b/c it obviously hurt her so much!

I've heard that the licking thing is also a sign of not having been mature enough to leave the mother. Poor kitties.

 

[KigerKat]

Just doing some online research this morning, and I found some interesting facts about declawing cats. Veterinary Partner website did a study of 276 cat owners: 81% were satisfied with their cats before declawing and 96% were satisfied with their cats after declawing.

Also, very few declawed cats are surrendered to pet shelters, and declawed cats are four times more likely to be adopted from pet shelters over non-declawed cats, regardless of age.

There is also no correlation between declawing and biting or declawing and behavior problems. Since most people declaw cats before age 1 or 2, it is too difficult to determine if the cat already had behavioral problems to begin with.

And I found that declawed cats are less often scolded than non-declawed cats, which seems pretty obvious, and therefore are more likely to have a more loving relationship with their pet parents. I can relate to this information, since the only time I yell at my 3 declawed cats is when they jump on the counter while I'm fixing their food.

Like I previously said, a lot of people use Soft Paws as an alternative. But this is a "budget board", so the budget choice here is to declaw.

 

[punkin712]

That is such a great photo! If anything, your cat should be the official poster cat for SoftPaws - just look at that smiling face

 

[Mickeyflower]

My cat would NEVER let me put the soft paws on him. I dare anyone to attempt to trim his claws as well. You would DEFINITELY be better off getting between a momma bear and her cubs! My BFF only did it to her cat once. Her cat spent the next week pulling them off her feet one at a time.

Both of our cats are complete with claws and all furniture is totally fine. I enticed my cat to a scratching post with cat nip the dried stuff not the spray. I also used treats. Rajah (see below) is indoor/outdoor. I tried to make him an indoor cat for the first year of his life, ya he made it perfectly clear that he was going to go outside during the day. So, he has lots of places to scratch. When I got leather furniture, he didn't like it, and won't go on it. So, no worries there.

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[marie1203]

I have been a cat owner since I was 11 years old and I will turn 37 in a couple weeks.

I've had cats continuously in that time and I have never once had a behavior problem with any of my cats...and every single one of them was front declawed.

I'm not buying that declawing causes behavior problems.

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

Anything CAN cause behavior changes. My cats were normal until someone left the house/garage door open one night. I've no idea what they saw in the garage but we've been feeding kitty prozac ever since.

People use information to make their point. That doesn't mean it is accurate, helpful or in any way pertinent. Yes, if you chop off the ends of cat's toes it is going to hurt. That doesn't mean that is what everyone does.

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

LOL!



Well, I'm sure most people wouldn't declaw their cats if they never did any damage. But not everybody is that lucky.

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

 

[tlbwriter]

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.

Both of our cats are complete with claws and all furniture is totally fine. I enticed my cat to a scratching post with cat nip the dried stuff not the spray.

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.

I also used treats. Rajah (see below) is indoor/outdoor. I tried to make him an indoor cat for the first year of his life, ya he made it perfectly clear that he was going to go outside during the day. So, he has lots of places to scratch.

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

 

[Hardy]

I am one who would not declaw, but I understand if you are having a problem with it, then you could if it meant that or getting rid of the cat. I have three cats. 2 are very good about using their scratchers..one is still a pain about it and is always getting yelled at to knock it off! Unfortunately she LOVES water and likes getting squirted in the face so that didn't work. However, I have no intention of declawing her....I have a personal saying that rings true for me...

"Kids and pets ruin everything"

I have a great dane, 3 cats, and 2 kids. I've given up on nice things for now

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

I am against letting cats out, but obviously there is nothing else we can do at this point. I feel the same about declawing, I understand doing it when it is a major issue, but 2 out of my 3 cats are good about scratching and would have never needed declawing anyway, so I wouldn't do it just to do it.

 

[KigerKat]

And I dare someone to try to put Soft Paws on this guy:

Maverick by Brett Kiger, on Flickr

He's had a few times in the past where we've had to give him meds, and let me tell you: It's nearly impossible!! It would ideally (and seriously) take 3 people to "easily" give him oral meds: one person to hold his body, one person to hold his head and one person to give him meds. He's 18 pounds of pure muscle! I couldn't imagine putting soft paws on him, so I'm sooooo happy we had him declawed when he was younger.

And despite what this photo might make you think, he's not a biter at all. This is his "You better put me down now, or I'm really going to look like I want to bite you...but I know it's mean so I won't. But I'm really thinking about it!!" face. He's almost 5, and he has yet to ever bite us. When he makes this face, he actually "meows" like a horse - it's the funniest thing!

 

[GinnyEmma]

Studies can pretty much say whatever you want them to say with a little creative manipulation. Without knowing who paid for the studies and their agenda, a study result means very little to me. I would also want to know if they differentiated between the manner of declawing, age, etc.

Hardy, allowing one of my cats out was the thing that stopped her indoor pee issues. She is happiest outdoors in the good weather. Winter, she starts up again. Hope yours does well.