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My cat is getting fixed. Declaw Too?

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I saw the topic and had to login to respond. I have not read the other posts.

Absolutely do not declaw your kitty. Our Siamese [a lynx point - pics are here someplace] disappeared for a few years and came back neutered [she was a baby when she was stolen - she is now 15] and declawed. She could really use the help of those front claws to get around now that she is older. Every time I feel her little front paws I curse and want to go after the people that mutilated her - if we only knew who they were! They had better hope we never find them. There will be hell to pay. Not only did they steal our cat but they destroyed her fron paws on top of it!

We have 3 other cats [another died a couple of years ago] and we never have had serious problems with clawing. If that is an issue with your kitty get a squirt bottle of water and give it a spray when any clawing happens. That should break the habit pretty quickly.

Hope this helps.

ETA: What a magnificent cat! PLEASE don't mutilate him by chopping off the tips of his fingers.
 
Thanks again for all the replies.

Sparkles! I think the air can is a great idea, I will get one tomorrow! The water doesn''t bother him... he even showers with me from time to time. I think the air will work well! Thanks!
 
The cat likes to shower . . . sigh . . . air can it is, then!
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[But keep those little feet intact, OK?]
 
O.K., please don''t flame me. When I was younger and moved back home my mom decided to get my cat declawed. This was many, many years ago. she was maybe a little younger than your cat. And honestly, my cat was fine. She had a little trouble initially with regards to getting up on the windowsill, but after she got acclimated she was fine. I never noticed her in any kind of pain and she certainly didn''t turn more vial either. And she had one tough grip when she would grab onto my finger and play....boy do I miss that cat! Just wanted to give you my experience. Oh, and most important she was an indoor only cat too!
 
we have two cats and both have their claws -- we even had a baby after acquiring the cats, and they never laid a "claw" on him or our furniture... we provided them their own "kitty post" for scratching and also used these to train them when they were younger to stay off the furniture: Scat Mats -- but they end up jumping on the back of the couch anyway.. but... they never claw the furniture.

we have found as long as you provide them their "own" furniture, scratching posts, climbers, etc they will be fine.
but, it might all depend on the cat.. Good luck!
 
It''s inhumane. I did it to Matata, may he rest in peace, and I''ll never ever ever ever forgive myself. I''m surprised your purchase contract from the breeder didn''t forbid declawing. Every savannah breeder site I''ve looked at has a "no declaw" requirement in their purchase contracts.
 
I agree as most others to not declaw. I have used the soft claws and they really work, especially if you get them on them as kittens. I bought my mom a Russian Blue as a gift and my mom declawed her and I was horrified. Now, her cat has the nasty side effect of biting everyone that touches her.
 
Date: 3/25/2008 4:13:59 PM
Author: heraanderson
I agree as most others to not declaw. I have used the soft claws and they really work, especially if you get them on them as kittens. I bought my mom a Russian Blue as a gift and my mom declawed her and I was horrified. Now, her cat has the nasty side effect of biting everyone that touches her.
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I''ve heard they tend to do this if you declaw them
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Everyone has pretty much said what I was going to say, so I''ll only add a couple of things.

First is one other possible method for deterring kitty from scratching the furniture or getting where he shouldn''t - fill an empty can (any kind) with pennies or dried beans, and seal it up. When kitty starts doing things he shouldn''t, give the can a good shake. Most cats hate the noise.

I''m also going to ditto the posters who mentioned the cardboard scratching things infused with catnip. Our three kitties LOVE theirs and use them all the time and we''ve never had a problem with scratching in appropriately since we got them. Can''t say enough good things about them. The alpine cat scratcher (link) is a particularly popular one - they sell them at most major pet stores, and once you get the main piece the replacements are pretty cheap, and you only need them every few months at the most (probably less with only one cat using it).
 
No declawing noooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Yes, I have had success with Softpaws. And guess what? Holly doesn''t even need them anymore. I did it in the beginning so that while she was ''figuring things out'' after being caught as a stray she wouldn''t scratch up my house. I got a cardboard scratcher and a carpet and sisal scratching post, and from day one, when I scratched these things myself in front of the cat, she ran over and scratched them too. She has never once scratched any of the furniture. She knows what her scratching posts are for.

Some cats are very finicky, which I have learned through trial and effort. My 12 year old cat has scratched the hell out of my box spring on the bed for years. I was resigned to the destruction, as she scoffed at any scratching posts I brought home. Well, one day, after years of shredded box springs, I brought home a cat tree. Darned if that cat didn''t run over to the tree, start climbing and scratching it, and now NEVER touches my bed. She only uses the cat tree. This is after ten YEARS of scratching my bed. So it just goes to show...cats are NOT stupid. They just want what THEY want, and it''s up to you to figure out what that is.
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I think that everyone else has said what I was thinking too-NO! It''s also illegal in Ireland so no kitty gets that done over here.
 
Declawing is illegal here thank goodness, and I have yet to hear of any child being seriously hurt. They have just made tail and ear docking for dogs illegal here - and about time too.

My parents have had cats all my life from wild farm cats, fishing cats in the pacific to huge numbers of siamese here in the UK. The only times I have been scratched or bitten is when they are kittens and get a little over-excited playing.
Oh, and when that siamese decides to take a flying leap onto your shoulder, misses a bit and uses them to hold on...
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My parents brought up 4 children around cats - they only precaution they ever took was a cat net over the pram if a baby was asleep in the garden (not that it stopped them for long!).

I'm with Gypsy on this one. I couldn't bear to do something that cruel to an animal just for my own vanity over my furniture. I don't think you should own an animal if you feel you need to carry out a procedure that has no benefit for the animal involved.
 
I also agree with everyone else and not declawing. I have a bengal kitten who is very active and we have not had *too* many problems with her clawing. They just need to learn their boundaries. I think owning an animal is like having a child. Would you cut your child''s hand off if they knocked over your favorite vase? I think you should think about new furniture or learn to live with some scratches on what you have. We own microfiber sofas so she doesn''t feel the need to scratch them. The only problem we had with Kenya was the curtains. She always felt the need to climb them. Kenya also loves water so the squirt gun technique did not work since she thought it was a game! We did try something similar to what AmberGretchen mentioned. I filled a can with marbles and shook it when she was near the curtains. This definitely deterred her and we no longer have this problem! She really is a sweet cat and only uses her claws when playing with her toys. I hope that you decide to not declaw her. You won''t regret it!
 
Here''s another enormous NO!!!!!! to your question.

FI adopted three kitties in the last two years and we didn''t declaw any of them. FI also has lovely leather furniture all over his condo because his family owns a furniture store. We don''t use SoftPaws, but we probably should.

What we do is keep the kitties'' nails clipped and filed so they aren''t so sharp. We bought a regular kitty nail clipper and use a normal nail file and it''s very easy to do. Well, it took some getting used to for the cats, but now they sit on FI''s lap on their little tocks with their back legs sticking straight out and bite at the file while FI is giving them a little mani/pedi. It''s actually quite cute.

Your furbaby is GORGEOUS, by the way!
 
Mason is beautiful! What a gorgeous kitty. I'm with you CR-- I normally don't have issues with declawing if the kitten is okay afterwards and if it means that furniture won't be ruined. Yes, I know how it's done -- declawing, that is. I've had a kitten before who was declawed (just the front claws) and he didn't have any problems afterwards. He was in good hands with a great vet at the time. Unfortunately, I moved a year later so my roommate took him when I left our apartment. I had absolutely no regrets having my kitten get declawed.

My FI and I now have two cats who are under 2 years old. I think we missed the boat getting them declawed, and my FI wouldn't allow it, even if we could. He was very against it when they were younger and I brought it up. I couldn't fight him on it without causing some serious arguing. It wasn't worth it. One of our cats never uses her claws but the other one, our male, is notorious for clawing our couches.

I think the only reason I'd be against declawing a cat is if he/she were to get outside (if it's an indoor cat, like we have now and like I've had in the past). If that happens, the cat wouln't be able to defend him/herself, and that most likely wouldn't be a good thing for the cat.
 
I''ve tried Softpaws too. What a nightmare. I wrote about it here somewhere a while back. I wish it worked better for us but those suckers wouldn''t stay on. I''m glad to hear that others have had good experiences with them. It does take a while but hopefully it will get easier if you stick with it long enough. We couldn''t handle them though so we gave up.
 
Like I said before, I''m against declawing, but having children around a "wild" clawed cat could be dangerous. DH''s friend has a Serval kitten and a newborn baby and this really freaks DH and me out!

Hopefully the soft paws works so there will be less worry.

Good luck with your decision.
 
CR, I have to ask, how ON EARTH did you toilet train Mason? We tried to do this with our female (before we got our male a couple months later) but it didn''t work. We were so patient but we just couldn''t handle it. I know this is off-topic but I''m interested to learn how you got it to work with Mason.
 
Hi CrookedRock,

Awww... Mason looks so cute! Would love to see more photos of him.

I definitely would give SoftPaws a try. They really need their claws for so many things other than scratching furniture.

I second what Haven says about regularly clipping the claws. We have 3 cats and my husband clips their claws every 1 - 2 weeks. It really helps with damage control to the furniture. We mostly have the problem with the male cat, the females seem content using the scratching post.

Savannahs are definitely a challenge as they aren''t afraid of anything so the usual punishments don''t always work. Our savannah doesn''t even flinch when you spray the compressed can of air, spritz her with water or jiggle the soda can filled with change. You can even run the vacuum cleaner around her and she just lays on the floor. However, we found something she doesn''t like... gongs. LOL! My husband received a small gong for Christmas (long story) and she hates the sound of it. LOL! Although we don''t have the scratching problem with her, she provides other challenges for us that need behavior modification and the gong works great. It instantly distracts her attention from whatever bad thing she is doing. So hopefully you can find what works with Mason to detract his attention away from scratching.

I would also love to hear about the toilet training. I mean... if you can get him to go in a toilet, I think he can learn to stop scratching. Wow! Amazing!!
 
With respect to children, commonsense and teaching children not to hurt/annoy animals, proper supervision when the child is young, as well as getting an appropriate domestic housebreed cat, will eliminate most risks.

I have never heard of a cat hurting a child, our cat always hisses and warns my DS if he is getting too annoying, and my DS needs to learn to respect the cat and leave it alone. I think as a child I have had one scratch, with a few warning hisses at most, (all deserved as I was annoyig the cat), and all part of normal childhood growing up lessons. Babies should never be left alone with any animal anyway. Again, using common sense,you never leave an age innapropriate child alone with an animal or alone in general. Being an animal owner takes a certain level of committment and responsiblility, if you havnt got the time to train, supervise etc then maybey a cat is not the solution for you (or others thinking about this). To maim an animal to fit in with our lifestyle is innapropriate.

However, it is good to have an open discussion about this. It is certainly not something that is done in Europe (or at least where I have lived) nor in Australia.
 
D2B makes an excellent point, and one with which I wholeheartedly have to agree - children should NEVER be left alone unsupervised with ANY animal, dog or cat or whatever else, for the safety of both the animal and the child. I can''t even begin to imagine how many tragedies could be avoided if people just took this simple rule to heart.

I also agree re: children needing to learn to respect animals. Even if you take away the cat''s claws, they can still bite, and a bad bite is often worse medically (more likely to get infected) than a bad scratch. But its good for children to have pets growing up for a variety of reasons - they lessen the chances of developing allergies both in childhood and later in life, and usually are associated with less severity if they do develop, and they also teach children to respect animals and to know how to act around them, which is an important life lesson in our pet-loving society. I agree that most cats (and dogs for that matter) will let a child know where the limits are and that children will need to learn how to respect that, which is why supervision is so important - you can''t expect a child to automatically understand what he/she is being "told" by the animal, but with supervision, the child can learn what the animals sounds/body language mean, and can learn to respect them.
 
You all will be happy to hear that we have decided to hold off on the declaw. I ordered the softpaws and they should be here in a few days. I also went out and bought Mason a ramp scratcher thing, and as I started typing this post I looked up and this is what I saw!!

MCatinramp.jpg
 
Just about every cat I have ever owned has been declawed so obviously I''m ok with the procedure. If you have a cat that leaves furniture alone, uses a scratching post & doesnt claw you then dont get them declawed but if they are ruining stuff & wont use a scratching post then for me it''s a must. I refuse to let any animal destroy my home. If you are thinking about it, get it done at the same time as being fixed. Declawing is much, much easier the younger they are. Actually I dont really recommend getting older cats declawed because it is more trumatic with age. For what it''s worth my cat is declawed & she can climb trees like a champ, brings me presents etc. her pads are rock hard & she has quite the grip.
 
I am still laughing about that pic, bc he is still in there!
Anywhooo....
The potty training thing is not as hard as you would think, it's just time consuming. The first time I did it with my Bengal was much more difficult bc i didn't buy the training seat, but this time I did, and it made life a lot easier.
Basically you have to be willing to give up a bathroom for about 10 weeks. One of the things I learned froom my first go around with this was that if you move the litter box right near the toilet and gradually raise it every few days with phone books, mags or whatever, it makes this a lot easier. It trains them to know that they will have jump up to their new potty location. As sson as you feel they are comfortable with that, then I went ahead and put the litter box on top of the toilet. Next I switched over to the potty seat. From there it is pretty easy so long as you follow the instructions. The key is to not rush it!

THIS is the potty seat that has worked for us! I highly reccomend it!
 
Um, crookedrock, that is the, em, most glamourous looking toilet seat I ever saw!

And Mason is gorgeous
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Date: 3/26/2008 12:54:27 PM
Author: Delster
Um, crookedrock, that is the, em, most glamourous looking toilet seat I ever saw!

And Mason is gorgeous
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Haha! Too funny that is my best friends wedding dress! Whoops!
 
Haha, so I guess he likes his scratcher! For one purpose, at least. And yes, that''s one purty potty trainer!
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Date: 3/26/2008 12:34:11 PM
Author: CrookedRock
You all will be happy to hear that we have decided to hold off on the declaw. I ordered the softpaws and they should be here in a few days. I also went out and bought Mason a ramp scratcher thing, and as I started typing this post I looked up and this is what I saw!!
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I''m very happy to hear and see this. He''s too cute!
 
Date: 3/26/2008 2:59:01 PM
Author: Gypsy
Date: 3/26/2008 12:34:11 PM

Author: CrookedRock

You all will be happy to hear that we have decided to hold off on the declaw. I ordered the softpaws and they should be here in a few days. I also went out and bought Mason a ramp scratcher thing, and as I started typing this post I looked up and this is what I saw!!
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I''m very happy to hear and see this. He''s too cute!
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Ditto! So glad you decided to spare your darling (GORGEOUS
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) baby this unnecessary pain and trauma. LOVE the picture in the scratching post - too funny!
 
Date: 3/26/2008 12:36:43 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Just about every cat I have ever owned has been declawed so obviously I''m ok with the procedure. If you have a cat that leaves furniture alone, uses a scratching post & doesnt claw you then dont get them declawed but if they are ruining stuff & wont use a scratching post then for me it''s a must. I refuse to let any animal destroy my home. If you are thinking about it, get it done at the same time as being fixed. Declawing is much, much easier the younger they are. Actually I dont really recommend getting older cats declawed because it is more trumatic with age. For what it''s worth my cat is declawed & she can climb trees like a champ, brings me presents etc. her pads are rock hard & she has quite the grip.
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Vegas Angel, I don''t want to threadjack CrookedRock''s thread, but your post makes me profoundly sad and upset, as did the posts from others on this thread saying that they think declawing is OK, without really giving any compelling reason why, except (very limited) anecdotal evidence that they know or owned cats who had had it done and "were OK."

I wonder, have you all really taken the time to educate yourselves about what declawing does to the cat? If you have and truly feel you are making an informed decision on this, then there''s nothing I or anyone else can do about it, since the laws in this country still permit this inhumane procedure, but I wonder why you don''t seem to consider the possibility that it is, indeed, inhumane and unnecessary - if most European countries have banned it and so many loving pet owners here are so strongly opposed to it, I would think that that point of view would at least deserve consideration and that your pet cats are important enough to you that you would at least take the time to educate yourself about the procedure and what it actually involves as well as the potential side effects.
 
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