De-clawing my cat?

[Guest JulieG]

Hello, everyone! :-)

 

I don't know if this is the correct place to post this, but I had a question about de-clawing my cat.

 

My husband insists that we de-claw our cat but I don't feel this is a very humane thing to do. Our cat is a bit on the tempermental side and does lash out at people, though. I am afraid that once we de-claw her, she will not be able to defend herself from our dogs or other cats. Do you know of any alternatives? I have heard of "SoftPaws", a temporary cover that goes over the cat's claws, but I do not think that will work. Is clipping her nails an option? Advice needed.

 

Thank you!

Julie

[Guest JulieG]

Sorry! I never noticed the general discussion board. Don't mind me! (unless you have some advice!)

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

Your kitty will continue to use it's back-claws to defend itself.

 

We had our cat neutered and de-clawed (I know, many think it's just awful) at six months of age. She is now 17+ years old. She has been mainly an indoor cat her whole life, so she hasn't had to defend herself. She will use her back-claws if you pick her up and she wants down. However, she's a sweet kitty with a good disposition.

 

We adopted her younger cousin a few years later and had him neauter/spayed/de-clawed at six months also. However, he had a bad disposition and would lash-out at people. He would bite too. He drove our calico cat crazy. When the babies came, we had to give him up. Since he was a biter, no rescue organization would take him.

 

Fortunately, a customer of my dh (older lady, cat collector/rescurer) took him and cared for him for ten years until she had him put down due to kidney failure at age 14. Under her care he was an outdoor cat. She described him as the Alpha cat of the pack. She sent us updates on him in her annual Christmas card. He was very affectionate to her daughter and was one of her favorite cats. She was nice enough to bring him by my dh's work so my dh could say good-bye to him.

 

Having said all that, I would try a scratching post and see if your cat will use that. If your cat is just using it's claw to lash out, then I don't think de-clawing is going to put an end to that. The cat may become more of a biter. I think our second kitty was not much of a people-cat and found happiness amongst the pack of kitties that the lady had in and around her home.

 

hth,

 

K

[CatMomof3]

I don't have any advice except I do agree with the pp.

I will say that our cat adopted us a few months ago, she was a friendly stray that loves our kids. We had her fixed but we did not have de-clawed. My reasoning is that we live in earthquake country, if we get a bad enough one and she runs away I want her to be able to defend herself.

[Tree House Academy]

Is your cat an indoor cat or an indoor/outdoor cat? If it is indoor only, then this might be okay. If she goes outdoors EVER, then don't do it.

 

We got two cats from the humane society 10 years ago and they had belonged to an elderly woman perviously. Apparently, they found a vet who declawed those cats FRONT AND BACK! so they could not scratch the elderly woman. My cats are exclusively inside and have not EVER been outside except the 5 or so times they have escaped for a minute or two. It is really a PITA to be honest, but I don't have choice. The cats are totally defenseless with no claws what.so.ever. I can't imagine what vet did that!

[Guest shermansd]

If you are still considering it, I would suggest that you use a vet that performs the surgery with a laser and not a knife. The healing time is much quicker along with less bleeding and swelling. My wife is a feline-only veterinarian, and she wouldn't do this operation any other way.

 

Hello, everyone! :-)

 

I don't know if this is the correct place to post this, but I had a question about de-clawing my cat.

 

My husband insists that we de-claw our cat but I don't feel this is a very humane thing to do. Our cat is a bit on the tempermental side and does lash out at people, though. I am afraid that once we de-claw her, she will not be able to defend herself from our dogs or other cats. Do you know of any alternatives? I have heard of "SoftPaws", a temporary cover that goes over the cat's claws, but I do not think that will work. Is clipping her nails an option? Advice needed.

 

Thank you!

Julie

[emmsmama]

I've applied Soft Claws on a kitty previously and they worked well, however you have to have a pretty calm kitty to get them on. I have two cats that are not declawed (I told dh before we even adopted them that I absolutely refused to declaw them). They occasionally use their claws for mishief, but we have a scratch post that I regularly dose up with catnip, so the majority of the time they only use their claws on the scratch post. They are VERY good with people though, so their claws aren't a concern with my kids or dh and I.

 

My concern in your case would be that if kitty is aggressive already sometimes, declawing her might just turn her into a biter. A kitty with an attitude problem is likely to always be a kitty with an attitude problem.

[SonshineLearner]

If declawing is the only way that you can keep the cat, then it's probably more humane than killing it. Think of it this way, it's actually amputating the tips of the toes. So, if that doesn't bother you, then perhaps it's not too bad. Supposedly, it can cause some sensations that are unpleasant for the cat. I didn't do it, because I feel like it's unkind to amputate any part of a human or pet, unless there is a risk you are trying to avoid. In other words, I would cut the tail of a dog, if I felt he was a breed that was likely to break it while running around my house.

 

Carrie:-)