declawed kitty

hi i am pretty new here i dont post much but like to visit now and then
i have a beautiful 14 month old kitten named mike recently mike started to scratch furniture to bits so my boyfriend said either i have mike declawed or get rid of him
i felt sorry for mike but know it was for the best that i have claws removed and i tell you hes a hole new kitten so much more friendly and when he goes to scratch furniture it not getting damage anymore mike is happy without his claws and now i am to
i should had it done a long time ago but i had heard its not good for cats to have no claws but with reassurance from vet and seeing results i realise it is very harmless to mike

I'll move this to Care and Grooming, but have to say that although i'm happy that Mike is ok, the majority of TCS is against declawing and would prefer that people look into declawing more and try an alternative method such as soft paws before taking drastics steps

I am glad that Mike seems ok at the moment. And for his sake I hope it stays that way. But this is not a harmless procedure and it was not harmless for him. Its amputation of the first knuckle.

Did you have scratching posts? If so what type? Had you spent any effort trying to train your cat not to scratch the furniture?

I feel *very* sorry for your cat. When cats are declawed their claws aren't just taken off. The claws in cats are a part of the bone structure in their fingers so to take the claws off you have to amputate the tips of the fingers off from the last knuckle on the fingers. This clips a joint in two and removes bones and nerves.

Because cats walk on their toes, amputating a portion of them changes their walk and declawed cats are more likely to get arthritis and other spine and joint problems when they get older. That's also because a declawed cat can't stretch properly anymore. Part of how cats stretch involves sinking their claws in something soft for added resistance.

It's good that your cat seems to have recovered well from his multiple amputations and hopefully he'll stay clear from some of the side effects that can happen.

You need to monitor his paws well to see if there has been any regrowth, this can happen occasionally when not all of the first bone was removed. Then the claw can regrow inside the paw and it's very painful for the cat.

Also some declawed cats can become more skittish and afraid and resort to biting since their first line of defence is gone. Also some find it uncomfortable to scratch around in a litterbox so choose to do their business elsewhere.

This has probably not happened with your cat and that's great, however if you start having litterbox problems with him the first thing to do is to offer him softer litter (sometimes people end up forced to use shredded newspaper for example) I'm not saying this will happen, lots of declawed cats don't have any litterbox problems, just that if it does happen the declawing is probably part of the problem.

Also you can never let your cat outside now. He can't defend himself against creatures or climb well now so he has to be kept inside 100% of the time.

I feel very sorry both for your cat and yourself that your boyfriend would value furniture more than the well being of a living creature.

Originally Posted by Siggav

Did you have scratching posts? If so what type? Had you spent any effort trying to train your cat not to scratch the furniture?

I feel very sorry both for your cat and yourself that your boyfriend would value furniture more than the well being of a living creature.

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my boyfriend made a scratch post using left over carpet mike always used it until four weeks ago when he sunk his claws into our leather lounge suite and ruined it i never seen him so upset before
i love mike so couldnt get rid of him it was actually my boyfriend who saved mike for us be cause some horrible man was going to drown him in a river when he was just a teeny kitten

Shakes head. i can not post much else to this thread. It saddens me that a person thinks more of their possessions then their cats well being. It saddens me that someone would think this is a harmless thing to have done to their pet. It saddens me that this happened to this poor cat.

pictures of a declaw surgery:GRAPHIC WARNING!!!!
http://community-2.webtv.net/stopdeclaw/declawpics/ (does this look harmless) (may be graphic for some but this is the procedure)

My 8 year old Charlie has only been an indoor cat for 3 months...and we've learnt how to trim his claws. It isn't hard


/entsubtlehint

Originally Posted by Serpant_King

hi i am pretty new here i dont post much but like to visit now and then
i have a beautiful 14 month old kitten named mike recently mike started to scratch furniture to bits so my boyfriend said either i have mike declawed or get rid of him
i felt sorry for mike but know it was for the best that i have claws removed and i tell you hes a hole new kitten so much more friendly and when he goes to scratch furniture it not getting damage anymore mike is happy without his claws and now i am to
i should had it done a long time ago but i had heard its not good for cats to have no claws but with reassurance from vet and seeing results i realise it is very harmless to mike

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I'm glad seems ok at the moment. And it's too late to change anything but.... You're going to find very little support for declawing on this site. Declawing is far from harmless. Of course many vets will say it's ok since they get paid a big chunk of money. Declawing is like amputating to the first knuckle on your fingers. That's exactly what they do. Hopefully it won't happen with Mike but many declawed cats will end up with litter box and biting issues as they realize they have no defense mechanism left. Not all cats end up like this. But many do.

I have a cat with claws and he never touches my furniture. Even my leather recliner. But he has scratching posts and a cat tree. Mine seem to love the carpet covered ones the best. Some like the sisal. Actually I have both. Some folks also use soft paws (or soft claws... whichever it is!) They are little covers or caps that go over their claws so they can't do damage. I'm sorry you didn't have a chance to learn about alternatives and try some of them first. Good luck to you and Mike!

If it is 'very harmless', then why is it illegal here and in many many other countries? Here it is considered animal cruelty. I'm quite shocked that this still goes on in some parts of the world tbh.

Its not harmless to declaw. Its not just taking out the claws - they amputate the toes! And right now you might not have any problems, but later on, your little kitten might start biting more in self-defense, start peeing on or in other places and not in the litter box cause its painful, or could become very timid and hide from people out of fear of no defense.

If you value your furniture more, then you should have not had a cat or had adopted one already done by someone else who didn't care about the cat. Clipping nails, using Soft Paw nail caps, and having a good scratching post would have been a lot better then to do then to ruin another cat!

Hopefully you won't have any negative problems, but its a 50/50 chance you WILL have them. And since you multilated your kitten, don't get rid of him when he starts having problems cause you created them by declawing.

And if you ever want another cat, don't adopt a clawed one - get another declawed one and deal with the problems..

This is TCS's official stance on declawing:

3. This website considers declawing a drastic way to curb cat behavior. A painful ordeal for your kitty we would suggest that declawing never be considered for any behavioral issue. Health issues are entirely different. It is up to you as a responsible pet owner to explore all the different options available instead of declawing. Your cat is dependant on you to make wise choices for her, and not put her into any more stress or discomfort. Please be a responsible pet owner and research this subject thoroughly. Understand that if you are pro-declaw in your posts, you will encounter opposition. Please learn more about alternatives for declawing here in our forums as well as on our website itself. Declaw - More than Just a Manicure. Hopefully those of you with claw-related problems will find solutions by spending time in our Behavior Forum.

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This topic has been debated many times. Nothing can be done to bring this kitten's claws back. I am closing this thread before the responses get much too personal.