Declawing?????

trillcat

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Originally Posted by mrblanche

My brother put this in a new light for me yesterday.

He said the question to ask is, "Would you cut off your children's fingers at the first joint, just so you wouldn't have to trim their finger nails any more?"
That is almost exactly what I tell people when the issue of declawing comes up. I tell them to chop off their own fingers, at the first joint, that is what declawing is.
The problem is most people don't know this, they think it somehow just removing the nail. I was there, I was going to get a very scratchy cat declawd and learned what it really is researching it.
I am so glad you decided not to do this PBSJ_1988!
 

trillcat

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yourbriness763;2648713 said:
I agree, I had no idea what was involved in declawing a cat until I clicked on your link & I will never declaw another cat! Recently, a co-worker mentioned his son was coming home from college & bringing a kitten home with him...needless to say my co-worker told his son the cat had to be declawed 1st, once I heard that, I emailed him the information from your link but I guess this guy doesn't have a heart because he still insisted his son's cat get declawed...makes me sad, I thought I could make a difference...sorry didn't mean to go on & on...don't declaw![/QUOTE

You do make a difference! Not everyone gets the message, but if you yell it loud enough some will!
Its all about getting that info out there, what it really is, your doing fine!
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by PBSJ_1988

Thanks guys reading the information from the first post and the information every put makes my desision. Phoenix keeps her distance she has been raised around foster so she has had her share of cat stratches.

I wont even think about it again.
I am not worried about my furniture if I was I would not have pets they are part of the family. Which mean my couch there couch

I think she should be fne without the soft paws. I cut her nail every two weeks so they are short. I have not cut the kittens nail yet because they are less then two weeks old but they will need to be cut soon.
I want to thank you for asking the question and taking the time to find out more about this before you made your decision. Huge kudo's to you for making the decision not to declaw!!!
 

stubbys mom

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I just did them on my 2. One is an 8 month old kitten and one is a 2 yr old cat. Neither scratch the furniture intentionally (I am blessed) but my dogs chase them (they love each other) and they tend to use my Chippendale table as a launch pad. It has severe scrtaches. I called my vet to discuss declawing. She explained that most vets now used a lazer which was much more humane to declaw. She also explained to me that you can only ever declaw a kitten. The damage to a cat who has been declawed normally happens in the recovery period, not in the actual procedure. The more the cat weighs, the more damage to the paws/nail beds. My next question to my vet (who has a multi cat family) was if she had declawed any of hers with the new "humane" lazer. She replied "no". That convinced me not to do it and invest in several squirt bottles and the soft paws. The soft paws work. They have chewed off most of the hind paws but are only missing one or two from the front paws after 2 weeks. This is a much better existence and the scratches in the table make it look more like an antique. Can't say anything good about the cat scratches that were in the leather furniture....
 

Willowy

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Even if the laser method is less painful and there is less risk of hemorhaging, that fact remains that the cat IS CLAWLESS FOR THE REST OF HIS/HER LIFE!!!!!

And unfortunately many vets will de-claw older cats, even overweight older cats.

There is no humane way to alter a cat's bone structure.
 

dragulescugirl

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I've always thought that my first cat Charlie was over aggressive because he was declawed (not my choice - I was 3 when we got him). My arm has a number of scars from him biting so hard.

You know, I don't know what the fuss with claws is all about? All four of my cats let me trim their nails with no problems. I have a few scratching posts littered about and there hasn't been a major issue for years. Sure the kittens scratched at the carpet a little until I got them a flat post, but there is no damage.

Maybe I am just really lucky to have cats that listen.
Or are to lazy to scratch - that seems more likely. But I think if it came down to it, I would got the SoftPaw route. But so far, no worries.
 

littleraven7726

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My oldest, Nabu, is 12 yrs old. He is having health problems right now. Last week he had an x-ray done at the vet of his feet to check for remains from the declaw or a tumor. He didn't have a tumor, but there are bits left from the declaw and his little feet look so mangled on x-ray.


Please don't declaw your kitties. Lola is my only cat with her claws (because that's how she came, the other were declawed adults that I adopted) and she has so much fun throwing herself at her fort, climbing it like Spiderman. So much so that Nabu tried to copy her shortly after we moved here. The look on his face when he realized he couldn't was heartbreaking.

Also, lots of people pay extra for "distressed" finish on their wood furniture. You could get one of those color pencils from Menard's to fill the scratches on your table and just say it's "distressed".


You can clip the back claws. I do that because otherwise they get really sharp when they run across me (in my summer clothes
). That will help with scratches as they run across your furniture. I have an antique (oak) dresser, and I have a plastic cover on the top--it's clear vinyl that my mom bought at a fabric store. It's saved it from scratches and barf incidents. It's cut to fit the top, so it's not noticeable.

My house looks like I decorated in scratching posts, but we don't have any inappropriate scratching. It paid off that I trained the declawed cats to posts before Lola arrived. They pretty much showed her where to scratch.
 

fattykitty

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Declawing is basically taking the last bone of your finger off. Removing it makes the cat feel extremely vunerable and many will attack without warning. By the way, rabbits and cats get along great together. Kudos on your choice.
 

sarahp

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I'm so pleased you made the choice to use SoftClaws and trim the claws
We have leather dining chairs and a beautiful wood dining table that are ruined, but unfortunately by the time we figured out how to stop them doing the launchpad thing, the damage had been done. I can definitely understand your pain!

When we were doing SoftPaws we would check them every week or so and replace any then, that way we weren't trying to do too many at once. Now we just trim their claws, and we do it the same way - I check a couple of times a week, and trim the ones that need it. If I get them while they're napping, I can get the couple done I need to without disturbing them
 

goldenkitty45

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I've been trimming nails on all my cats (and friends/family's cats) so long, that I can just do "stranger" cats in a few mins with no problems.

I did save a few kittens from being declawed by printing out a very good website on declawing and what the truth is! In fact, the friend had never trimmed her older cat's nails for 3 yrs and I just had her hold the cat in her lap and did her in 2 mins - with NO problems.

She recently got a kitten and they were gonna declaw till is gave them the paper. She also trimmed the kitten's nails nice when I was over there, so both cat will now keep their claws!
 

russiankitten

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I hate to sound ignorant but.. a cat has claws he is a predator this is what he naturally is do not do anything to alter this, it is totally inhumane.
 

dusty's mom

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I would never declaw. Dusty doesn't scratch the furniture at all. She has several of those cardboard "planks" that she just loves! In fact they are her only toys, and she absolutely loves them.
 

georgia

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I'm a newbie here, but I've got to go along with the other responses. Has mom cat been completely segregated from the rabbit and dog, or has she had supervised interaction? If you have reason to believe that all he-l will break loose one day when you're not around, I would just make sure that they're all kept separate while you are out.
 
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