*sigh* I feel like a failure...declawing question ahead...  

I would caution against declawing, as an already "unstable" or "unpredictable" cat is more likely than any other cat (IMO) to resort to biting. I don't think declawing would solve or help the problem, it would just create a new problem.

I have heard that if you declaw the cat it will bite instead. I have 2 cats that are very tempermentle. Both will growl and swipe at you if they don't want to be bothered. One will nip at you but not bite, the other will bite very hard but not break the skin. For giving medicine I either get a liquid (wrap them up in a towel so that only the head pokes out), or I crush the pills and put it in their favorite canned food.

Sent you a PM.

Throwing some ideas out here. These may be not be popular but they're not as drastic as declawing. Dani sounds like s/he is at the end of the rope. I'm assuming after 4 years, everyone has offered the standard and usually helpful tips like Feliway, rescue remedy, etc.

Are you in a living situation where the cat can live comfortably outside? Perhaps in an enclosed yard with a cathouse? Can she become a barn cat?

I thought your reason for posting was to seek input on what others consider the 'last resort' as opposed to what appears to be you really hoping that you'll receive responses supporting declawing.

I can tell you're extremely frustrated and I can't imagine 4 yrs of this, but it won't make your situation any easier by coming here and getting upset with responders all because you're frustrated by their responses. In fact, you'll likely receive fewer responses because, understandably, nobody wants to offer their time and input, only to be snidely dismissed.

I'm sure a lot of readers here don't know all of the things you've tried and unless you are willing to list them all, you're naturally going to receive responses that offer common things to try.

Now as to your belief that biting would be better than being scratched, here is something to consider. What if a visitor to your home was bit? I don't know what the laws are where you are but if someone's animal bites someone, can't some type of agency or organization step in, remove the cat from the home, quarantine it, possibly put it down? What if this cat were to bite a child in the face? Not sure if you keep cat up to date on Rabies vaccination but I know where I live I was told that if I fail to do this and any of my cats bite someone and they report it, if I don't have proper documentation to prove cat is immunized against Rabies, cat will be removed and quarantined for a significant period of time.

I have a cat I adopted from the H.S. a year ago. He was a sweetheart there, which is why I adopted him...but within days of having him home, he turned into Cujo. Does NOT like to be pet and if you do so for more than 10 seconds, his tail will thrash to beat the band and he's p*ssed. He'll swat AND bite (though doesn't break the skin, it's still a very significant bite). Can't tell you how many times I've been scratched, including a few times in the face (before I realized that he's got issues). Long story short, I recently popped him into the Vet and had them clip his claws. He was a handful there, and I warned them. They clipped his claws so well, that poor guy tries and tries to scratch posts, leather couches, carpet....and he can't get any traction to save his life! LOL There is absolutely NO sharpness to his claws at all. I only wish I'd thought to do this a long time ago. Would have saved my expensive leather furniture, for sure, not to mention my skin.

Though he's a handful at the Vet, surely they can clip his claws just as they've done with my demon cat Hobee. Even if they have to give him a bit of anesthetic to put him out while they do it. Hobee's were clipped 3 weeks ago and they're still nice and dull. Dull, short claws simply canNOT do any damage - and it is me who now gets the last laugh when he reaches out to swat me and I'm left totally unscathed (I think it irks him big time!).

I'm assuming this isn't something that's been tried yet because I can't for the life of me understand why doing this would not work; there's simply no way it can fail. A shortly clipped claw cannot scratch; it's rendered totally ineffective with respect to scratching/shredding/damaging. I had previously tried clipping his claws but I wasn't clipping them short enough. I didn't know just how close to clip and was merely clipping just the little curled, sharp end. They clipped a whole lot more (but of course not clipping the quick) and the difference is truly like night and day. I would have never ever known. I urge you to give this a try. Hobee is a cat who likes to jump up on my pillow at night and watch me and I can tell you he scared the crap out of me because there were times in the past if I got spooked by him doing and moved too quickly, he's scratch me. Not a nice way to live, afraid to sleep. Now I don't worry at all.

Something else to consider, though, is that maybe this kitty has major fear/anxiety issues due to being in a home with multiple cats (not sure if you have other pets). Some cats just can't handle being anything other than the only cat.

Having recently had two declawed rescues here, I will say that I would rather deal with the claws then the teeth, because yes, they will bite. Especially if they are stray rescues and not kittens raised with love.

Have you thought about contacting www.barncat.org Sounds like your cat would be much better off at a barn with cat lovers where she can hunt and prey and be much better off. There is no shame in not being able to save them from themselves, I have had several cats in the past year that were just so aggressive it wasn't safe to keep them around people.

Please don't declaw or I fear you will have more problems with her afterward than you do now.

Hissy, great site but the link doesn't work. Here it is:

http://www.barncats.org/index.php

And I agree, maybe being barn cat is the best option for Sophie. It may bring relief and happiness to both human and cat.

And Food Lady's advice sounds good too. If you keep Sophie, then factoring in the cost to her claws trimmed by the vet every few weeks is something to consider.

I know every clinic is different; some charge for basic things, some don't. At my clinic, I can pop my cats in there anytime and have one of the Vet Techs trim their claws and it's no cost at all. If you're a long time customer at a particular clinic, they may not charge you, either - particularly if you have other cats and they already make good money off of you :-) Now of course this won't apply if cat has to be sedated to have this done.

Frankly I'm surprised her Vet clinic hasn't already done this. It should have been common sense to them to clip the claws whenever the cat is brought in and if they'd done this, it would have become very evident very quickly just how great of a solution it was/is. It's sort of like what they do at the Humane Society; all cats there have their claws clipped very short because they can't risk these cats scratching a child/potential adopter/staff member.

food lady- cat bites are pretty much treated universally around the country the same way. All cat bites (serious enough to get your running to the ER are reported by law by the doctor) Once the health department gets the report, they have the option of coming to seize the cat and quarantining them for 30 days perhaps longer if it is not current in vaccines. If it is stray, they generally euthanize it and necropsy the brain for rabies and slap the person with a huge bill (several hundred dollars)
Not worth it in my book, especially when there are other options out there- like soft paws, hardwood cat scratchers and clipping the nails yourself.

While I'm not in favor of declawing in general, I'd rather see a cat declawed than put to sleep or abandoned.

We DO put cats with Barn Rescue. Usually cats that are a little too aggressive to trust with normal adoptions. I've heard that a significant number of them end up as housecats. We don't put out truly mean cats, just ones that are more unpredictable than we like to trust. In fact, the shelter said that would be one possibility with Flambe, if no one adopts him. And that's the funny thing, because he's about as gentle as a cat can get, at our house. He just goes crazy at the shelter.

I am sorry you are going through this. I hope you can find a reasonable solution. The barncat sounded like a good one. I sympathize with you. It would be awful trying to live with a cat who does this type thing. The other thing is, could you turn the cat outside and provide a cat enclosure unit of some kind. My cats have lived outside many years now since we learned of my husband's allergies. We have what is called the cat fence in system which attached to either a wooden fence or a chain link fence. Our cats can't get out and other cats cannot get inside the fence where our cats live. I hope you can work things out.

You are going to do what you want to do because it is your cat and you are the one that has to deal with the cat. I personally don't think declawing is the right option. If you do declaw and the cat starts biting then what is the next option to try? At this point you can try letting it outside because it has no way to protect itself. My 2 problem girls go out during the day but they come in and out to eat and come in at night to sleep. If I try to keep them in the scratching gets worse. One of these girls practically turned herself into an outside only cat during the warm weather last year. She would come in and eat and go right back out and wouldn't stay in at night. She has started staying inside more then being out (even with the good weather), and she is becoming a very loving cat. You might want to consider letting her go out during the day.

Spaz got declawed for being extremely violent, attacking us with no provation and scratching bad enough that we required medical attention for stitches. We tried everything and finally the last resort was getting her declawed. She became a different cat and I have never regretted my decision. I had to do what was right in that situation and I did, there is no reason to regret doing what was right for the cat and gave it a better quality of life(and yes declawing a violent cat improves their quality of life since many seem to calm down after it is done.)

Taryn

Having lived with a front declaw who bite and drew blood regularly( she lived to nearly 19 ).After living with a declaw IMHO I would put a cat down before that.. Try soft paws or have the vet use a dremmel on the nails( really dulls them IMHO)...
If you really feel it best to rehome try the farm route ... I have semi ferals who have been Taught Not to bite or scratch( so have my domestics and my only wounds are from my shoulder climber)

Sorry but it makes absolutely no sense to me, your claim that declawing a cat can improve its quality of life because it (the declawing) causes many to "calm down" after it's done. I can't for the life of me understand how a painful amputation will result in a calmer cat. To say that declawing was "right" for your cat and that it gave him a better quality of life....how is that? Isn't it YOUR quality of life that's better? I would hate for newbies (new to cats or new to these boards) to read such a post and be grossly mislead into thinking that declawing is in the best interest of their cat and that it could calm their cat. I don't believe it for a minute because it makes no sense from a physiological standpoint; how could the amputation of their toes (essentially) make them more calm? If anything, declawing puts the cat at risk for:

-a botched declaw which presents a whole lifetime (for the cat) of problems
-the high risk of ongoing infections, pain, difficulty walking, avoidance of the litterbox (and therefore peeing/pooping inappropriately because they associate standing in the litterbox with pain), claws growing back but this time they're "ingrown" and grow into the pad/paw
-increased risk of biting behavior
-should get get outside, significantly limited ability to defend itself

Why didn't you just have the Vet/Vet Tech regularly (every few weeks) clip your cat's claws really short? Like I wrote earlier, my demon-cat Hobee had this done (he's been horrible with scratching and biting, which I thought I had to live with) and even after having this done 3 weeks ago, he still had dull claw tips; so much so that it's impossible for him to scratch me, it's impossible for him to dig into my furniture (or cat post!) with his claws. I only wish I'd known they could be clipped this shorter a long time ago. I'd tried clipping the tips of them myself but I obviously wasn't clipping enough. It's made the world of difference and if it did for him, it would for ANY cat. Did you try THAT first? I'm guessing not.

So, what's the course of action if declawing does not help the aggression, possibly makes it worse, and she does turn to biting? If that were to happen enough, even with current vacs, some counties will label an animal dangerous.

I'm another one that thinks that safe outside time - or even permanently outside may be a solution that won't lead to deadly consequences (at worst).
I have one that cannot be a house cat because so far she's only ever accepted one other cat - all others she attacks on sight and is quite violent when she does. She would love to be a house cat, but I can't risk her killing one of my other cats. She keeps her claws, doesn't have to go on any medication, and can run her energy off doing cat things outside.

I had a cat with the front paws declawed. He would bite constantly. I think strange_wings idea is worth a try.

If you do declaw her, and her behavior doesn't change or gets worse and she starts biting aggressively, then you would no longer have the option of placing her in a barn or other outside situation, because she wouldn't be able to defend herself any longer.

I imagine your quality of life improved, but I highly doubt a cat who had the toes of all four feet amputated has improved quality of life. You will never get me to believe it or accept that it is okay to do such a thing to a cat.


I also think a violent cat would be better off being euthanized rather than having all her toes cut off.

My two cats are declawed (came that way) and they do not bite or act out - and it's simply not a universal truth that all declawed cats will have such issues.

Granted, it's a last resort, but, if the choice is between putting the cat down and having the surgery done by a qualified vet, IMO that's between the owner and the vet. Dani Marie has been on this site for years, and for those who've read her posts over the years, I think we know she's definitely tried everything humanly possible and puts the wellbeing of her cats incredibly high on her list of family welfare.

The shelter I got my cats from does not approve of declawing, but, again, if it's a choice between providing the cat with a chance of life in a loving home, and being put down, well.....and they're the folks who get caught in situations where people become afraid of, and for, their cats.

Dani, I'd suggest talking to your vet regarding all options, and making your decision from there. Please do not feel you need to defend your love for your cat. You're reached out for any alternatives you haven't already considered or tried - don't beat yourself up for considering everything available to you.

Our shelter discourages declawing, but I have to say I don't recall ever dealing with one of our declawed cats that bit or otherwise acted out. In fact, the declawed cats we've had have been consistently well-behaved, despite our constant fear of otherwise.

My OTB Tigger left a lot of scars before he crossed. His brother Eightball is put under every time he goes to the vet (they don't even bother with the gloves on him). They are afraid on him.

My friend's cat gets the glove treatment every time she is at the vet. She's also horribly embarrassed by it, but the vet (a cat only clinic) just laughed and told her they deal with cats like this all the time.

People that rescue feral cats know that many of them remain very difficult to handle their entire lives.

You are clearly not alone here.

If you want to avoid a declaw, then my primary advice is to change your activities with her. To keep from being clawed by Tigger, I left him alone. I never tried to pick him up. I herded him away from situations where he might interact with other people (like your idea of locking yours in a bedroom), and clapped my hands to shoo him away from an open outside door (I dreaded the thought of him every getting outside). Medications always had to be injectible with him - the few times I tried to pill him always gave me scars. And realize that if she ever gets chronically ill and needs daily medications, you will need to find a way to slip those into her food or have her do without. Some cats simply don't interact with people very well and when they chose to do so, it is always on their terms. Tigger slept on my legs every night, and clawed me up the rest of the time.

I've only had 1 declawed cat and that was many many years ago. He was a very sweet and gentle cat, but did resort to biting afterwards. It scares me to think of what my Tigger would have done had I declawed him. DH was seriously bitten by a neighbor's (declawed) cat one time (the cat bit so deep that it dangled from the air by his teeth in his arm) and DH did land at the doctors office. I know there is no guarantees that your cat would resort to biting, but are you willing to take that chance?

to help you through this situation.

This thread has been edited and is being closed. It turned much too personal.

While this site is anti-declaw I think we all need to take a few steps back before answering threads of this nature. At times our tone is so militant that we are no help for members like DaniMarie who are struggling with a difficult decision. DaniMarie herself admits that she has made similar posts in the past. Perhaps we all need to think how we would like to be treated if we were in a similar situation.

Declawing is such a hot topic here. Most members find it repugnant and will post as such. It is illegal in many countries so many of our members can't even imagine it being allowed. That is not the case here in the US. I'll be quite honest, my childhood cat was declawed. It was the norm to do a spay and a declaw back then as it still is with many vet practices today. Much of the US is still quite uneducated about this. If a vet is offering this service, many can not understand how it could be a bad thing. I had no idea what a declaw entailed until I joined this site. Had I posted a thread asking about declawing when I first joined and gotten some of the venomous posts that I have seen here on TCS, I would have turned and ran as fast and as far as I could. We need to educate, not turn people away.

The old saying that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar is very appropriate in these cases.