Stray kitty is breaking my heart!

Norachan

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I agree with Fhi09. I have a houseful of cats and every winter I bring stray kittens indoors to give them a better chance of surviving and NONE of my furniture is clawed. It is possible to train cats to only sharpen their claws on the surfaces you want them to use.

Declawing is very painful and unnecessary and leads to all kinds of health and behaviour problems. I'm sure other people on this site will be able to give you more information on this. Declawing is illegal in a lot of other countries. It's shocking that it's still done in the US.

I don't mean to lecture you. You've done a very kind thing by adopting Baby Kitty, but please don't cut her fingers off. Please.

 

djoe

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Declawing in cats is the same as amputating the front joint of a child's fingers... do yiu really wanna do that.

My kittens do good if only (simply) cut and trim them on a weekly basis.

Plus there is always a slight chance that one day you leave a door or a window open and the cat go out... imagine a declawed cat trying to fence for her/himself...

And FYI Declawing is increasingly de-legalised. The UK for instance rendered it illegal. Some states in the US as well. Here, ethical vets refuse to do it.

I am sure if you explain to your husband - who seems very loving - he will accept it.

You 2 have done ssucha great job!

My elder cat did ruin my furniture and since she was an abused cat before I adopted her, I never forced her to let me cut and trim her nails and she did not respond to training (sgebwas already too old). She did ruin the furniture (sofa arms) but you know what? Id rather ruin all the furniture than hurt my cat... eventually she saw I am bothered and focused on the flip back of the carpet instead of the sofa, so that is no bid deal.

My best advice is to go to yhe wood and look for a tree wood... some 70 vm long 12 cm wide.. dont wash it, just dust it. And place it somewhre in the house. That is there natural way of doing it. They will love it.


Keep us posted!
 

shadowsrescue

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I have 2 indoor only cats and one that comes inside on occasion.  None of them are declawed and none of them scratch my furniture.  I have plenty of scratchers with different material and different heights for them to scratch.  We also clip their nails every few weeks. 

Please please reconsider declawing your cat.  Search the internet and show your husband how painful it is to the cat and the problems that may arise from it.  You don't want to eliminate one problem only to find more problems to deal with.
 

nbrazil

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I'm just a guy, not one of the advisors so my view on declawing will vary from the official viewpoint of this forum, but I do believe that declawing is a form of mutilation. As such, when it is done, the earlier, the better... to be graphic, a human child would better adapt to the loss of all their finger joints if it were done as an infant than if it were done as a child.

With a kitten it is a bit worse because they rely on those joints to support how they walk... so maybe using a human infant's toes might be a better analogy... and there is a chance it would always HURT to walk (something easier to get used to if done early... they wouldn't know any better).

In a semi-feral, already used to using them, not only in defense, but day-to-day life (look how your cats "pick up" things... my kittens play and grab things with them) I believe this would be cruel... even given that you are rescuing her. Sometimes it means that their paws will remain sensitive for life and, therefore, they could wind up avoiding using a litter box because the litter hurts! (And there is that biting thing - again, in a cat used to having to defend itself.)

Where I differ from this group is that I know that doesn't always happen, and that a "good declawing" (an oxymoron) done very early could leave very little impact (I have a friend with an adult Ragdoll which appears just fine, no behavioral issues at all - but, like I said, done early).

Given your circumstances, it would be in the cats interest (and yours, really - behaviorally speaking - i.e. risks) not to do that. Unlike the others, I say this BECAUSE of the circumstances (semi-feral, not an infant). In my opinion, that is asking for trouble. If everything goes ideally, great (sorry forum folks - some people/animals do okay with amputations)... but the more likely outcome in this case would be less than ideal. Are you ready to keep her if she cannot use the litter box due to pain? And then you couldn't let her out either!

I'm not you (nor your husband), so the final responsibility for this life is yours.

That much being said.... thank you for efforts and love.
 

StefanZ

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 and front de-clawed
Nay, please, please, dont do that!   We all do love stories with a good and happy end.  Dont destroy  this, so far,  totally beautiful story!

Worse than a ink blotch in a japanese calligraphers piece of art.   A false note in a classical piano concert.

I, one of the judges at TCS  yearly litterary novel contest here, I do forbid it!
 
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stewball

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Oh no no no. How can a cat lover and saver even think of declawing a cat whether it's front or back toes. My gentle was also part feral and scratched my lazy boy to pieces but I would never even thought of something like that. I didn't even people would think of doing something like that until a girl at work had it done and was sorry after when she saw how much pain she was in. Gentle clawed and clawed until I bought the box with cardboard in it for scratching with cat nip in. I had bought it for it for lotto who never sharpened his claws anywhere but the right place. When I put this cardboard box down gentle ran to it and never scratched the furniture again. Please don't mutilate her. You can get special sticky plastic sheets to put on the sides of you your furniture to protect it. Please. We are all begging you.
 

vball91

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This site is very anti-declawing, so please be aware that you will get a lot of people asking, nay begging, you to not do this. I did not know what declawing really involved until I joined this site, and I would now never declaw a cat. It is amputation to the first joint and causes permanent changes to the cat's gait, causing arthritis and other issues as they get older. Declawed cats also can develop behavioral issues including biting and litter box avoidance. Declawing is illegal in most first world countries and some cities in California.

Here are some recent threads with a lot of information about declawing and some other members' viewpoints.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/255390/declawing-advice-not-for-me

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/242514/cat-declaw-complication
 

djoe

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I agree with Stewball.

Please don't feel offended by our reactions. We understand how much you lovr these cats. Sometimes we do things we would have chosen not to if we had information about it...

Share your thoughts and concerns and we will be supportive to do what is best for your family and for the kitten.
 

ondine

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Before I knew better, I had a cat declawed. It is effectively like cutting off your fingers to the first knuckle. The big issue with my cat was that her bones kept trying to heal and would start growing - often poking through her poor paws. It was her immune system's response to the trauma. It was awful for all of us. While I understand the reasoning behind this, it really isn't a good idea, health wise. Maybe you could show your husband this post. That might help convince him.
 

fhicat

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Would almost have been better to leave her outside. Sorry.
Have to agree with this. All the good you have done for her thus far is going to be completely negated if you declaw her. She would have been much happier and healthier just being outside in her little shelter.
 

djoe

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There is a plethora of info about the dangers of declawing online... it can cause irreversible damage to their spine, that's just amongst all these reasons.

Well, we are just sharing knowledge here, and hope to have your feedback!
 

tulosai

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Would almost have been better to leave her outside. Sorry.
I think it would have been better to leave her outside in the relatively safe enclosure the OP described.  Maybe I am being overly dramatic due to the fact it's quite late here and I've been sick, but really, OP, I add my voice to those begging you not to do this.  I think there is pretty much nothing  crueler that you could do.  You and your husband are obviously good people.  I hope with all my heart that you will educate yourself and him and not go through with this.

It is easy, quite easy, to teach cats not to claw.  I have fostered hundreds (literally) of cats and kittens in total.  I have only not been able to teach one not to claw furniture and she just wasn't with me long enough.  I admit there is a training period, and she may scratch during that time, but honestly, you can teach them not to scratch.  We'd be so happy to advise you about how.  And if you don't have time for that, soft paws are a great alternative mentioned above.
 

thevegancuddler

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Yes, agreed! Baby Kitty needs her claws for all of the aforementioned reasons! It's an unnecessary amputation, and it's easy to train her not to scratch. Imagine how traumatized she'll be when a defensive mechanism that she has always had is taken away! Poor baby.
 

stewball

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It seems you have stopped talking to us since we all asked you, no pleaded, with you not to do this. We are all your friends here. Please listen to us. I just hope we're not too late.
 

djoe

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The apointment is tomorrow, Friday, so it isn't too late...

Fingers crossed
 

Norachan

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I feel like I'm waiting to hear about a stay of execution, waiting to here what happened with Baby Kitty. It's already Friday evening in Japan.

Blacklab, if you need any help on how to prevent Baby Kitty from scratching the furniture, or tips on how to kitty-proof the house while you're training her not to scratch, please ask. It's really not that difficult to train cats at all.

Hugs. I know this must be a difficult decision for you to make.

 

stewball

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Of course we may be too late already. I notice we haven't heard from her since the mention of declawing appeared. This worries me somewhat.
 

djoe

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Now I feel guilty encouraging the whole getting her inside trip...
 

tulosai

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I hope the OP will at least be good enough to come back and tell us what she did. I suspect the declawing has/will go forward, but it would be nice to know for sure.
 
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