Post Declawing

So I have kitten about 8 months old and he was recently declawed. I understand now that I should have tried every alternative but my family really wanted to have it done and it seemed like most indoor cats got declawed with no long lasting porblems. After the surgery he is acting completely normal. He still loves playing and cuddling. He is very active and hasn't resorted to biting. He also still uses the litter box appropriately.  But from all my research online it seems like all cats experience extreme life long discomfort and resentment. I am not looking for a lecture as to why declawing is wrong as I cannot reverse it but I was wondering if it's possible for cats to still live a happy life after the surgery and what I can do to promote that for my kitty.

What do you mean? Cats can live happy lifes with three legs or tails missing or blind....They can because most animals seem to have a god given grace to their approach to life and connection to the beauty of each god given moment. This being the same god that made the inconvenient annoyance of claws on the what we like to claim as our pet possessions, animated stuffed toys. Your cat most likely will find happiness inspite of no claws like some people do without a hand for example. Most people who are against declawing are more mad at the vets who make money off this mutilation not the clueless masses that trust and follow them. Sorry if you wanted a reply that would make you feel better, this is the best I could come up with!

Of course, there will always be anecdotal examples for almost any scenario. Yes, a declawed cat can have happiness and continue on with their lives. But, in the majority of the cases, there is damage. That damage just isn't always super evident or obvious. 

My example, Chase, was declawed by her previous owners before we took her (they were moving). She's always been a bit moody, had multiple litterbox issues and quickly agitated. She actually only likes my dad. She hates everyone else, including me. And I'm the first one who met her! She's now at least 17yo. Probably older. So she's lived a long life, and still kicking, but she's gone through a lot. 

Litterbox issues are huge, so be mindful of that. If issues arise, take him to the vet to ensure it's not a urinary issue of course. But if it's not, then help your family understand that this is a complication from the declawing. Many of these cats are then brought to shelters because the owners don't want to deal with it. But hey, they created it! So be patient and try different litters, boxes and locations. Hopefully he will be one of the exceptions. 

Your family needs to be educated on what declawing truly is, the amputation of the bones of the foot. That is why it is illegal in a lot of places. Your cat will live happily, because animals forgive what humans do to them. But now you have to remember that he is completely defenseless if attacked, so can no longer be allowed alone outside or around dogs. This site is against declawing, so I don't think you'll get a lot of 'rosy' predictions here. My fear now is that if your family can maim an animal and think it is alright they may think it is alright to abandon him also, I pray this is not the case. Animals have feelings and brains and are capable of love and affection. Now that the deed is done, like you said, all you need to do is provide your precious family member with affection, love, and most importantly, your time, and he will be fine. Good luck

When we adopted Mikki and Minnie they were just over 2 pounds. Prior to that... we watched our son's kitty and he damaged screens and furniture with his claws (we didn't really know enough about deterring it) ...after son's kitty left, we wanted to rescue 2 kitties but my husband said we will not do it, unless they are declawed. We had them declawed and fixed directly out of the shelter into the vet..then brought them home. I must say... they didn't miss a beat..were jumping on the furniture the same day.. they had their paws glued so could use the same litter..it was amazing how it didn't affect them. At that time, it's the only way we could adopt them...but for them...it worked out. That would be a big struggle for me now I think... especially knowing we could have trained them from scratching and ruining stuff..but I didn't know at that time... but then like I said, they showed no problems from it whatsoever.

ps: Obviouly never let your kitty outside but declawing won't affect it's happiness...it's happiness will come from your affection toward it Love it to pieces!!

Funny one of my cats just got his claws trimmed at his last vet visit. He never had before and they did it without telling me for xray. I was very upset when we got him home and couldn't climb his sisal rope poles and would mis step his trees. It was demoralizing to him and he became withdrawn till they grew back. For my inside only kitties to be happy they have to be able to climb and utilize vertical space. Next best thing to the trees outside they will never have contact with. Just remember these cats we call pets have already given up so much for OUR happiness to take more from them is insensitive to say the least. Actually heartbreaking.....

Six of our cats were declawed.....decades ago. We know better now and will not declaw another cat. Mollipop and Tabby both have their claws; we trim them the first weekend of every month and they're fine. We also have my mother's cat who was declawed; she had to be as it was part of the renters' agreement for the apartment she was renting at the time. I went to the people and tried to talk to them about not declawing Mom's cat, said that I would take responsibility for trimming the cat's claws, etc, but they were adamant. 

Of the declawed cats, only one ever had litterbox issues. We don't know why he did, but he had a big aversion to litterboxes. Which, I might add, started when he was a kitten, before he was ever neutered and declawed. He had issues and we don't know why. We tried everything. He lived to be 20 years old and we dealt with his litterbox problems pretty much his entire life. 

Out of the other four, Whisper was 20 when she died, Bootser was 21 when she died. BooBoo and Ms. Pepe will be 19 this Thursday. They have all been fine. It has never stopped them from playing. It has never stopped them from jumping. They were all very active cats; in fact, BooBoo's favorite pastime when he was a younger kitty was jumping up to the top of our bedroom door and then flying to the bed. He loved jumping to the top of the kitchen cabinets and would nap there during the day. Being declawed never stopped any of them. I don't know; maybe we were just lucky. The other kitty, Banshee, died when she was younger, from issues with asthma and thyroid. Muffin, my mother's cat, is younger and she flies around chasing Da Bird and the laser light, leaping from chair to tree to floor.

One of my co-workers wanted to share his life with a kitty, preferably a shelter cat. He now has two males, both were from shelters and both were declawed when he got them. He's had no problems with either of them. One is five years old now; the other just turned four. 

Don't misunderstand.....I am not advocating declawing any cat. Not at all. And I need to make that clear. Like I said, we know better now and we'll never do it again. But I'm not going hide it either; we did it. We can't undo it. The best thing we can do for the declawed cats is to make their lives as comfortable as we can. They don't go outside; not that they would want to at their age. At 19, they're pretty happy to have full bellies, warm laps, and a nice comfy bed.

The only thing I would add is: do be sensitive to the type of litter you use/buy. Some are 'softer' than others. And do keep in mind that cats hide pain; if you cat shows an increase in aggressive type behavior, it may be a sign of pain.
Good luck.

I've had two cats that were declawed when I took them in: one was a Philadelphia stray, the other came from a shelter. I was lucky that both cats lived long, healthy, well-behaved lives.



The first cat, The Wretch, did have some adjustment problems when I first brought her home but she turned into a great cat, though she would never, ever be held or picked up, and she didn't even like to be petted much, other than on her head. She was a fantastic companion, however: she loved to be in whatever room people were in (she had such a presence that everybody always acknowledged her) and she slept by my feet every night. I think it was important that I accepted The Wretch on her terms and didn't try to pick her up and hold her: she was a great cat the way she was, and I didn't know what she might have been through on the streets.



The second cat, Brooksie, was extremely friendly and affectionate. I can't say for sure, but I think she might have had an easier time with the declawing than The Wretch. I think it also helped her that she got tons of attention and love from us over the years. She was a wonderful cat.



What's most interesting for me in all this is that the two cats we have now don't seem to be doing much more damage with their ridiculously sharp and intact claws than The Wretch did with her remnants of claws. She loved using them to pick at upholstered furniture -- she even picked apart the fabric and pulled stuffing out of one chair I liked very much! The urge to use the claws did not end for either of my declawed cats, though I doubt either of them would have gotten much satisfaction out of a scratching post or other item designed for claws. Our current cats love their scratch pads, condo, and climbing loft that we built for them and they've been pretty good at learning that it's not okay to scratch at furniture. Or my leg. (Curtains, I admit, are a bit more of a problem...)

I have had a total of 9 cats over the years. All have been indoor only and declawed and lived LONG lives ( I've heard it all, no more lectures please). I have never had behavioral or physical problems with any of them due to declawing. Five months ago the day after Norvie was declawed and neutered I brought him home and he and I lay on the couch and watch a movie then I made him a special spot to lay on the floor while I ran outside to get the mail. When I came back in, he wasn't there. I looked everywhere for him (I live in a sm. apt.). Finally found him at the top of the 5 1/2 ft. tall cat tree. lol   He and Mia have no problems climbing both cat trees in the apt and jump from place to place like all other cats. Never have had a "accident". or anything like that, that people claim so many declawed cats have.

Welcome @Jessierae  

Ours is an anti-declaw website so you've definitely raised a sensitive question. I don't think anyone can know for sure how declawing will affect their cat. Obviously, many cats live happily ever after declawing. Others do not. Just how correlated are behavioral problems to declawing, I don't think anyone knows (if anyone knows of a proper study, do please share!).

Personally, I think it's painful and an unnecessary maiming of a healthy animal, regardless of associated behavior problems. What's done is done, so please don't consider this "a lecture", just something to know about our community and hopefully something that might help you form a different decision in the future.

We do have an article which addresses some of the issues you brought up -

Declawing - Post-Surgery Care and Complications

If only this procedure was banned EVERYWHERE, as it should be, then these discussions wouldn't need to happen anymore. 

Dr. Jean Hofve has some good info on how to mitigate some of the damage that was done: http://www.littlebigcat.com/declawing/relief-for-declawed-cats/

My Oliver will be 6 in April and his previous owners had him declawed and neutered at 8 weeks old. (Along with his sister) He's a happy, healthy and overly loveable boy. His only litterbox issue (and part of the reason he was rehomed) is he will poop outside of the box sometimes and twice has peed outside of the box but in the times he's done it, it was ALWAYS because I missed a day of scooping the box. (or 3 when I was deadly sick, which is when he peed on my laundry) If the box is scooped 1-2x daily, he is happy and goes in it just fine. He just doesn't like a messy box.

That said, it isn't something I condone or would choose to do. What's done is done but for the sake of future kitties, it's great that you're looking for better alternatives! There are SOME cases where bone will start to regrow or can be fractured and cause issues. Watch for the signs you mentioned as well as things like excessive paw licking, lifting his feet back and forth, hanging toes off counters/ect. These can all be signs of discomfort and possible issues related to his declaw surgery.

I've groomed many declawed cats. They seem fine. I wouldn't declaw a cat and I wouldn't recommend doing it, but as far as I can tell, these cats were living normal, happy lives.

Forgot to mention: the above diagram is from "The American Veterinary Workers Against Declawing" Facebook page.

I have 2 de-clawed cats and my mom has 1 (they all came that way of course). One thing I've noticed is that all 3 have very tense/tight shoulder muscles. I'm not exactly sure what this means, physiologically, but I thought it was notable that all 3 have that in common and none of the clawed cats feel like that. So it must be some kind of skeletal consequence of de-clawing. Maybe #2 in the diagram.

My parents had our oldest girl declawed 17 years ago and she is still living and playful! She has no trouble walking except for her arthritis. My two boys now are not declawed because we one dont believe in it and two know the dangers and pain that can happen when its not done right or with care.

But cats can live long happy lives when declawed. My tabby is 19 almost 20 and shes been declawed for most of her life. Just make sure they dont get out the door! Dont be hard on yourself, as long as your kitties are happy and healthy you have nothing to be upset about!

Ick, I can't say declawing's a very good choice in all honesty, your cat may or may not be fine later on (it depends on how they handle it emotionally and physically- some handle it better than others)

I know it was likely ultimately your family's decision in the end, but perhaps you can try to educate them on why it wasn't a good thing to do in case they get another cat in the future

I would suggest that if another cat were to ever come into your home, to definitely look into soft claws, they're just neat little caps you put over the claw so the cat can't damage furniture and such (they work rather well, but I wouldn't suggest them on older cats since if the cat has brittle claws it can hurt them when they come off) they stick on with glue and fall off by themselves after about 4-6 weeks, you just have to trim the nails before putting them on and you're good to go

As for the fact it's already done, paying special attention to your cat is the only thing you can really do now, keep an eye out for signs of pain and expect the muscles and joints to get a bit more sore as the cat ages, litter problems are also likely to arise and the cat may eventually very much dislike their paws being handled in any way shape or form because it will cause them pain.

I definitely urge you to educate your family on just how bad declawing is though, and make them understand that it's an extremely cruel practice.

My own cat is not declawed, but I have a friend who's cat is (wasn't his decision, it's actually his brothers cat technically, he just cares for it because his brother moved to alaska), and he's told me she's an absolute terror- she bites, scratches(front declawed only) and will draw blood without hesitation, I've even seen her on webcam trying to take a chunk out of his finger while he's petting her, it's rather scary how badly it effected her and just how violent she can be. (he's told me she actually DID take a chunk out of his finger before when he was younger, ouch)

If your family won't listen however, I suggest telling them that if they can't handle an animal that scratches, perhaps they should consider something without claws.