HELP! Cat declawing :(

Hi everyone. I recently got a kitten and I immediately bought her a scratching post. However my parents are thinking of declawing her because they think that she will scratch up our expensive leather furniture. I'm against it but because they have heard that cats always scratch up furniture regardless, they want to get it done for her. Can anyone give me any advice on how to solve this? And does anyone know if cats always scratch up furniture regardless of scratching posts? Please, any answer will help.

A picture of Juneau.

In my experience, if you provide the proper type of scratchers (different cats like different types), you CAN train a cat to use this as oppose to furniture. Not to say that there will be zero attempts at scratching other things, but kittens especially learn quickly.

As to types of scratchers...
The horizontal cardboard ones are good, though my favorite is the SmartCat Ultimate scratching post (https://www.chewy.com/cat/smartcat-ultimate-scratching-post/dp/49134).

If your parents are still expressing concern, you might could compromise on use Soft Claws or Kitty Caps nail covers.

Also, go ahead and start getting your getting use to having her nail trimmed.

Some cats will take to scratching posts and pads right away, others need to be taught not to scratch on furniture. Kittens are usually getting into some sort of trouble, because that's what kittens do, so putting some kind of protective covering over expensive furniture will be a better way to go until she learns.

Declawing is a cruel procedure that amputates a portion of the cat's toes. This requires them to redistribute their weight when they walk, and can lead to problems in later life. It also causes chronic pain, the extent of which is probably much higher than estimated because cats are so adept at hiding their pain. These should be enough reasons not to declaw, but for people who just refuse to believe that or don't care, there are other drawbacks to declawing.

Cats often feel defenseless and start biting people regularly after they've been declawed. They also may develop litter box avoidance because the litter is painful on their feet, and will go to the bathroom in other areas of the house. This does not happen to all declawed cats, but it does happen to many as a direct result of the declawing and there is no way to predict if it will happen to your cat.

Here is an article about how to train your cat to scratch in appropriate places:
[article="0"]Problem Scratching And How To Stop It  [/article]
You should provide several scratching objects of different textures (cardboard, sisal, carpet) and different arrangements (horizontal, vertical) to find out which ones your cat likes best so she'll be most inclined to scratch on that. The majority of cats do not exhibit any problems with scratching, especially after they're properly trained.

You should still keep her nails trimmed if you're worried about her climbing on the furniture and accidentally scratching it, especially because kittens do not fully understand when they should have their nails out yet. Remember, she's just a baby and she's going to do a lot of experimenting, some of which will be things you or your parents don't like, but that is part of having a kitten and it is not her fault.

If her claws are still an issue for any reason, Soft Paws are a great alternative to declawing. They are vinyl covers that are glued over the nail and protect any surface she comes in contact with, while still allowing her to use her claws to climb and scratch herself.

Here's an article you cans how your parents:

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/why-cats-should-not-be-declawed


And here is a personal account on the matter:
http://www.thecatsite.com/a/a-personal-look-at-declawing

She's a kitten.  She's still young and impressionable.  Now is the time to condition her NOT to scratch furniture.  If you do it right now, conditioning can last for life.

In other words, if the cat grows up never scratching furniture it won't think that furniture is something to be scratched.

Give her places where she can scratch whenever she wants.  You can use scratching posts and things like that but my kitty has a certain rug that he likes to dig his claws into.  It's an old oriental rug that's near the front door.  I don't know why he took to that rug but it's old and I don't much care whether he scratches it up.  But it's one of those "old" rugs that has a jute backing and he can really dig his claws into it.  It's "his" rug and he can go to town on it all he wants.

Discourage the kitten from scratching where you don't want it to.

Any time you see her getting ready to scratch things that she shouldn't, go and talk to her.  Tell her "no" but don't yell at her.  Pick her up, pet her and take her to the place where she is allowed to scratch.  When she uses her designated scratching place, pet her, praise her and give her some treats.  If you cat likes catnip, you can even put a pinch of catnip on her scratching place.

(Most kittens don't develop a taste for catnip until they get older.  Many cats never develop a taste for catnip even when they get older.  Attraction to catnip is a hereditary trait.)

You can also use pheromone spray on the places where you DON'T want the kitten to scratch.  Feliway is the spray that I use but there are one or two other good brands, too.

My kitty, Casper, knows where he's allowed to scratch and he knows where he's not allowed to scratch.  I don't have to scold him for scratching, hardly at all.

Every once in a while, we catch him scratching where he's not allowed but all I have to do is scold him with that same voice that a mom might use when she catches her kid with his hand in the cookie jar.  "Cas-PER...No scratch!"  Then he gives me that look like, "Oops, my bad..."

Then, this is key!  The second he STOPS scratching where he's not allowed, you MUST go pet him and tell him "Good Kitty!"  You've got less than fifteen seconds to do this!  You have to do it EVERY TIME!

If you spot the kitten scratching in the place where she's SUPPOSED TO, give her even MORE petting and praise and maybe a kitty treat.

If you use this positive reinforcement EVERY TIME, it won't take very long for Kitty to catch on.

If you start reinforcement training NOW, while she's a kitten, when she grows up, I bet you'll never have trouble with her scratching where she's not supposed to for as long as the cat lives. 

Here's the reason you shouldn't declaw cats...  Take a look at his drawing:


On the left, we have a cat's paw.  On the right we have a human hand.

(It helps to visualize this discussion if you pretend to make a "cat claw" with your hand like you see in the diagram.)

On the left, we see the cat's claws in red.  On the right, we see the comparable parts of the human hand.

When you declaw a cat, you have to amputate the parts that are colored red.  If your hand was a cat's paw, in order to "declaw" your hand, you would have to amputate the parts that are colored red...the ends of the fingers.

Most people think that declawing a cat is like permanently trimming its nails but it's not.  Declawing means physically removing parts of the cat's paw.

We can talk about whether this is humane or make any kinds of emotional arguments but people who don't understand declawing usually aren't swayed by such a line of discussion.

However...  Stop and think...  Look at your hand in the shape of a cat claw again.  Visualize the parts of the fingers that would be taken away if your hand was "declawed."

Do you see that, if you were a cat that was declawed, you would be walking around on your bare knuckles?

You would be walking around, placing your body weight on the tips of the bones that were never meant to support your body weight.

After a lifetime of walking in a way that your paws were never designed to operate, your bones would deform, calluses and scar tissue would form in places where it was never meant to be and the simple act of walking would become impossibly difficult to do without pain.

When you declaw a cat, you are forcing it to walk around on its bare knuckles for the rest of its life!

What do you think about declawing now?

Do you understand why I said that it's better to train a cat not to scratch while it's young than it is to declaw?

Training will probably be a whole heck of a lot cheaper than the vet bills for declawing surgery, too!

Just a reminder from the forum rules:

4. This website is anti-declawing. 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.

Click to expand...

You also might want to check out this thread:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/155451/declawing-resources

Also research online about The Paw Project.

CatPack said:

In my experience, if you provide the proper type of scratchers (different cats like different types), you CAN train a cat to use this as oppose to furniture. Not to say that there will be zero attempts at scratching other things, but kittens especially learn quickly.

As to types of scratchers...
The horizontal cardboard ones are good, though my favorite is the SmartCat Ultimate scratching post (https://www.chewy.com/cat/smartcat-ultimate-scratching-post/dp/49134).

If your parents are still expressing concern, you might could compromise on use Soft Claws or Kitty Caps nail covers.

Also, go ahead and start getting your getting use to having her nail trimmed.

Click to expand...

Yes I was thinking of trying those out, however and I forgot to mention that I do trim her nails whenever I feel like they are getting too long. Thanks for the advice and I'll see if I can try out different scratching boards but I am on a budget.

Caspers Human said:

Here's the reason you shouldn't declaw cats...  Take a look at his drawing:

paw-vs-hand.png

• Caspers Human
• Apr 3, 2016

On the left, we have a cat's paw.  On the right we have a human hand.
(It helps to visualize this discussion if you pretend to make a "cat claw" with your hand like you see in the diagram.)

On the left, we see the cat's claws in red.  On the right, we see the comparable parts of the human hand.
When you declaw a cat, you have to amputate the parts that are colored red.  If your hand was a cat's paw, in order to "declaw" your hand, you would have to amputate the parts that are colored red...the ends of the fingers.

Most people think that declawing a cat is like permanently trimming its nails but it's not.  Declawing means physically removing parts of the cat's paw.

We can talk about whether this is humane or make any kinds of emotional arguments but people who don't understand declawing usually aren't swayed by such a line of discussion.

However...  Stop and think...  Look at your hand in the shape of a cat claw again.  Visualize the parts of the fingers that would be taken away if your hand was "declawed."

Do you see that, if you were a cat that was declawed, you would be walking around on your bare knuckles?
You would be walking around, placing your body weight on the tips of the bones that were never meant to support your body weight.

After a lifetime of walking in a way that your paws were never designed to operate, your bones would deform, calluses and scar tissue would form in places where it was never meant to be and the simple act of walking would become impossibly difficult to do without pain.

When you declaw a cat, you are forcing it to walk around on its bare knuckles for the rest of its life!

What do you think about declawing now?

Do you understand why I said that it's better to train a cat not to scratch while it's young than it is to declaw?

Training will probably be a whole heck of a lot cheaper than the vet bills for declawing surgery, too!

Click to expand...

Thanks for all this information but I think you misunderstood me, I DO NOT support declawing and I know how it effects the cat. I wanted suggestions for how to prevent my cat scratching up our furniture. Thanks for the explanation.

Caspers Human said:

She's a kitten.  She's still young and impressionable.  Now is the time to condition her NOT to scratch furniture.  If you do it right now, conditioning can last for life.

In other words, if the cat grows up never scratching furniture it won't think that furniture is something to be scratched.

Give her places where she can scratch whenever she wants.  You can use scratching posts and things like that but my kitty has a certain rug that he likes to dig his claws into.  It's an old oriental rug that's near the front door.  I don't know why he took to that rug but it's old and I don't much care whether he scratches it up.  But it's one of those "old" rugs that has a jute backing and he can really dig his claws into it.  It's "his" rug and he can go to town on it all he wants.

Discourage the kitten from scratching where you don't want it to.
Any time you see her getting ready to scratch things that she shouldn't, go and talk to her.  Tell her "no" but don't yell at her.  Pick her up, pet her and take her to the place where she is allowed to scratch.  When she uses her designated scratching place, pet her, praise her and give her some treats.  If you cat likes catnip, you can even put a pinch of catnip on her scratching place.

(Most kittens don't develop a taste for catnip until they get older.  Many cats never develop a taste for catnip even when they get older.  Attraction to catnip is a hereditary trait.)

You can also use pheromone spray on the places where you DON'T want the kitten to scratch.  Feliway is the spray that I use but there are one or two other good brands, too.

My kitty, Casper, knows where he's allowed to scratch and he knows where he's not allowed to scratch.  I don't have to scold him for scratching, hardly at all.

Every once in a while, we catch him scratching where he's not allowed but all I have to do is scold him with that same voice that a mom might use when she catches her kid with his hand in the cookie jar.  "Cas-PER...No scratch!"  Then he gives me that look like, "Oops, my bad..."

Then, this is key!  The second he STOPS scratching where he's not allowed, you MUST go pet him and tell him "Good Kitty!"  You've got less than fifteen seconds to do this!  You have to do it EVERY TIME!

If you spot the kitten scratching in the place where she's SUPPOSED TO, give her even MORE petting and praise and maybe a kitty treat.

If you use this positive reinforcement EVERY TIME, it won't take very long for Kitty to catch on.

If you start reinforcement training NOW, while she's a kitten, when she grows up, I bet you'll never have trouble with her scratching where she's not supposed to for as long as the cat lives. 

Click to expand...

Thank you so much, I'll definitely try out the pheromone near out furniture if I ever catch her trying to scratch the furniture. Your cat is adorable by the way! My cat is super shy and runs away when I try to train her, she only likes to rub up against me when she's hungry. But I'll try to use as much positive reinforcement possible. Thanks

mnaz09 said:

Thanks for all this information but I think you misunderstood me, I DO NOT support declawing and I know how it effects the cat. I wanted suggestions for how to prevent my cat scratching up our furniture. Thanks for the explanation.

Click to expand...

I think we're all on the same page, here. I posted the diagram for the benefit of other people who do not understand about declawing cats.
Since you said that others in your family were suggesting that your cat be declawed, I thought that it might be helpful for them to see that picture.

Way back, when I got KC, the first cat I ever owned all by myself, I didn't understand what declawing was. I thought it was something like a "permanent manicure."
On my first vet visit with KC, when he was just a kitten, I asked the vet about declawing. He's the one who explained what declawing really was.

The vet had a full-size cat skeleton replica on the shelf and he got it down to show me the anatomy of a cat's paw. He also had me make the pretend cat claws with my hands and demonstrated how a declawed cat is forced to walk on its bare knuckles.

This was also the vet who taught me to start training my cat when he was young so that his habits become ingrained by the time he becomes an adult cat.

That guy was really smart. It's too bad I live far away from there, now, or else he'd be Casper's vet, too.

Caspers Human said:

I think we're all on the same page, here. I posted the diagram for the benefit of other people who do not understand about declawing cats.
Since you said that others in your family were suggesting that your cat be declawed, I thought that it might be helpful for them to see that picture.

Way back, when I got KC, the first cat I ever owned all by myself, I didn't understand what declawing was. I thought it was something like a "permanent manicure."
On my first vet visit with KC, when he was just a kitten, I asked the vet about declawing. He's the one who explained what declawing really was.

The vet had a full-size cat skeleton replica on the shelf and he got it down to show me the anatomy of a cat's paw. He also had me make the pretend cat claws with my hands and demonstrated how a declawed cat is forced to walk on its bare knuckles.

This was also the vet who taught me to start training my cat when he was young so that his habits become ingrained by the time he becomes an adult cat.

That guy was really smart. It's too bad I live far away from there, now, or else he'd be Casper's vet, too.

Click to expand...

Ya I get it. Thanks . But I'm having a hard time training with my cat, I don't know whether she is traumatized because she was a stray kitten, or if she just isn't liking her new home. She just runs when I try to train her, what do you suggest I try to do? I'm getting frustrated because it seems like she doesn't like me. Thanks for your time.

How long have you had the kitten?

What are you doing when you say you are trying to train her?

About how old is she?

Aah!  "I see," said the blind man! 

Yes, if Juneau is a rescued kitten, you're going to have to have some extra patience with her until she gets acclimated.

Was she a total stray that has had little or no contact with humans or was she an abandoned kitten that was born around humans but was left to her own devices, out of doors?

Casper was somebody's cat until he was abandoned, outdoors.  His former humans must have been real buttheads because Casper is a wonderful, sweet cat.  He's easily the most well-behaved cat I have ever had!  I can't imagine why anybody would abandon him!  He started getting used to his new home in just a few days.  It's only been three months since we adopted him and he's already coming to bed with us and crawling in our laps to ask for quality time with his new humans.

The top two factors in training/conditioning your kitten to behave the way you need her to are consistency and positive reinforcement.

Consistent = Always treat the same behavior with the same response, each time, EVERY time and in a timely manner.

Positive = Never yell at a cat.  Never punish a cat.  (With possible exception of violent behavior...depends on circumstance.)  You might be able to "scold" a cat by using your "mom voice" but that depends on the cat.  Whenever you catch a cat doing something that she shouldn't, try to redirect her to something you want her to do and when she does behave the way you want her to, pet her, praise her and give her treats when appropriate.

Since you have a skittish cat (from being outdoors) you're going to have to give her some extra consideration.  Be extra kind, be a little bit slower to "scold" her and be a little bit extra generous with the praise.  Tone of voice is important.  Baby talk to her..."You're such a GOOD kitty, kitty!"

If she lived outdoors where she had to find her own food, using treats to encourage her might give you a leg up on training.

If she likes to play, use that as another enticement.  If she doesn't like to play, just let her "hang out" in your vicinity.

Another tip is to understand that being "ignored" by a cat isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you walk into a room and Juneau is "all eyes on you" that means she's anxious and wants to find out if the humans are going to threaten her.  On the other hand, if she just gives you a "quick look" then goes about her business, that means she's "cool" with your presence and isn't afraid.

Pheromone sprays are good but they work best if you take all the other things into account, first.  Remember, they aren't magic. 

I use Feliway but there are a couple of other brands that work, too.  Think about getting the "diffuser" style.  It's a plug-in module like one of those air freshener doohickies.  It puts a subtle scent in the air that humans can't detect but it makes cats feel at home.

I know that this sounds all wordy and complicated but it's really not.  Just love your kitty, give her good treatment, show her the things you want her to do and guide her away from doing the things you don't want to do.  If you start now, while she's still a kitten, you will have little or no trouble, later on, when she's a grown-up cat. 

Caspers Human said:

Aah!  "I see," said the blind man! 

Yes, if Juneau is a rescued kitten, you're going to have to have some extra patience with her until she gets acclimated.
Was she a total stray that has had little or no contact with humans or was she an abandoned kitten that was born around humans but was left to her own devices, out of doors?

Casper was somebody's cat until he was abandoned, outdoors.  His former humans must have been real buttheads because Casper is a wonderful, sweet cat.  He's easily the most well-behaved cat I have ever had!  I can't imagine why anybody would abandon him!  He started getting used to his new home in just a few days.  It's only been three months since we adopted him and he's already coming to bed with us and crawling in our laps to ask for quality time with his new humans.

The top two factors in training/conditioning your kitten to behave the way you need her to are consistency and positive reinforcement.

Consistent = Always treat the same behavior with the same response, each time, EVERY time and in a timely manner.

Positive = Never yell at a cat.  Never punish a cat.  (With possible exception of violent behavior...depends on circumstance.)  You might be able to "scold" a cat by using your "mom voice" but that depends on the cat.  Whenever you catch a cat doing something that she shouldn't, try to redirect her to something you want her to do and when she does behave the way you want her to, pet her, praise her and give her treats when appropriate.

Since you have a skittish cat (from being outdoors) you're going to have to give her some extra consideration.  Be extra kind, be a little bit slower to "scold" her and be a little bit extra generous with the praise.  Tone of voice is important.  Baby talk to her..."You're such a GOOD kitty, kitty!"

If she lived outdoors where she had to find her own food, using treats to encourage her might give you a leg up on training.
If she likes to play, use that as another enticement.  If she doesn't like to play, just let her "hang out" in your vicinity.

Another tip is to understand that being "ignored" by a cat isn't necessarily a bad thing.

If you walk into a room and Juneau is "all eyes on you" that means she's anxious and wants to find out if the humans are going to threaten her.  On the other hand, if she just gives you a "quick look" then goes about her business, that means she's "cool" with your presence and isn't afraid.

Pheromone sprays are good but they work best if you take all the other things into account, first.  Remember, they aren't magic. 
I use Feliway but there are a couple of other brands that work, too.  Think about getting the "diffuser" style.  It's a plug-in module like one of those air freshener doohickies.  It puts a subtle scent in the air that humans can't detect but it makes cats feel at home.

I know that this sounds all wordy and complicated but it's really not.  Just love your kitty, give her good treatment, show her the things you want her to do and guide her away from doing the things you don't want to do.  If you start now, while she's still a kitten, you will have little or no trouble, later on, when she's a grown-up cat. 

Click to expand...

Thanks I'll try to be as patient as I can. She's really moody sometimes, most times when I walk into my room she rubs against my legs for food but other times when she isn't hungry she runs under my bed. I forgot to mention that I keep her in my room for now as the rest of my house isn't kitten proofed. But I do allow her out sometimes. Is that bad? And she gets aggressive sometimes when I try to pet her, I understand the whole over stimulated thing but it still makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong. Thanks for all your help I really appreciate it.