Declawing experiences

I am looking for people who have experience with declawing front only. Please describe your personal experience.

PLEASE DO NOT LECTURE ME OR TELL ME IT'S EVIL. I already know how it is done and that it is amputation of the end joint etc.

this thread will be removed if I see any personal attacks or fear mongering going on.

This is for informative purposes only.

Again looking for personal experience. Not links to paw project or similar sites.

IndyJones said:

I am looking for people who have experience with declawing front only. Please describe your personal experience.

PLEASE DO NOT LECTURE ME OR TELL ME IT'S EVIL. I already know how it is done and that it is amputation of the end joint etc.

this thread will be removed if I see any personal attacks or fear mongering going on.

This is for informative purposes only.

Again looking for personal experience. Not links to paw project or similar sites.

Click to expand...

Can i ask why you are asking?  I think it will help people to give you an answer.

talkingpeanut said:

Can i ask why you are asking?  I think it will help people to give you an answer.

Click to expand...

There is so much BS and fear mongering floating around and I would like to hear actual experience with a declaw done. Most of the stuff is as credible as The Enquirer.

Ideally I would like it from nonextremists I tried asking this on another website and was viciously assaulted.

IndyJones said:

talkingpeanut said:

Can i ask why you are asking?  I think it will help people to give you an answer.

Click to expand...

There is so much BS and fear mongering floating around and I would like to hear actual experience with a declaw done. Most of the stuff is as credible as The Enquirer.

Click to expand...

The only experience I have, is from my next door neighbour having his cat declawed.

His cat became a 'Biter', and actually more aggressive, which he didn't know would happen.

Back, before I joined the Cat Site, I did not know that it was 'amputation of the first digits of the paws' and that it would cause permanent damage to the way a cat walks, or disfigure a cat, or make them have pain, to adjust to walking again.

But you probably don't want to hear that, since you may take that as lecturing, or not credible,... from my own observations.

I believe TCS is ANTI declaw for good reasons if you google Pro declawing sites

you may find what you want to hear. I don't see how cutting digits off a cats paw

is over rated. If you need help training your cat or alternative methods there is lots of

info support available. 

There maybe some owners who have rescued declawed cats they may or may

not offer advice..

I have 2 de-clawed cats, already were when I got them. They're both quite old now, and have litterbox issues. But the male had lovely litterbox manners when he was younger. I didn't have the female when she was younger but she has never peed in the litterbox while she's lived with me :/. Not sure if that's because of her paws or not. The male has very bowed front legs, and bad arthritis in his elbows. They both walk differently than the clawed cats.

My mom has 1 de-clawed cat (also by a previous owner) and she never pees in the litterbox . Not sure what's up with that. She seems OK physically, but she's pretty young.

My grandma has a de-clawed cat (poor guy was dumped that way), and he seems fine. But she lets him outside and I worry that some day a dog will get him. That happened to my uncle's cat (but he had her de-clawed, that was not done by a previous owner); some dogs attacked her and she tried to climb a tree but couldn't: (. So she was killed by the dogs. De-clawed cats definitely should never be outside unprotected.

IndyJones said:

There is so much BS and fear mongering floating around and I would like to hear actual experience with a declaw done. Most of the stuff is as credible as The Enquirer.

Click to expand...

What do you find to be fear mongering?

First, I'd like to thank you for keeping yours even with all the issues they have and all that they do. Truly you are an angel for caring for them. Could you possibly post a few pictures of your kitties? Perhaps if the op could see how yours turned out due to being declawed they might not want to declaw their kitties.

Op, I wonder why you are so set on declawing a kitty? I probably shouldn't say it but I'll go ahead, if you don't want a cat clawing your furniture, picking your carpets and rugs and generally scratching things, if you are so bothered by it, perhaps a cat isn't the right pet for you? It is something to think about. I have mostly all my cats that use their scratching post and boards but occasionally they will get the sofa or the corner wall but that doesn't matter to me, I love them for who they are and not my belongings more than. Much like not wanting a dog to bark, its what they do. I hope you don't see this as an attack, never intended for that, just trying to think and understand how you reason.  Another thing, if you went ahead and had them declawed and it causes they issue and pain especially if not done properly and even if it was, when they developed joint issues and aggression and litter issues among other things, I suppose then what? My line of thinking, if you hadn't wanted to deal with the scratching then certainly you wouldn't want to deal with those issues which are far worse, then what would become of the kitty? 

They do make caps and things to cover the nails to prevent damage from scratching. 

Well, I'd offer my experience except I don't have any because I live in one of the many, many countries where declawing is illegal. I guess our lawmakers were just carried away by the fearmongering.

I guess I should share my personal experience as well.

I have had declawed (front only) cats my entire life through no choice of my own mind you. These where all family pets and extremely well cared for even considered spoiled by most people who met them. Grey girl was a chartreux mix who was badly abused by her previous owners who wanted to put her down because she shed. This cat was already declawed when we got her and she was afraid of absolutely everything this was due to emotional scaring by previous owners. She always used the box until she developed crf and became senile at 18 years. When I was 11 I had my first kitten (best cat I ever had don't tell Indy lol) she was striped like a tiger. My mom had her declawed (despte my protests) because she destroyed everything. Tiger never had litter issues till she was 13 and had a horrible bladder infection. I got a black and white "cow cat" when I was18 and within a week mom made me get him declawed after he climbed her drapes. This time I really did try to stop her but to no avail. Cow cat has never once had box issue except when he had stones in his pee. But food fixed it.

I do know the vet who did the surgery went over how the procedure worked. They use a scalpel not the dog claw clippers that crush everything. They also freeze each toe in addition to general anesthetic. They also provide a special litter, cone of shame, and pain meds for when the cat goes home after two nights in hospital. My experience has been cats gallop like bullets as soon as they get home.

I don't know how most vets do it but I do agree if it's done improperly it can be very hard on the cat.

Would I get a cat declawed? I really am on the fence about this but I don't know. My mom is definitely pro declawing but me? I'm kind of in the middle.

BTW my mom is now also my landlord and is saying I should get Indy declawed because she scratched the carpet.

I am really hesitant about it but mom won't be talked out of it.

I was afraid of being attacked by the anti declaw crowd.

Also a lot of the anti declaw stuff terrifys me. As if it's hard enough having several anxiety disorders.

So I asked for personal experience because I want to sort out the propaganda from the truth.

I'm not sure how you can dictate the answers you get. Isn't the relevant question how was your cat's experience with declawing? Mine was BAD. I think you probably should "remove" the thread as it appears that you are considering declawing your cat and want us to participate in that decision by telling you how "We" experienced it.

Why don't you consider a less extreme option? Do you trim their nails? Have you considered claw caps?

You have young cats and they will outgrow a lot of their antics.

I understand that what you've read may have been overwhelming, but I expect that it's not far from the truth. It's illegal in most countries for a reason. Many, many cats end up in shelters declawed. It's because they have behavioral issues and pain that aren't manageable.

IndyJones
I had 2 declawed female cats. I acquired both of them more than 30 years ago. They lived to be 20 and 18 years old, and never had any issues with the litterbox or walking. They were strictly indoor kitties.

Maybe offer to save up for a new carpet for Mom?
Be sure to provide different things and surfaces for Indy to scratch on appropriately. We have 2 half-grown kittens now. We have spray bottles that reach several feet if they are clawing on the furniture, and we say no at the same time. They are learning, but it can be challenging.

IndyJones said:

Also a lot of the anti declaw stuff terrifys me. As if it's hard enough having several anxiety disorders.

So I asked for personal experience because I want to sort out the propaganda from the truth.

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First no one can remove threads, only Mods can do that.

The most objective answer to your question that i can give is that declawing 1) requires sedation and that carries a risk of death for non-medical reasons, 2) there is ALWAYS post op pain, again for non medical reasons, and 3) there is a risk of post op infection and complications (I have seen these and they cause pain and distress).

Additionally a declawed cat can never satisfy an itch by scratching it with front paws.  They cannot prevent a fall by hanging on to something with their claws. They cannot defend themselves like a clawed cat can.

Less objectively there is anecdotal evidence that some become biters and some have phantom pain in their paws (like humans who have limbs removed).

As StephenQ pointed out, @IndyJones, only moderators can remove threads.  I do understand that you are concerned about the response and I think everyone is trying to help.

It's really important to know that TCS is an anti-declawing site... it's mentioned in our forum rules.   We try to educate people against declawing.  You may find people who say that their cats have been fine, and that's wonderful that they have made it through the procedure.  Remember, though, that issues can occur much later in life.. arthritic conditions can be exacerbated by the lack of claws, for example. And, as was mentioned before, in many countries declawing is illegal (including mine) and it takes quite a bit of evidence for that kind of law to be put into place.  It does not occur based on 'propaganda'.

We also have articles on the subject that you may find interesting:

•  [article="29667"]Declawing And Alternatives​[/article]  
•  [article="29668"]Declawing More Than Just A Manicure​[/article]
•  [article="29644"]A Personal Look At Declawing​[/article]  
•  [article="22411"]Why Cats Should Not Be Declawed​[/article]  
•  [article="31290"]Declawing Post Surgery Care And Complications​[/article]

 Perhaps your mother may be prepared to read some of the information about it?  There are alternatives.. the first article will help you with this and our members will be more than happy to offer support.

I really do hope you can work around this.

requires sedation and that carries a risk of death for non-medical reasons

Click to expand...

Ah, I should say that I think the de-clawed cat that my mom owns got some kind of brain damage from the anesthetic. She was spayed and de-clawed at the same time and I heard somewhere that can cause brain damage because of the extra time under anesthetic doing both procedures. I don't know if any study has been done on that. But she definitely isn't right in the head, and apparently (her previous owner says) she was OK before the surgeries.

For a young naughty cat I would definitely recommend Soft Claws. They're festive! Or anyway they can be if you get the festive colors. And you can threaten him with pink . If he won't let you apply them, a groomer can do it, it's usually very reasonably priced. Some groomers even have mobile vans and come to your house.

I don't have a lot of experience of de-clawed cats as de-clawing is banned in all the countries I've ever lived in. (The fact that so many countries ban the procedure speaks for itself, I think.)

I once cat sat a friends cat that had been de-clawed on just his front paws for a week. I had one cat of my own at that time and a leather couch and four leather dining room chairs. My own cat had left little pin-prick holes in a few of the leather chairs, but the damage was barely noticeable. My friend's cat thought the leather seat covers were the best thing ever!  He would sit on the back of the couch, sink his teeth in and scrabble with his back feet. The chairs and couch were pretty much trashed after a week. We had a cat tree and several cat scratchers for our cat, but of course these were no fun for a cat with no front claws. 

If protecting the carpet and furniture from damage is your reason for de-clawing you should think about whether this is really going to work. There are lots of alternatives already mentioned in this thread to protect your apartment and save your cat from having to go through this procedure.

Please take a look through the articles that Mani posted and ask your Mum/Landlady to reconsider. 

Have you found any evidence to suggest that de-clawing is a positive thing to do to your cat? A Google search came up with one outdated article which suggested that declawing was preferable to re-homing a cat, but I wasn't able to find anything else. Not trying to be confrontational here, I'm just interested to know what you've found.

Robin is declawed. It was a desperation move that I immensely regret.

The anesthesia caused him problems, when he woke he woke too slowly and one eye had turned. To be frank I believe the intense anesthesia needed to perform the surgery caused mild brain damage. One paw healed well enough. The other looked like a hacksaw had been at it. Scabs formed and one was very bad and took months to heal completely. And vets--even the one who performed the
procedure--look badly upon cat owners
who declaw, and I think that has resulted in my cat receiving second best care. It's like "Well you've already proven you don't care, why should we?"

He cannot play, won't play, the toys slip through and he can't grasp, and this effected his musculature to such a degree it's painful. He went from being a strong young kitten to a cat with no upper body strength. He puts on weight too easily and bores fast. He's frustrated. He's not a lap cat, and is becoming more of a biter as he ages. I believe he is only reluctant to climb on laps because lacking claws, his step is uncertain, and Laps are rounded, after all.

Biting is because of habit, I think, not aggression : lacking claws, he is using his teeth to grasp toys and other items.

He has had no issues with the litter box that I can tell.

I would never declaw a cat again, ever.