An Overnight Declawing Stay

I took Little Egypt to the vet today and my mum insisted on declawing her! I am just overwhelmed with emotions. How could she do such a thing to my cat. Before I left the vet I just had to see her one last time and was completly filled with tears.

I'm very sorry that you couldn't convince your mum that the kitten is better off keeping her claws.

However, I have to say that especially in young kittens with a competent vet (that's the most important factor!), most likely she will be fine physically. The odds are definitely in your favor. When you do get her back, please ask about pain management meds. Some vets won't give these as a matter of course, but it is important since she will be very uncomfortable.

Keep a close eye on her in the first few days to make sure she is eating and drinking and using the litterbox. I would confine her to one room so you can make sure of these things. Kittens can get dehydrated very quickly, and if there is any sign of infection the dehydration will be worse (and she won't want to come out to drink).

For now, replace the litter with newspaper as that will be easier on her feet. This is important because the granules of clay litter can get into her bandages and incisions and become infected. A bad experience like that can be one of the causes of litterbox aversion after a declaw.

If you have any questions about it, let us know. Sometimes we can't control the situation. Some of us have been through this, too. I got my kitten (Trent) declawed on the advice of the vet before I knew better. His toes got infected, and it took a lot of TLC and a trip to the emergency vet at midnight to get him through it. But we did get through it, and he (so far) doesn't have any physical or behavioral problems (he's now 6 years old).

I'm so sorry. I do hope your kitty will not have any adverse affects - like increased biting or not using the litter pan. Your mother was not convinced of the cruelty?

I know when I got my first cat declawed (one and only one) I cried when he came home cause I had to carry him to the litter pan - his little paws were bandaged up tight and he couldn't walk. Never again would I ever do that to a cat!

I don't think Little Egypt would ever forgive me. I would just have to giveup on her. I don't like a cat that is declawed.

You'll still like her even though she's declawed. Sometimes mums just dont understand these types of things...but she's your mum, so she has the word with it all.

I am sorry that you have to go through this. You will be fine, and so will your kitty. Please make sure to follow all of the vets rules about caring for Egypt after the de-clawing. Make sure you go with to pick her up, and listen carefully to what the vet says about the care for de-clawed kittens. It's important.

Everything will be ok. Your kitty will forgive you...dont worry about that. Just give Egypy lots of love, and let her know you're sorry. She'll forgive you, In fact, she should forgive you pretty fast if you give her LOTS and TONS of love when she gets back home. That's when she'll need you the most. Good luck

P.S. She'll still be the same cat, please dont think any differently of her because she's de-clawed. It'll be fine. Just let Egypt know you love her, and everything will end peacefully

I'm sorry you could not talk your mom out of declawing Little Egypt. You did your best and thats all you could do. Try not to feel so bad. It wasn't your choice you had to do as your mom wanted. Just give her plenty of love and extra care when she gets home.Let us know how she is.

Thanks and I will let you all know how Little Egypt is doing.

I'm sorry Egypt was declawed. But, what's done is done. I think she will get used to it, and please take everyone else's suggestions they're great. And you said you don't like cats who are declawed - well, it's not her fault, Egypt will still be Egypt. I think you'll grow to love her.

Best wishes to you & your kitty

Thanks and I'll see if I could get a pain management med prescription for her.

I am sorry you are going through this
Please keep us posted on how Egypt is recovering. You loving her as dearly as you do will be a huge help to her while she is recovering......

I will keep a close eye on her. If something does go wrong I will take her to an emergency vet hospital.

Uh, why would you give up on a cat just because she has no claws...? It's not her fault...If anything, give up on your mother...

I wouldn't giveup on Egypt. But I eventually HATE my mum for declawing her! I swear I will not even let my mum to even get near Egypt or even to touch or pet her ever again! My mum is eventually a pathetic idiotic psycho who does not understand that declawing a cat is extremly inhumane and cruel.

For reasons some of you may know (I'm not going into it all over again here, and I expect some backlash because of this, but be fair...if you don't know the whole story, please do not judge me), Sophie and Luna are both declawed.
I was fortunate. Neither of the girls suffered personality changes, and are still the same loving, happy cats that they were before the declaw.
For the facts:
Tomorrow when you pick up Little Egypt, you should receive at least 3 days worth of pain medication. Make sure you give it to her, it helps tremendously.
For the first month or so (at least 3 weeks), I used the Yesterday's News cat litter. It is softer for their paws, so they are still encouraged to cover in their litter box.
Watch her closely, check her paws daily. Most likely, your vet will have used glue to seal the wounds. Little Egypt will clean this off herself, do not pull on it or try to clean it off for her.
Yes, your heart will hurt for her, especially since she may have trouble walking without limping for a few days. Each cat heals differently. Sophie was declawed younger, so she had a much shorter recovery time. Luna, who was older, seemed to be affected more, therefore taking longer to heal and get around normally.
You obviously love Little Egypt very much, which will help her immensely throughout her healing process. Give her all the extra tender care that you can.
For those who may be wondering, let me state that I do not advocate declawing. It was not my choice. I will say this, my cats have a loving, caring home where they are spoiled beyond belief, and all of their health issues carefully considered. Including the declaw.
I don't want to hijack your thread, hon. I just wanted to give you a scenario that wasn't worst-case, to let you know that not all declawing stories are nightmares. I'll admit, I was sick with worry over the whole issue. Again, it was not my choice. And again, fortunately, the girls had no problems. For that I am thankful every day.
I do hope that it will be the same for your Little Egypt. Best of luck to you and your darling girl.
~Ronda

Thanks and yes I do love Little Egypt so much. And I will help her tremendously to help her with her healing.

My first kitty was, sadly enough, declawed. I did NOT know all that went on, until she came home. I was (also, sadly enough!) very uneducated about kitties, back then. I just want to repeat, what the other posters said, that you usually HAVE to ask for pain medications for the kitties, as the Vets, most often, do not offer it. My kitty had pain for at least 2 months, and I just wanted you to be aware, that 3 days worth of pain medicine, may not be enough! I hope Egypt heals VERY fast for you!

A friend of mine had both of her cats declawed. That was what was automatically done then when they were spayed and neutered. Both cats are now in their late teens and are affectionate and have never been a problem with biting. I am certainly not an advocate of declawing, neither of my cats have been declawed, but people do what they think is right so don't blame your mother either. I do have a problem with some vets though. When I got my cats altered two years ago, they were two separate appointments because they are three months apart, I was asked both times when I dropped them off if I wanted them declawed also. I think vets should be giving people the information about declawing to try to cut down on the number of declaw surgeries that are done.

Really sorry for little Egypt your Mum obviously doesn't understand what this could mean for your cat. I think saying you will give up on her and that you don't like a declawed cat is a little harsh and I hope you are just saying that because you are upset.
She's still going to be the same cat you loved before so please don't give up on her Good luck with this I hope you and Egypt are ok.

Originally Posted by sunnicat

For reasons some of you may know (I'm not going into it all over again here, and I expect some backlash because of this, but be fair...if you don't know the whole story, please do not judge me), Sophie and Luna are both declawed.

Click to expand...

To stick up for you, if I remember correctly your options were declaw or you could not have a cat. You made the choice to take your chances with declaw instead of leaving the cats to potentially be put to sleep at the shelter.

I will admit that I was totally ignorant to the ill effects of declawing before I joined this site. My first childhood cat, Bridget was declawed when she was spayed with no ill effects. That was the norm back then. When Molly appeared into our life as a stray, she had her claws. We never considered a declaw because she was extremely well-behaved. When we adopted Abby from the shelter, I had to sign paperwork stating that she would never be declawed. I learned of the dangers of declaw after joining TCS. I think this site has saved many a paw

In defense of your mother, she was probably brought up at the time that all cats were automatically spayed/neutered and declawed at the same time. She is probably a bit skeptical of you telling her how inhumane it is when she has seen no ill effects of it and was brought up with it as the norm. Please try not to be too upset with her.

Give Little Egypt lots of loving - she'll need your attention and caring.

Don't be angry with your mom - some folks just aren't educated about declawing and maybe in the days to come you will be able to educate her and folks like her to save other cats from declawing.

Bless you for caring so much for Egypt.