Declawing

solaritybengals · Aug 15, 2006

Originally Posted by Jen

Well I highly doubt she was mad that you spayed her.

I think she mentioned the behavior was a result of declawing, not spaying.

Check out the behavior forum for tips on getting a cat to use the appropriate surfaces for scratching. Some cats prefer to scratch vertical instead of horizontal and vice versa (hence mats work for some cats and not others). Also the texture of sofas are perfect for a cats claws because its very gripping. If your tree is carpet covered then they won't be as interested in it. Sisal wrapped trees or bark usually get a cat to scratch. Corrugated cardboard is one of the best things out there for encouraging scratching in the right place. When they learn that that object is allowed to scratch on then they will stop scratching everywhere else. We've never had scratchign problems with our cats but we provide a lot of surfaces and choices for them.

jen · Aug 15, 2006

Originally Posted by SolarityBengals

I think she mentioned the behavior was a result of declawing, not spaying.

I know but I was going by her sentence which was "she was mad at us for declawing and spaying her."

vik61 · Aug 15, 2006

Originally Posted by angelkitty

I probably should clarify on that. It was probably about 10 years ago. We did everything to fix her spraying and not using the litterbox. We even were referred to behaviorist and the behaviorist was the one who told us to find her a new home. That she was mad at us for declawing and spaying her. We gave her to a new home (she was a $500 dollar Himalayan),, but she wasn't happy with us,, so it was the best options for both of us. Then we checked on her,, and she didn't act out anything with the new family. No spraying, she used her litterbox,, everything. She was the best pet,, they couldn't believe she had done all that with us... She was just soo mad at us..

No judgement Heather, honestly. I didn't know how much experience you have with all this~ The softclaws will work!

And oh yes the great thing about the cardboard scratchers is they make a lot of noise! When Pixel wants to impress the kittens she goes over and makes a big ruckus on it; and of course they are in awe....

zissou'smom · Aug 15, 2006

Cardboard scratchers are also really good for cats who like to pull on the carpet, as that comes from when they want to scratch on a flat surface. The cardboard scratcher lays on the floor, better off in a carpeted area, and they can scratch on a flat floor-like surface. Cats who love scratching posts usually stretch in doorways and scratch the legs of couches. If you observe how and when and where your cat scratches, you can figure out the best appropriate scratching surface for them.

As for the kneading with the claws out thing... if she's still a kitten she may outgrow it. If it is truly hurting you, yell "Ow!" when she does it. She will learn that she is hurting you, and if the two of you have bonded, she will stop after a while. That doesn't sit well with me, because you're basically punishing her for expressing pleasure, but it's far and away better than having all her toes cut off.

I'm glad you're going to try out the softclaws! Don't get discouraged when the first ones fall off quickly, once she's used to them they'll last longer.

Good luck!

vik61 · Aug 15, 2006

That's a good point, Zissou's; when my kittens hurt me, I make a whining, hurt sound at them and they do seem to stop and take note, trying to figure out what happened.

Pixel is the same way, and though seven years old, she is upset a lot over the new kittens so she has been clawing me once in awhile when she is just laying down complaining. If I just "meeeeeeow" in a hurt tone she will stop. Cute, isn't it?

But, I'm wondering whether a kitten in the midst of a pleasure fest might tend to ignore her mistress...could be. If that's the case, make sure you have her attention before making the hurt sound.

Maybe get a little very thin pillow to lay over top of whatever she is kneading, even a t shirt folded would do. Let it get scented with you (don't wash it) and that should encourage her to knead on it instead of you.

nekokaasan · Aug 16, 2006

I hope the soft paws work for you, I'm glad you decided to try them.

My boys have responded well to scratch post training, especially when I put catnip on the sisal rope.

Good luck with everything, and PLEASE don't declaw your cat.

gizmocat · Aug 16, 2006

You're the first group of people I've seen that actually have used Softpaws.
My cat is declawed. She was four and a half when I got her so it was done a long time ago, and luckily Gizmo has a sweet and tolerant personality. I'd consider using this product in future.

Even though Gizmo has no claws on the front end, she still has four scratching posts, which she uses! The best kind are made of sisal. There's a terrific one that goes around a corner (you attach it to two sides of the wall) and it provides a nice stretch for the cat without taking up any floor space at all.
I just got Gizzy a three-seater 'cat palace' perch with sisal and carpet on the posts and thick carpet 'paws' on the seats. She adores this toy and the only drawback I can find to it is that I would have covered the entire post, not just part of it, in sisal.

The upstairs kitties (three) who all have claws, use the cardboard Kitty scratchers and love them very much. They don't even need the catnip. And they do not claw the furniture. Admittedly my neighbours don't have much of that anyway, but when one cat claws the sofa, they say No and she listens.
A kitten won't of course, but it has to learn.

The cat palace and scratching posts have elminated Gizmo's 'scratching' on the sofa. So this solution would work equally well for a cat with claws on the front end.
Gizmo kneads my shoulder every night before bed and this is painful even without the claws. I don't know what to say or do about that except say Ow! and maybe the cat will retract its claws.

meow meow · Aug 16, 2006

I am dealing with this issue now. My kitten will scratch the corregated box but will also go to town on the carpet and screens. You almost have to have a scratching box in every room of the house (we have a rather large house). Depending on where he is sleeping, when he wakes up he wants to stretch and scratch -- he doesn't want to walk down a flight of stairs and through three rooms to the scratching box.

Anyhow, I do trim his nails and that helps prevent damage (except it still damages our screens which I am worried about). We have several casement windows (meaning they open out so the screen is on the inside) so even when winter comes I will have to worry about torn screens. Our kitten never scratches us so that is no problem. I think softclaws would be difficult because I can barely keep him still to trim the nails let alone apply nail caps. If you can't successfully trim the claws then I don't think you will have much success with SoftClaws.

My husband wants our cat declawed because that is pretty much the norm for cats around here. He also had a cat that sprayed but that was 15 years after the declaw and starting happening when I moved in. Truthfully, I don't see a lot of declawed cats in shelters here. If I do a Petfinder search for declawed cats in my area -- the list is considerably shorter. When I warned my husband of the potential side effects he said I should "stop drinking the Kool-aid" if you know what that means. I really, really, want to prove to him that I can manage my cat's claws.

vik61 · Aug 16, 2006

It's really hard to battle the conservative-type attitude, especially when they start using the "kool-aid" sounding ammunition that basically means be quiet and don't believe anything that sounds remotely radical.

But then, how radical and unnatural is it to declaw a feline? Not very if the professionals are recommending it? In this case I would always utilize the opinion of a respected professional who is logically recommending against it, and let the other person listen to him/her, not me.

I mean, we DO need homes for so many cats! Take out the "mess-up-the-furniture" aspect and everyone will be home to three--problem solved. Until they start spraying and peeing all over.

The argument continues. Thanks to everyone who is facing this issue looking at all sides, but especially from the side of the animal, who is always the last one to weigh in. Don't succeed your instinctive ability to work with, communicate with, and negotiate with a creature of another species. How cool is that?

angelkitty · Aug 16, 2006

Thanks to you all for your thoughts and opinions!!! I truly appreciate it!!

Angel started to scratch the grill on our big screen tv, and my husband went bananas, mad. I've yelled at her,, and she'll stop... So I'm gonna buy those cardboard scratchers, and a sisal tree,,, becuase I was stupid and bought the carpet scratcher tree (I'm new at this..) and sprinkled it with catnip and she cares not about it!!

My husband started yelling and was like,, she's getting declawed next week, and I was like, No she's not.. She getting soft paws,,and he laughed at me.. He said I just want to paint her toenails.. So what,, if he wants to think that way,, I'd rather not hurt her if it works!!

PS.. I did the whole ow thing, with her when she kneads, and she quit kneading me, and started to do the bed,, and then last night,, she moved to my daughter's bed...

I'm a little sad,, but maybe I can love on her, and she'll come sleep with me again. She was also mad last night because I had to give her amoxicillian, antibotic in both eyes, and ear mites in the ears.. So I wasn't her favorite person last night....

Thanks
Heather!!!!

gizmocat · Aug 16, 2006

She'll be right. When you say Ow, put the cat where you want her and then immediately say 'good girl'.
I do that with Gizmo when she walks on my chest at night. I tip her off, then say 'good girl' when she starts kneading my arm.

I think your cat was more miffed at the medicine than at the Ow! and if you play with her and spend time with some fun interactive toys, you can be friends again.

gizmocat · Aug 16, 2006

I should add that if you have a large house a scratching post on each floor is a good idea. The kind that I mention that attaches to the corner of a wall is excellent since it takes up no room. My cat loves it. You cannot expect a kitten to remember where the box is downstairs.

And it's generally recommended to have a litterbox on each floor too.

laureen227 · Aug 16, 2006

Originally Posted by gizmocat

I should add that if you have a large house a scratching post on each floor is a good idea. The kind that I mention that attaches to the corner of a wall is excellent since it takes up no room. My cat loves it. You cannot expect a kitten to remember where the box is downstairs.

And it's generally recommended to have a litterbox on each floor too.

could you post a link or a pic of that? i'm having trouble visualizing it, & it sounds intriguing...

urbantigers · Aug 16, 2006

Originally Posted by meow meow

My husband wants our cat declawed because that is pretty much the norm for cats around here. He also had a cat that sprayed but that was 15 years after the declaw and starting happening when I moved in. Truthfully, I don't see a lot of declawed cats in shelters here. If I do a Petfinder search for declawed cats in my area -- the list is considerably shorter. When I warned my husband of the potential side effects he said I should "stop drinking the Kool-aid" if you know what that means. I really, really, want to prove to him that I can manage my cat's claws.

rosiemac posted a link to some sites about declawing on the 1st page. Ask your husband to read those. Quite often people want to declaw their cat because it's the custom where they live and they've never really thought about what they're doing. Sometimes reading the harsh facts about declawing can change their mind. If he laughs it off try telling him it's important to you that he understands what declawing is about and why you dont want to do it - if he doesn't want to read them for the cat, maybe he'll do it for you. Here's another link about why cats need claws.

http://www.theanimalspirit.com/declaw.html

sangria · Aug 16, 2006

Please, Please, Please don't declaw your cat!

When we got my baby Tsuki, she was the gentlest, most affectionate liitle thing. She would cuddle and snuggle and sleep on my head. She is the coolest cat, has a great personality.... Anyway, we got her declawed, because we didn't know any better.
Well, first of all, her paws her a bloody mess when we picked her up from the vet. She crawled up behind my hair on my back and sobbed the entire ride home (yes, sobbed...no tears, but she just mewed and mewed, it broke my heart!) After a few days, her paws got infected and we had to take her back to vet and put little socks on her feet so she wouldn't chew them and give her amoxocillin and put neosporin on her sores. I felt like the most awful mother in the world!
And she's not nearly as loving now. She will love on us occassionaly, but only for a little while. She stopped sleeping with me after the declaw. I miss my baby so bad! It's been six months, and she's a year-old now, but she is still distant.
Oh, and she bites now. Not hard, but she won't let you pet her, or pick her up, and she growls viciously at strangers - she is VERY hostile towards any strange person brought into our house, and it's taken her months to warm up to our closest friends.

Our other cat, Sage, we adopted from the SPCA and they told us about declawing. Oh, how I wish I had known! We use SoftPaws on Sage and they work wonderfully - it takes about a months and a half for them to start falling off, and they put them on at the groomer for like $30 - cost of the SoftPaws and everything. It's well worth it. Sage is a very loving and gentle cat. I can only hope Tsuki will learn from her to trust us again.

Please, please, please don't declaw your kitty. Your relationship is still developing, and it will never be the same after the declaw!

~Sangria

gizmocat · Aug 17, 2006

http://www.cataround.com/

I use the "Corner Scratcher" which sells at petsmart for twenty bucks. Gizmo loves it. The advantage is that it can be mounted high enough to give your cat a good scratch, it doesn't take up floor space, and it can be mounted higher as the cat grows and needs to stretch more. The cataround listed above is expensive but obviously a good buy if you don't want the cat scratching the furniture.

good luck.

solaritybengals · Aug 17, 2006

Originally Posted by gizmocat

http://www.cataround.com/

I use the "Corner Scratcher" which sells at petsmart for twenty bucks. Gizmo loves it. The advantage is that it can be mounted high enough to give your cat a good scratch, it doesn't take up floor space, and it can be mounted higher as the cat grows and needs to stretch more. The cataround listed above is expensive but obviously a good buy if you don't want the cat scratching the furniture.

good luck.

Wow that is very nice! I had never seen it before.

This is my favorite toy (or should I say my cats!). It allows them to play like crazy and while their energy is built up they can scratch at the same time. I can't say how many replacement board I've had to buy because they use it so much. I really should just buy a second one.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2033745&Ne=2

angelkitty · Aug 17, 2006

SolarityBengals: Do your cats really play with that toy???

I was thinking of getting angel one,, but I wasn't sure if she'd play with it or not.. Her favorite toy is this dangler that is shiney and has a bell on it.. But obviously it doesn't promote scratching.. I unfortunately bought a carpet scratching pole which she doesn't use,,I've basically tried to rub catnip in it,, but she doesn't even look twice at it,, I put feathers on it last night,, she played with the feathers for about 5 minutes, but then walked away from it..

zissou'smom · Aug 17, 2006

Zissou has a turboscratcher too and she LOVES it! She has a regular post and one of those, I'd say she uses her turboscratcher more often.

And she actually plays with the ball in the track. She's nutty.

It helps to rub catnip in it at first.

solaritybengals · Aug 17, 2006

I have yet to have a cat that didn't love to play with this one. You can sprinkle catnip in it and they will roll around attack the ball. Even without catnip the cats will wander over and just go to town with it. Autumn has sort of claimed it as hers and if she lays anywhere in the room (or sits) it has to be ON this toy. I like to put it in front of the sliding door because the birds get them excited and its a good way to vent energy. I would highly recommend it. My cats are considered medium-high energy.

Declawing

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