A Q about mixing clawed and declawed cats

[leahk]

Hello! I know this has been talked about here before, and I've read some old threads, but I was still curious to hear advice from folks here about my particular situation.

Background: I went to a local rescue shelter about 3 years ago to adopt 2 cats. The first cat I found, Rosi, had only one eye--no one is sure how it happened; that's how she was found when she was rescued. When I met her at the shelter, she was also front-declawed. After I decided that I was adopting Rosi, I limited my search for a second cat only to the front-declawed ones, and I got Boo. Bless their hearts, these two kitties kind of hate each other, but after 3 years together, we have achieved a sort of peace. Early on, there was a lot of fighting, and some issues with one or the other of them urinating on rugs, but for the past year at least, the bathroom issues have cleared up and they have been tolerating each other much better.

The current situation: This summer I found a stray mother and four kittens in an abandoned house near me. Over the course of several months, I managed to rescue them all and take them to the same shelter where I got my own two cats. I also really fell in love with the mother kitty, and I would LOVE to adopt her, but she's clawed.

So, my dilemma: Although my current cats are declawed, I didn't do that to them, and I have deep concerns about whether that's a humane practice. So I don't want to declaw the mother. But, I would also feel terrible if something happened to Rosi, especially to her other eye. I'd not only be introducing a clawed cat into my house, but a serious huntress who has been living as a stray for at least a year--there were dead bird parts all around the house where the mother and kittens were living. The driveway was littered with little bones and beaks.

I wonder if anyone has any experience not only mixing clawed and declawed cats, but experience mixing clawed cats and declawed cats who have other disabilities (like a missing eye). I guess I sort of want someone to convince me that it's ok to adopt the mother....

But there are also, seriously, lots of con's to the situation, besides the above-mentioned fact that my other two cats already don't like each other. I suppose it doesn't feel like it'd be fair to them to disrupt the very delicate peace that we've achieved around here. I'm already working to find a good home for the mother, but again, I was just curious about what others might think about introducing a clawed cat into my house, given the details of my situation.

 

[Willowy]

Individual dynamics make a big difference. Only you can know how those individual cats will take the introduction.

Anyway, I have a lot of cats :tongue2:. 2 of them are de-clawed, having come that way from previous owners. I haven't had any trouble with this. One of the de-clawed cats is even the aggressor in most altercations :lol3:. She doesn't put up with anything. Front claws are mainly used against dogs and other predators and for climbing, not against other cats. You can also trim the mamacat's claws to minimize any accidental damage (although I haven't seen any of that either). I don't think you'll have any problems related to claws/no claws. Now, problems related to various other intercat dynamics. . .well, cats will be cats .

 

[Winchester]

Out of our six, four are declawed. Three are elderly, too, so they're pretty easy-going. Muffin is one of the four declawed as well; she is around 4 years old.

Mollipop and Tabby both still have their claws and they're right around 4 and 3 respectively. It's a fairly good mix, although Molli and Muffin are aggressive toward each other.....they have issues as Muffin came in later and they're both kind of jealous of each other. They tussle and there's a lot of growling, hissing, and spitting going on between those two. Muffin will walk in the bedroom and Mollipop will jump on her from the bed and they roll out the hallway together, hissing and spitting. I will say this.....Mollipop does not put her claws out when tussling with Muffin. She does not. I've watched very carefully and the claws stay retracted. They've been together now almost two years, to the point where, when they go at out, I just say, "Girls! It's been almost two years! Deal with it!"

When Molli and Tabby play, though, I've seen the claws come out on both of them. They scratch each other and, while I don't really think it's on purpose, it happens. They get their claws trimmed the first Sunday afternoon of every month; Tabby gets her ears cleaned out then, too. 

I think you can mix declawed and clawed together without trouble. 

 

[our3girls]

I have 2 clawed and 1 declawed on the froint,when threatened or attacked she uses her back claws to fight bike and they get very big and sharp.E also try to keep all their claws rimmed.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

My mother's cats are a mixture as were mine growing up.  I've never noticed that as an issue between them.  I would think the other dynamics of cat introductions would be bigger concerns.  Do you have the space to do proper intros?  Where the mama cat has her own room for possibly several months?  

Similar to what others have said; I've seen declawed cats rule the root so to speak.  One my mother has now even rules the dogs! 

 

[our3girls]

When I first introduced cinnamon and Lovergirl together ,Lovergrl would slap box with cinam,on that is till she learned how to fight with back claws.I kow Lovergirl can hold herown.

 

[leahk]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. It's such a tough situation. I sat with the rescue cat at the shelter for an hour or so yesterday, just to keep her company. Part of me is so tempted to just take her home with me, but I think MoochNNoodles's point is a key issue: I DON'T have the room to do proper intros. I have a very small house, and the only interior doors are on the bedroom and the basement--closing one would mean kicking my other two kitties out of the bedroom, which would cause total confusion around here; closing the other would mean shutting off one cat from access to her basement litterbox, and it was the introduction of that box that helped address the tensions and bathroom issues that we had during their first year together. My only realistic option would be to take the rescue kitty home, let her loose, and hope for the best, which isn't really a good option.... I just want to know that she goes to someone really awesome, so I'm working on sharing her picture with my friends on facebook, etc. Thanks again for the feedback.