Child Toys and adopting a cat - questions ;)

[furryfriend2013]

Here I am back on the forum!! About 2 years ago you were all so helpful to me when we almost adapted an 8 yr old cat. Well time when on, and we are thinking about it again. My husband is more on board, and my daughter is turning 7 this month!! I feel her maturity level is at the appropriate level.
Sometimes things just work out differently for a reason. I have researched cats forever, so I feel when and if we get one, I will be well informed.

Question #1 
So, if we adopt, it would be after our September vacation. We feel we wouldnt want to do it now, have the cat just getting settled, then leave it so soon. We are prefer a declawed cat, young to middle age. 
I would not declaw a cat learning what I have learned, but still feel better as a first pet to have a declawed friend, esp with our daughter. I have heard they can turn to biters, though I never had that experience with our cat growing up in the 90's. I would love to hear experiences with adopting a declawed cat??
Question #2
Also, I would have a dedicated spare bedroom for the cat the first week or so as I read which is important. I would also keep this room cat friendly and have the cat in there for bed time. 
Does anyone have a cat room that they put their cat in at night?? 
Experiences?? I am a stay at home mom so I have all day to spend with the cat. 
Question #3
Right now, the room has some of my daughters toys like dollhouse, and little figurines. The usual 6 yr old stuff. I would assume that all that all of that has to be put in ziplocs? Would they even need to be hidden away from the cat completely, or would the cat chew on the ziploc which is dangerous? I would assume if this is a dedicated cat room I would have to remove all her toys then??? Or thinking maybe put her stuff in sealed decorative bins. Or remove completely? She also has a lot of plushies. Not sure if they are safe for the cat.

I would also add a cat tree/cat toys/bed in that room, and our family room. 
Thanks in advance. 

 

[NewYork1303]

Welcome back. It is great to hear that you are looking to adopt a cat. I will address your questions one by one.

1. If you can find an already declawed cat this would be fine more than likely. However many of the ones in shelters have been given up due to litterbox issues or aggressiveness after being declawed. I would worry about this only if it is part of the cat's history. I know my mom had a cat growing up that was declawed on just his front feet. He would attack and viciously bite and kick at people's legs with his back claws. Every cat that I have had has had all of its claws. None have scratched at anyone except when terrified by something.

2. Our first cat's safe room was our bedroom when he was adjusting. When we got a kitten as a second pet, she was confined to a large dog crate at night. This did not go well as she was very loud at night when she was lonely.

3. I like the idea of putting the toys in bins. Older cats are unlikely to mess with any of these things. It is curious kittens that would be in the most danger with things like these. Make sure anything with strings on it or pieces that come off that are small are put away for sure. My cat is a three year old adult cat. He loves plushy toys. He carries them around in his mouth and sometimes sleeps with them.

Hope that helps!

 

[kat hamlin]

I understand the desire to have a declawed cat.  It's tempting to think that a cat with no claws is less likely to harm people, furniture, etc.  Unfortunately, it's more of a crap shoot than one might expect.

Declawed cats are more likely to bite, as they cannot scratch.  While neither is desirable, a bite is nastier and more likely to get infected than a scratch.   Declawed cats may have developed litter box aversion.  Sometimes this is fixable by using different litters; sometimes it isn't.

Declawed cats may be at a higher risk for developing arthritis at an early age, because they do not stretch or walk in the same manner as clawed cats.

I'm glad that you're educated now about the procedure of declawing.  I'm not saying it's a total mistake to adopt a declawed cat, but I am saying that one should be very cautious.  Ideally, get one from an organization that uses foster homes so you know that the cat will use a litter box in a home situation and hopefully have an idea of how s/he feels about children.  The more comfortable the cat is in your environment, the less likely it is to get bitey--although some cats I think bite because of the phantom pains in their toes, not because they are unable to scratch as a warning.

In my experience, everyone I talk to has never had a problem with declawing their cats, until they did.  "I don't understand, I've always had my cats declawed," some people say.  And some people say "THAT must be why my parent's cat was always biting me!"  I get way too many calls on the rescue phone about declawed cats biting and not using the litter box.  Of course, they never tell me that cat is declawed until they say "He's fixed and declawed already, can't you take him?"  Some cats will do ok being declawed, some cats won't.  Unfortunately there is no way to predict 100%.  Of course, the same is true of a clawed cat--I can't guarantee that he won't bite, will always faithfully use the litter box, and won't have issues with premature arthritis.

 

[furryfriend2013]

I understand. But I also understand its a 50/50 chance with clawed cats too with their biting/scratching behavior. 

Yes, I would adopt from a place that fosters so we know. I have my eye on a cat that has claws, but I get turned off because of all the horror stories I have heard about scratched furniture, and scratches to people and kids. It kind of worries me. I have researched cats for 2 years, so I know about the scratching posts etc. I guess the claws seeing them., scare me!  Maybe if I find enough of a laid back cat, I would be willing to take the chance. BTW, personally I have never seen a declawed cat that bites or has behavioral issues. But I know I did hear it can be a concern, though many argue there is no scientific truth or proof to declawed cats biting any differently then clawed. I have read numerous things, and since there is such a debate, we are just going to follow the cat that follows us

 

[NewYork1303]

A good option for cats with claws if you are really worried is to put claw caps on them.


These make it so that your cat wouldn't be able to scratch furniture or children. But most cats can be trained not to do that anyhow.

 

[furryfriend2013]

Yes! I looked into these.  I read a lot of conflicting reviews. I also think it would get expensive replacing these all the time? If the cat is not laid back, I woudl assume these may be difficult to get on?

I think it sounds easier to just trim the nails every 2 weeks. Would that help greatly with scratches??

 

[NewYork1303]

We trim both cats claws every week. Even with trimmed claws though a cat can scratch (not nearly as badly, but it can). They are also still able to shred furniture or cardboard cat scratches with them clipped. Cutting claws definitely cuts down on accidental scratching and is necessary for indoor cats since otherwise their claws can wrap around and hurt them.