People think I'm crazy for not declawing!

[laurag]

I have never declawed a cat. I adopted one cat, Estelle, who was de-clawed and she has all sorts of cat confidence problems with leaping and jumping. It really is as if her paws either hurt or the experience was so traumatic that she has phantom pain. This is the cat that will not use a litter box (probably why she was surrendered). I'm sure that the litter hurt when she was declawed and there is no way she's going to try it now all these years later. I estimate that she is likely 12-13 years old. All the other cats have claws. That has not been an issue for her at all and she has pretty much maintained top cat status. No one messes with her at all. Scooter loves her and tries to lick her head---which irritates her. She waps him with her mitten paw and I believe he thinks she must really love him back because she never uses her claws. He's never tried to bully her but has with one of the other girls. Tonight at supper, Simone and she were getting cranky ( they do when it seems to them I'm taking too long in getting the food into the dishes). It was resolved and Estelle prevailed.

I have always felt bad for her though because it has always been tough for her to be a cat--she is sort of a quiet lump. And I wonder if she had her claws if she would be more active and engaged. Watching her try to get up on things, balance, the obvious tenderness of her feet....I would never de-claw a cat and will always advocate that others do not as well.

 

[lilin]

 
i have the same problem with my family, they can't believe we won't delcaw our cats(they hate cats very much so don't care about what the surgery does) and they say they will destroy our furniture and they were right // I'm still not going to get them declawed though even though i did consider putting them on craigs list..

 
the best thing to do if you have cats with claws is never buy new furniture and always get cheap things my mom got me leather couch and love seat as a wedding present and they have small holes now after 1 month totaly embarrassing because i told her i would not let them destroy the furniture and it still happend !!!!

Have you tried... a scratching post? Put it near something they like to scratch, rub some catnip on it, and run your own fingers over it while they can see. In my experience, this'll do the trick for the majority of cats. That's all it takes. It's really simple.

If you don't give them anything to scratch, yes, they'll use your furniture. And it's a good thing, because you know what would happen if they didn't? Their nails would overgrow into their paw pads. That's something you gotta be on top of with senior cats, who may lose interest in scratching.

Cats must scratch. Even declawed cats benefit from using a post (it helps fight off the inevitable arthritis caused by altering their gait).

Don't just throw them out on Craigslist, for heaven's sake. Get a scratching post. I have plenty of nice things, and Pia's never laid a claw on them.

 

[shunra]

An alternative to a scratching post is a scratching wall!  You need to fix a couple of battens firmly, one needs to be shoulder-height for an average woman and the other about knee height.  Then you tack carpet to the two battens.  Also some cats like horizontal scratching so something like a coconut door mat - a large one - will satisfy those cats.

 

[laurag]

 
An alternative to a scratching post is a scratching wall!  You need to fix a couple of battens firmly, one needs to be shoulder-height for an average woman and the other about knee height.  Then you tack carpet to the two battens.  Also some cats like horizontal scratching so something like a coconut door mat - a large one - will satisfy those cats.

That's a cool idea!

 

[diaz41]

Gosh I never have had a cat declawed.I read a article yesterday bout what they do . Its very cruel

 

[buddy5000]

When we first got our 1yr old and bought a store bought scratcher he pooped on it.  So the boxes are what he likes.

 

[red top rescue]

Jackson Galaxy (my cat from hell show on animal planet) had one show about a cat like that, and by using soft litter (like SWheat Scoop) and slowly making the area around the pan smaller by cordoning off with something, I dont remember what, eventually she started using the litterbox after years of not doing it and all was well.  But yes, declawing is often the cause of not using litter boxes, unless people start off with the softest of the soft litters in the box, and most people who declaw just don't care.  Declawing is illegal in lots of other countries.