Even though I have always had declawed cats since I was a child, I made the decision to not declaw my new kitten several months ago. I was worried about him having problems later in life. Although most of my cats have never had any issues after being declawed, I did have a declawed cat that developed arthritis and what the vet called "drop foot" later in life and a cancerous tumor on his "ankle" area that eventually took his life (had to put him down at age 19). The vet told me that none of his issues were caused by the declawing, and she encouraged me to get my new kitten declawed at the same time that he was neutered. After much thought, I declined, but I wonder now if I made the right decision. A lot of my family members are making me doubt my decision and telling me how much I am going to regret it later. Every time my parents come over, they keep asking me when I am going to get him declawed and why I haven't already. My sister asks me the same thing, but she doesn't really count because she just gave away her two declawed cats because they kept peeing on her bed, piles of laundry, a chair, etc. I found out that they have already been given away by the person that she gave them to for doing the same thing. My sister's friend that happens to be a vet has always had her own cats declawed as well, which I have heard about MANY times, so that gives me more room for doubt.
My kitten does use his scratching post, but he has started scratching some of the furniture as well. I have not told my family this! He is now bigger than my four year old female cat, and he does jump on her a lot and tackle her. He is always playing when he does this, and he spends the rest of the time cuddling with her while she grooms him, but I fear that she could be injured during rough play. She does not seem to be hurt or in distress when he does this, but I worry about him hurting her as he gets older. The adult cat is declawed, by the way. I have brought all of this up on a previous thread, and I was feeling fairly confident about my decision to not declaw at that time. However, a few months later, some of the things I was worried about happening have come to fruition. Does anyone have advice about what to say to my nosy family members or how to manage in a household with one declawed and one clawed cat? Did I make the wrong decision to not declaw or should I stop worrying about it?
***I apologize if I posted in the wrong forum. I was not sure where this topic would best fit.
My kitten does use his scratching post, but he has started scratching some of the furniture as well. I have not told my family this! He is now bigger than my four year old female cat, and he does jump on her a lot and tackle her. He is always playing when he does this, and he spends the rest of the time cuddling with her while she grooms him, but I fear that she could be injured during rough play. She does not seem to be hurt or in distress when he does this, but I worry about him hurting her as he gets older. The adult cat is declawed, by the way. I have brought all of this up on a previous thread, and I was feeling fairly confident about my decision to not declaw at that time. However, a few months later, some of the things I was worried about happening have come to fruition. Does anyone have advice about what to say to my nosy family members or how to manage in a household with one declawed and one clawed cat? Did I make the wrong decision to not declaw or should I stop worrying about it?
***I apologize if I posted in the wrong forum. I was not sure where this topic would best fit.