Post Declawing

[debbief]

I am to yo this forum or any other one .i just wanted to pass on information to cat lovers everywhere who have been searching for declawing questions .Obviously declawing has become a very unpopular issue over the years ..so I thought I would add my story to anyone shamed into thinking it is similar to amputating their arms .My 3 year old cat became very destructive after our other 21 year old cat passed away .She is an indoor outdoor cat .on 2 months ruined carpeting chairs couches ..it wouldn't end .I searched on sites like this for answers.people embarrassed me and made me feel like I was sadistic for Evan considering declawing my relationship with my cat was turning ugly and resentful I had 5 scratching posts ..trimmed her claws every 5 days ..and 12 other things Finally I just researched exp vets in my area with pain meds ,and appropriate methods ..and I did it .It has been amazing .Nk more destruction ..it was under 200 dollars ...her personality has turned into a loving relationship ..without any residual problems .She is more affectionate and happier than I have ever seen .i in fact do still let her outside in my yard ..and she plays for hours in the grass .This may be an isolated situation but it certainly was a blessing for our family .

 

[mnm]

When our son brought home a kitty from college that had claws... some things were ruined in the home..such as a door screen, and couch... we may not have been knowledgeable enough to know how to "train" MJ beings it was our first experience with a kitty. After son moved out and took our sweet grandkitty with him...we set out to adopt. Hubby had one rule. They had to be declawed. I knew that was the only way we would be able to adopt... so when we got Mik and Min.. a whopping 2 pounds each, that was the first thing we had done. I was not educated on declawing.....but knew it was that or no kitties. They didn't miss a beat...jumping up on furniture the day they got home.. and in our case... declawing was not an issue whatsoever... and I cannot imagine not having Mik and Min to bless our lives... but I also am respectful to those who are knowledgeable about declawing and admire their ability to train their kitty not to scratch.

 

[AbbysMom]

Ours is an anti-declaw website so you've definitely raised a sensitive question. I don't think anyone can know for sure how declawing will affect their cat. Obviously, many cats live happily ever after declawing. Others do not. Just how correlated are behavioral problems to declawing, I don't think anyone knows (if anyone knows of a proper study, do please share!).

Personally, I think it's painful and an unnecessary maiming of a healthy animal, regardless of associated behavior problems. What's done is done, so please don't consider this "a lecture", just something to know about our community and hopefully something that might help you form a different decision in the future.

We do have an article which addresses some of the issues you brought up -

Declawing - Post-Surgery Care and Complications

I'd just like to emphasize Anne's post above. While what is done is done, this is a anti-declaw site and we don't condone this practice.

 

[donutte]

While I doubt we'd ever do it again (knowing what we know now), all of our cats are declawed and haven't suffered any negative consequences. They are of course all indoor cats. The declawing started years ago when our Siamese almost scratched one of our dog's eyes out, "protecting" another dog. After that, mom always was afraid the declawed cat would be hurt by non-declawed cats. However, we recently learned that is not the case.

Sara's the only one we have that is declawed on both front and back, but we got her that way. We always left the back ones so they had some sort of defense.