Torn

[vegansoprano]

I definitely agree that this is typical behavior for cats who were raised as only cats from such a young age. A 4-week-old kitten who does not have other cats to interact with is socially deprived and this manifests iteself through bad behavior in adulthood, because the kitten never learns boundaries. Think back to when she was a kitten. I'd bet a lot of money that you tolerated a lot of scratching and biting behavior from her back then because she was so little and it didn't hurt at all and she was just playing. I'm not saying you are a bad mom. Practically everybody does this with tiny kittens. It takes a lot of self-discipline to begin disciplining such a tiny kitten to know that hands are not for biting. The problem is that what's cute when they're teeny-tiny is decidedly un-cute when they're grown up! But they can't understand that, of course.

One thing the vet could try doing is netting her. They can pull one leg out at a time this way.

I've always had good luck ambushing my cats while they sleep. I often can't get more than one claw done at a time, but I get all their toes done over the course of a day or so.

Please do not declaw her. The procedure is absolutely identical to what it would be if they amputated your fingers at the first knuckle. This is likely to cause more problems than it solves, because when she attacks she is going to use her teeth and back claws, and these cause far worse injuries than front claws.

 

[asianeyes67]

ok guys, i've found the perfect solution to declawing. it's called softpaws, www.softpaws.com and it's inexpensive. Has anyone gotten this done for their cats/kittens before? Please share your experience if you have. tx

 

[roxy_loves_cj]

Originally Posted by asianeyes67

ok guys, i've found the perfect solution to declawing. it's called softpaws, www.softpaws.com and it's inexpensive. Has anyone gotten this done for their cats/kittens before? Please share your experience if you have. tx

CJ is very tickleish and does not like his paws touched. It is futile to try to trim his nails. So I, like you, had to find an option. I use/d softpaws. If you dont know what they are they are little plastic caps that go on the nails made out of the same material that the little plastic nosepeices on glasses are made of. They come with glue that doesnt dry until contact. In theory they are wonderful.

They have many pros and cons. If you can get them on they are great. I have found getting them on can often be as hard as trimming the nails. They stay on for a while, at least 2-3 weeks less often than trimming the nails. The problem that I had is that I would have to put on while cj sleeps. You have to extend the nail and slip it on and hold it on for about 5 seconds until the glue adheres or it will just get pulled off. Then I distract him (cause he has woken up by now) by playing to let the glue dry some more. Give him a treat and you are done for now. If you happen to get hair in it he will try to chew it off (cause it starts to pull the hair as the nail grows out). most landlords will accept this instead of declawing(mine does) and I start putting them on about a week before they come and inspect fire alarms and change filters. When the caps come off their nails are very long and sharp. They come off when the nail sheds the outer layers of the nail.

Bottome line they are about 17 dollars for 40, and they are great, but can be hard to get on. They also stay on longer and better if you can trim the nails before you put them on. Be sure to put a good amount of glue on them and try hard not to get hair in them. They do chew on them at first but after about 10 minutes they just ignore them (assuming little or no hair is in them). Oh yeah! Try to get them in color if you can, it makes it so much easier to see when they come off...... They have them at both petsmart and petco in clear.

I hope I have given you some helpful information.