Barclay and declawing

Hubby saw Barclay shredding the couch this morning and got furious. He said either Barclay gets declawed or we will have to rehome him. :(

I've tried the soft paws...but we can't get them on ourselves and the vet charges $25 every time we have to get him to do it.

Truthfully, he is killing the couch and the carpet on the stairs. I don't know what to do. :( I yell his name when I catch him doing it, but he only moves to another spot. I've tried to spray him with a water bottle and it only stops hijm for awhile, and obviously I can't be here all the time, so he still gets away with it.

Hubby wants me to make an appointment by the end of the day. :(

Please help. I've been fighting this for the last couple of years, but I'm about to lose the battle.

I'm assuming you have scratching posts around where it's ok for him to scratch?

At the petstore they sell this sticky tape kind of stuff that you stick on the object they are scratching. They don't like the feel of the tape so they stop scratching. However, they are going to scratch somewhere, so you have to be sure to offer a good alternative - like a scratching post. Load the scratching post up with catnip. Try those cardboard scratching things they have at the petstore. If he likes to scratch on the carpet, give him a piece of carpet of his own. We have a rug rolled up downstairs in the basement - with the "wrong" side out - and CJ loves to scratch on that and goes to it everytime we go to the basement. Just for the record, CJ was declawed when we got him, but he still likes to "scratch" things.

Hopefully others will have some helpful suggestions. Good luck!

Do you trim his nails often? Like 2-3 times a month? I forget if I showed you how short Harry's nails are because he had the same bad habit. His nails are so short now that he can't do any damage.

I'm lucky, in that Harry is actually GOOD when I trim nails. I hope Barclay is decent with nail trims.

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Originally posted by catnapper

I'm lucky, in that Harry is actually GOOD when I trim nails. I hope Barclay is decent with nail trims.

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I wish he was good with it. Of course it's our fault he isn't. I didn't know you could do that to a cats nails. The only time we tried, there was a lot of screaming (his not ours) and a little blood (ours not his). The vet had to tranquilize him to put the Soft Paws on. :eek:

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Originally posted by Tubby & Peanut's Mom
I'm assuming you have scratching posts around where it's ok for him to scratch?

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Yes. We have one next to his favorite window. He's never used it. I've even picked up his little feet and placed them on it to show him what it's for. :rolleyes: I'll try the catnip to see if that does any good. He's the one who seems to be immune to it, though.

:( Oh Dawn I am so sad your hubby wants to put your baby thru pain of declawing.. Have you tried PetsMart for that stuff you can put on the corners of your couch & stairs.. Its like a sticky stripe.. Oh there is also a spray you can get [they dont like the smell] which I have never smelled & we two legged may not like the smell too.. I know I have all kinds of scratching post & then the big cat tree & each Sunday what I call nipping the sharpie points of the toe nails & my girls still go for the couch.. But they dont hurt it to bad due to their sharpest tips are always kept nipped.. Hope this helps & good luck & keep us informed.. :)

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Originally posted by PJ's Mom
Yes. We have one next to his favorite window. He's never used it.

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Try the cardboard thingys. Like people, cats have different preferences and maybe whatever is on the scratching post just doesn't do it for him but some other material will?

Please, DON'T declaw Barclay!! It could lead to other problems and then Barclay will be out the door.

How old is Barclay? The only suggestions I can make is wherever you see him scratch, put a scratching post. Put a couple of coins in a can and whenever you see him go to scratch, shake the can loudly and yell "NO!!!". When he goes for the furniture, you can also squirt him with water. Another suggestion would be to retrain him. It may take a little time and patience but it'd be worth it in the long run. Whenever he goes for the furniture, grab him, yell NO!!! then bring him over to the scratching post or whatever you have for him to scratch on, take his paws and make the scratching motion with them on the post.

Debbie is also correct in that alot of cats like different kinds of textures like sisal rope, corrugated cardboard (they have those real cheap at the pet store that come with catnip to sprinkle on it). You can also buy a can of spray catnip. Get a couple of carpet remnants or more scratching posts and spray the heck outta them with the spray catnip.

I hope you'll please try these before declawing Barclay. Tell your husband to at least try these suggestions before declawing. Also tell him that declawing would be like cutting off HIS fingers and the first knuckle and expect him to walk on them.

Good luck and PLEASE keep us posted!!

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Originally posted by moosmom
Please, DON'T declaw Barclay!!

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I'm trying not to. :(

We just got back from the vet where I had his claws trimmed. I can't find the glue to the soft paws but when I do I'll be getting them put back on. At least that'll buy me some time to come up with other solutions.

The vet strongly suggested I get him declawed now, before he gets any older. :(

I'll try to get some spray catnip and cardboard today. :) Thanks for the suggestions.

I sure hope that your husband doesn't make you declaw Barclay.:( This can lead to other behavioral problems like biting. Hopefully he'll like the cardboard scratchers. Good luck and please keep us updated.

I can't trim my furkids nails either so I take them to a grooming school and they only charge $9 per cat. I try to take them at least every 6-8 weeks or so. Petco and Petsmart will also trim nails and they're much less expensive than having your vets do it.;)

I've had that problem with Ripley. He's ruined some furniture over the years. Finally I found that sticky paws tape to put on things, it helps. Also I pinned some aluminum foil over the places he was scratching most, that helps. I keep a water bottle around and spray him and anyone else I catch scratching in the wrong place. I then try to take them to the scratching post to show them but they usually run after being squirted.

I have a variety of scratchers for them. They have three posts and three cardboard scratchers. They all seem to like the Alpine Scratcher - maybe you could interest Barclay with that. I think it's about $12 at PetsMart. I also have two cat trees that they are free to scratch and dig all over. I didn't cover the legs with carpet so my little wood scratcher Jazz could use that. She will sharpen her paws on wood table legs and wood door frames. :mad:

I also trim all my kitties claws but Jazz and Rocky are pretty difficult. Still I just keep working with them. Even if I just get one claw clipped at a time I give them a treat and now they are getting better about it.

All the tips here are good. Try different scratching posts and more than one - I have one in each room and one in the hallway for my two. The M's like the tall carpeted ones and ignore the ones that hang from the door ... all cats are different in how they like to scratch. That spray (Cat Away?) stuff never worked for me in the past. Please don't declaw Barclay :(

One more idea:

Most of my fosters have preferred to use the wicker laundry hamper over either the cardboard style or the carpeted scratching post.

A cheapo hamper might entice him...

Good luck to you and Barclay.

1st....find a groomer who will clip his nails, it should be cheaper.

2nd.....don't keep the scratching post by his window, put it as close to where he LIKES to scratch as possible. I have the plain post types DIRECTLY in front of a favorite sofa corner.

The double sticky tape works, and you can hardly even see it once it is in place.

Good luck because declawing might save your couch but may just get you an even worse problem later. :(

Oh, it's a clear tape? Good. :)

I'm moving the scratching post right now. :)

Dawn, although I haven't tried it, I know that some people have used Feliway with good results. My sister used it to keep her cats out of her potted, indoor plants and it did the trick.

I hope you can find a solution so that Barclay doesn't need to be declawed. I know that there are many, many cats who have been declawed and have done just fine, but it would have to be a last resort in my opinion, even after investigating rehoming to a better situation. I simply could not do it. :( Of course, both of my cats are indoor/outdoor cats and maybe that helps with some of the clawing issues that indoor only cats have. I see them "scratching" on trees and even the ground many times.

Good luck.

Logan

Dawn, I wish you lots of luck.

I know you're a good pet mommy and are doing your best for your babies so if it does come to the fact that you have to declaw him, I will understand and hopefully so will everyone else.

PM me if you need to. :)

My big Simon will use his sisel rope scratching board but not the carpeted one. He is good at not scratching the furniture but my little Chianti is a demo derby. She does not like scratching posts just the furniture. Oh, they both like the cardboard scratching box I got at Petsmart.

I think you are just going have to "cat proff" your furniture. I have throws over the arms of some couches and a towel over the back of my office chair. She likes to get on top of it and scratch away. My hubby even put clear packing tape on the back of one chair when she wouldn't leave it along. Looks kinda like Jeb Clampett's chair. LOL I've put a throw over the tape to hide it.

I have soft claws for her and she will let me glue them on and I also keep her claws short. I haven't put the soft paws on her in a long time. She seems to be getting better or we have just "cat proffed enough".

We have a suede love seat and both cats never bother it. I think I will go with suede for furniture in the future. Some fabric they so not like to scratch.

Also experment with clipping her claws. My Simon will fight me if I turn him on his back. He hates that. I've learned to let him sit on the counter when I clip his nails and then he is very good. I had one cat many years ago who only let me clip his nails when he was sound asleep. I tool the opportunity to clip them when he was out and it never bothered him. LOL You may have to do the same. See what works with him.

If you declaw he may just pee on your couch instead of claw. It does cause other problems and ones you do not want at all. You would rather have the clawing.

I hope that you don't have to declaw him, Dawn, but, if you do, I support your decision. I don't plan to ever declaw another cat again, but, I've not had a single problem with any of my declawed cats in the past. They've not had any behavioral problems or physical issues as a result of the declawing, either. Maybe I'm just lucky that they didn't have any problems. I'm certainly not recommending it, but, I'm not saying it's the worst thing that could happen to a cat, either. And, I know I'm one of the only ones that feels that way. Possibly even the only one, I don't know. My views on declawing have changed since joining Pet Talk, but, they're not so extreme that I can't see how it can sometimes be a valid, albeit risky, option for certain cats, people, and, circumstances. I hope that you're able to retrain Barclay and figure out another avenue to take. But, again, if you can't, I'm on your side.

And, just because I know my views on this subject will probably boil someone's blood...i just ask that any disagreements or arguments or snide remarks quoting what I've said here please, respect the purpose and mood of this thread, and, send me a private message instead of saying it publicly.

I have declawed cats in the past. I would never do it now.

I learned that if you supply them with alternatives to your furniture and woodwork, they will use the alternatives. Also, keeping their nails trimmed is another way of changing their need to use their paws on your fine furniture.

Here is how I did it.

I bought several posts. This in itself is expensive, but not as expensive as a new sofa! Each morning, after getting up from my sleep, I would walk around to ALL of the posts, cats following of course, and I would scratch on the posts with my fingers. The cats would do the same....one right after the other.....It was like a game. I had one post right near my front door, so that when I would come home, they would use the post then.........

Every now and then one will use a carpet or the side of the sofa and I will clap my hands and say NO....but for the most part, they much more enjoy the sisal posts to my furniture.

You have to encourage the good behavior and discourage the bad.

Every cat I have had in the last 15 years has learned to use the posts.

If you don't have posts around, what else are they supposed to scratch on?

So get yourself a good manicure, clip the cat's nails, buy a ton of posts and start scratching!

Good luck!:confused:

Pumpkin is declawed. I was ok about it in the past...before you all educated me as to how it was done and warned me of the possible complications. :(

I got some catnip, some cardboard and a new scratchy thingy with carpet and rope on it. His nails have been cut. I don't know what else to do today.

I wish i could catch him doing it more often. I do discipline him when I catch him, but it seems he does a lot of his damage at night.

We love our little "Bonky" but something's gotta happen to change his behavior quick!

Thanks so much for your help, everyone.

I used double sided tape on the places I didn't want Zam and Logan scratching and it helped a lot! :)

Good luck!

You need to interest him in playing on the posts. And as I said, many posts seem to do the trick. I have never tried cardboard, but the sisal posts work the best for my cats. I don't like the carpet posts because I don't want my cats to enjoy scratching carpets!

If you are not going to committ to making it fun for the cat, then he won't give a hoot one way or the other.

It really does work, but you have to work at it too, not just buy stuff and expect him to "get it"...... you have to show him what they are for.....and you have to have more than one post ......

the end.

I HOPE,THAT BARCLAY,DOES NOT HAVE,TO BE DECLAWED EITHER,AND THAT YOU CAN STOP HIM,FROM SCRATCHING.
I WISH,I COULD HELP,BUT I HAVE OLDER FURNITURE,AND THE FOUND CATS,CAN SCRATCH IT,TOTHIER HEARTS CONTENT.
WE ARE PRAYING,FOR BARCLAY.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...tphotos991.jpg

both of my cats are NOT declawed. I tried very hard to discourage Abby from scratching up things too. But she is very intelligent. I had bought the 2 sided sticky tape to apply to my computer chair corners (where she scratches it). She watched me put it on,then of course she tried to scratch on my chair and the tape was there. The look on her face was priceless:confused: She was like....HUH???? She then proceded to pull all the tape off with her teeth....that was the end of that;) :D Now unfortunatly she still is at it and my corners are all pulled out....Thank goodness it is just a cheap wal-mart chair and can easily be replaced..lol:) And since she is such a mama's girl I really dont mind much:rolleyes: ;) :D Buddy is completly scratch post trained...no problems with him as he loves his posts:)

Keep trying alternatives to de-clawing. Hope they work out. Can you close off the rooms with the expensive furniture? Just FYI, de-clawing does not lead to other behavioural problems.

I hope all these tips works. I know firsthand about issues you may have with declawing your cats. Yes all of mine are declawed. Would I ever do it again knowing what I know now? NO! :(

My roommate was allergic at the time so my parents took in Shadow and Whisper (no Callie yet). She refused to take them unless they were declawed and I could find no one else to foster them for 8 months. They were over a year old. I have never noticed behavioral changes necessarily associated with the declaw but Whisper attacks Shadow at least daily (not to the severity he did in Alabama-now he just chases her and we yell at him). He never did any of that when he lived in his old home (pre-declaw).

Callie definitely changed after the declaw. In my own ignorance, I had her declawed at about six/seven months of age. A kitty who was originally my "love bug" turned into a "pet me only once a day" kitty. She was never quite the same behaviorally after the declaw. Doesn't like her front feet touched.

I will never know if it causes them pain to walk on their feet. We don't have the urinary issues you may encounter if you declaw; as some cats will start spraying. It is just a horrible, horrible procedure and if I was a vet, I would never do the surgery. It's just $$$ to them and then we, the owners, have to deal with the consequences.

Don't think I am chastizing you in anyway. I know you love Barclay and that is evident in your attempt to find alternatives. ((HUGS)) and I hope everything works out.

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Originally Posted by CalliesMom

Don't think I am chastizing you in anyway.

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I know you're not and I appreciate your honesty. :)

Hubby and I had another fight about it last night. He wants to buy new furniture but refuses until Barclay has been declawed.

I looked up some of the horror stories of declawing online and showed him . of course his answer was to blow it off saying those cases were isolated incidents. :(

For now, Barclay is behaving himself since I had his nails cut. :)

I wish I could offer some advice but it seems like you've already been given plenty. I just wanted to offer a *hug* and let you know that I really hope everything works out.

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Just FYI, de-clawing does not lead to other behavioural problems.

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A more accurate way to say this would be:
" Behavioral problems do not always follow de-clawing."

The fact is that there is potential for behavioral changes.

And there is medical risk (just like there are risks any time there is sedation and surgery).



I refer to it as Russian Roulette. You could get lucky.....you could get unlucky. The unfortunate part is that if you ae unlucky, there is no way to reverse the damage. :(

I sure hope that everything will work out and that Barclay won't have to be declawed. :) I was also going to suggest that you buy some kind of a couch cover so that if he still tries to scratch the couch, he'll be scratching the cover instead. I bought one for my couch and it's been working out great. :) Mine isn't the best looking but I've seen some that are quite pretty. Good luck. :D

I am a much reformed (and forever guilty) declawer. I would never consider doing it again. No excuses. And, sadly, that is what it seems like the 'reasons' always are-excuses.

I had a St. Bernard once upon a time. Binx had more hair than he knew what to do with, and plenty of slobber that made its way everywhere. I mean everywhere. Ceiling, walls, pictures, television screens, furniture, my bed, my pants, my cats. I wouldn't dream of de-tonguing him, or dehairing him, because of it. It is part of pet ownership.

It isn't the cat that needs to be altered, but, the minds of the people sharing their lives with them. You get scratches on couches? So what. I have a child that will do more damage to my couch in two years then the cats could ever dream of. Scratches on walls? I imagine Jonah will find a pencil, pen, marker, eye crayon, whatever, and mark my walls up good. Kids do that. Red cool-aid? Grape juice? Ever see the damage a dirty diaper can do? I have a shirt that I still can't get the stain out of.

My point is, adjust the thinking to "well, we share our lives with cats, and there is going to be some damage done. Let's just try to limit it, or deflect it, and not make it the cat's problem".

Think about it...America is one of the last places that permits declawing. Other countries have banned it, considering it inhumane.

(and lest anyone tell me I don't 'know' what she is talking about...I did have a new couch in April 2004. I can't remember what I paid for it...about 1200 or 1800???, but, it does have scratches up both sides. Did it bother me? Sure, but, not to the point I would do something to the cats....)

I probably shouldn't be commenting, since I own a strong candidate for the World's Most Clawed Couch. :rolleyes: Don Juan wouldn't use a carpet or sisal scratcher.

Then, I adopted Zerlina through a Petsmart adoption center. The big pile of Petsmart coupons that came along included one for a FREE carboard scratcher (hi-test organic catnip included). And.... Don Juan loves it. (He also likes to work his claws on the carpet.) :D

Oh, yes, there was also a coupon for a free claw clipping. SOOO much easier to do when one person holds the cat and the other works the clippers. (Don Juan won't let me do his back feet, and Zerlina doesn't like it at all.) The Petsmart near me charges $8 for a claw clip.

Now, for the controversial part. My sister had one of her cats declawed (brought home by her daughter without permission) after exhausting all the other remedies. The vet accomplished the claw removal through laser surgery, which I believe causes a little less trauma than the traditional surgical method.

Liz

I would rather not have a cat declawed again. That is why I adopted Tango at 2 yrs old, cause he was already declawed. I wouldn't call it educated, but I was made to feel that I shouldn't own cats/I'm a horrible person/whatever cause I mentioned getting a cat declawed. Although I wouldn't go do it for the hell of it, if you have tried everything you can, and it's get rid of him or declaw, I would go for the declaw and I wouldn't hold it against you. I think it may be just as stressful to rehome the cat/chase him/her having a crappy home. Goodluck.

You're hubby should see our leather couches.... :rolleyes: :eek: . But declawing : NEVER !!!

Just wanted to add by 2 cents worth....
Both Thumper and Eleanor came to us declawed and their personalites are sweethearts. As for the biting of nondeclawed versa declawed, get Skinny and Cindy over stimulated with play or belly rubs they will bite. They both have claws. Cindy actually taught Skinny to use the cardboard things (Eleanor and Thumper love to lay on them to nap, looks unconfortable to me LOL but not to them :) )
I'm getting better at nail trimming but I'm so happy to see another groomer coming in town. Previous groomer who folded up her business charged $5 bargin :) I'm hoping this new one is just as reasonable. Our vet charges $9 but n/c Thumper and Eleanor. It's a 28 mile trip one way not cost effective to use them on regular basis (time/gas) for nail trimming.