De-clawing

[inkspot14]

we declawed ours. There are good reasons to and good reasons not to. i know if i didn't both mine would be in rehab, they fight so much we only declawed the front paws.

[NoahsMommy]

Our cat's aren't declawed. I don't agree with doing that. That's what scratching posts, manicures and soft paws are for!

I am going to check into Soft Paws soon! We are moving and I am sick of Noel attacking the carpet and our chairs! I want our new place to have nice carpet.

[leslie]

to kohyman- this is not about feelings or opinions. This is about facts. Would you argue that today is August 20th 2004? the fact is the toe is taken off. the fact is, it grows back, the fact is, it causes pain, the fact is, the cat will use it's teeth for aggression with toes removed. You want to argue facts? It's not possible.

[leslie]

Oh and to your "to each their own" excuse me? are we talking about your first digit being removed or someone elses??" You do not have the right to inflict pain on an animal just because you "own" it! If that were true, it would be ok for pit dog owners to use puppies and kittens to learn how to kill!

[kt_luvs_kitties]

I have worked with alot of different declawing surgeries, and I have first hand seen what they do during the surgery. Did you all know that they clamp the digits with regular clamps, and then RIP out the nail, cuticle and access bone out with REGULAR nail clippers? And to say it has miniimal pain is bizark! Whenever we did a declaw, the cat wakes up after the surgery, most of the time screaming in agony, and then the day after we have to remove the bandages from the bloody paws, and they again scream in pain. I can not imagine anyone thinking that it would not hurt. If you provide a good scratching post and good nail grooming habits, the cat wont need to scratch on furniture or the carpet. The only benefit I see from it is the benefit of the human, it is natural instinct for a cat. But hey, its just my opinion

[sammy101]

my cat is only de-clawed in her fron feet because when she was young she use to scratch the furniture and stuff.but she is mostly an indoor cat so she doesnt really use them.And she is old.i dont really mind if people get there cats declawed,lots of cats like to scratch on the furniture and its expensive to fix those things.

[leslie]

kt- I didn't realize how old this thread was when I posted! But I am glad you put in your experience as it appears there are still people out there that don't understand how abusive it is. Some vets will refuse to do the surgery. Some counties (at least one in CA) have outlawed it as it is animal cruelty. And there are options if one's pet is bothering our furniture. (oh heaven forbid!- mother nature sets in so let's just yank out their toes!) Anyway, have a good weekend and welcome to pt (I am not new here but it looks it because I recently re-registered!).

[sammy101]

why does everyone thik so bad of it???When bear was de-clawed,my parents coudlt afford to buy sprays,and fix all the furniture that she ripped.but this was in th 80's in canada.but my other cat that died when i was a baby wasnt de-clawed but it was outside alot,and bear almost never goes outside,and if she does we go out with her so nothing happens to her.i know the next cat im going to have will not be de-clawed,but i dont think its animal cruelty,and they dont rip there toes out!! Bear still has her toes. and she seems to never be in pain.

[Uabassoon]

Sammy here is a link about declawing http://www.declawing.com/ the reason why people think it's cruel is because it's not just cutting off the nail, it would be like cutting off your finger down to the first knuckle.

[sammy101]

well,im sorry,i didnt know that! i wasnt even born yet when my parents de-clawed Bear,she only got her front ones done.Well thank you for the link and what really happens when they de-claw a cat.i know i would never de-claw my cat unless i really have to!!i just thought that they cut their toe-nails off,and thats it.

Sorry

[Uabassoon]

It's ok Sammy, I realize you had no say in what happened with your kitty. I just thought you might like to know in case you ever get another kitty.

[leslie]

If you get a cat in the future, and it scratches your furniture (it will!) just remember there are now alternatives and keep in mind that even vets find it cruelty. Times have changed- the public is now aware that it is NOT just pulling out a nail! Vets can put caps on the claws in various colors (though these are relatively new) and there are "tricks of the trade" in terms of protecting your furniture, such as double-sided sticky tape, etc. Just an fyi for the future ahead of you! Glad your cat has not had pain but a dear friend of mine deeply regretted declawing her now deceased cat when she started bleeding from her paws and found out that the bones (although she was elderly and it had been many years since the "innocent" declawing) were growing back on all of her front toes. Poor gal had to be re-declawed, no other choice and by then of course my friend was educated as are we all are now and was beside herself with remorse and grief over the original decision (because she'd been scratched in the eye- kitty was feral at the time-not even a furniture issue!). So just a heads up for you in the future! Nothing against past decisions, back in the 1980s, hardly anyone knew but the vets, and they didn't realize the full impact of the surgery back then.

[kahrpr]

Hi all,
I remember when I was a little kid and my parents would get our cat declawed. I always felt so sorry for them when they came back with their feet all bandaged up. Now I have a couple cats of my own, and I don't want to declaw them, even though they scratch up the carpet. Actually, one loves her post, the other one refuses to touch it.
I read the link about declawing that was posted above and I have a question about the SoftPaws. If it's already been posted here, I apologize for the repetition.
When you glue the SoftPaws onto your cat's claws, do they have to be replaced every so often, since the claws grow and shed? and if so, how often would you recommend replacing them?

TIA,
Kim

[Uabassoon]

Tibby loses about 1 a week, I usually just wait until a few more fall off before replacing them just because I'm lazy. You just replace them whenever they fall off.

[lexibent]

Hi Kim. I used soft paws for awhile with great success. They stay on for 4-6 weeks, and if you just replace them one at a time when they fall off, it's a much easier job. I had luck with just putting them on the front claws, since that's where the majority of the scratching comes from. I never really saw a need to put them on the back claws.

The easiest way that I found to apply them- wrap your kitty in a towel with just the paw sticking out. Try to be quick about it and talk to kitty in soothing voice. Mine never really liked it, but after a while she didn't fight it quite as much.

One more note- sometimes you can find a good buy on softpaws by searching ebay.