Kitty Plus Inflatable Furniture = ??

**DNova** · 10-30-2001, 10:26 PM

Still waiting on permission to get a kitty (Doubt I'll even get it, so I'll probably move next year) but I'm wondering if any of you have had experience with cats and inflatable furniture??

I sleep on an air mattress and was thinking about getting an air couch or chair of some sort (hey, I'm a college student!) ... I would wany my kitty to feel free to sleep on my bed with me or whenever he wanted, but I'm worried about claws!! I don't think I'll be getting my kitten declawed, because most breeders highly discourage it, and I've read sufficient evidence against it.

Any advice/experience??

Thanks a lot!

**yorkster** · 10-30-2001, 11:56 PM

We had an inflatable chair (free give-away at a football game, so no big deal). It lasted about 2 days...........Trimming claws would help most of the time, but my one kitty is a bit of a CHEWER. He is only 10 months old now, so maybe it's a kitten thing, but I don't know.

**purrley** · 10-31-2001, 07:10 AM

I don't think inflatable furniture would last too long around a kitty (especially a kitten), it's just a natural thing for the little guys to scratch - all I can suggest is that you'd have to trim the claws really short. NO DECLAWING - bad, really bad!!!

**DNova** · 10-31-2001, 03:27 PM

When I was younger and had a total of 3 cats, they were all front-paw declawed...

they never had any weird problems because of it that I know of, yet websites tell me otherwise. Also, most cats I've ever come into contact with are front-paw declawed, and all seem to be great cats...

I would rather keep my cat happy and comfortable and sacrifice a half hour a week to trim its nails if that is truly appropriate... any thoughts??

**aly** · 10-31-2001, 03:35 PM

Haha, when Shiloh was a kitten, her favorite thing to do was jump on and off of an inflatable chair. She ruined it of course, but it was no big deal to me.

I could go on and on about how awful I think declawing is, but it sounds like you've read up on all of the facts. Just look at your fingers and imagine them cut down to the first knuckle. That is pretty tramatic. Just think how awful it would be on a poor kitty.

**cr7clark** · 11-01-2001, 08:30 AM

I know most folks here at Pet Talk oppose declawing, and I think it ought to be a last resort, but it's not the "awful" thing it's made out to be for most cats. My first two babies were front declawed and had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever. They climbed trees, dug in the cat box, jumped on everything and generally enjoyed life like any other cat would.
Declawing shouldn't be undertaken on a whim, but I think it's not the terribly horrible thing it's always made out to be, either. Some cats don't handle it very well, just like some of us humans don't handle certain surgeries very well.
enough fussing, I hope your kitties do well with the inflatable furniture. Providing a really good scratching post and trimming the claws are good ways to train kitties to stay away from the furniture.

**AvaJoy** · 11-11-2001, 07:27 PM

Glad to hear you have done your homework and pretty much concluded that declawing is unfair . . . how about a bean bag chair?? Still portable, but sturdier.

Years ago I had a waterbed and a cat that enjoyed chasing my legs/feet around under the covers. I had a cheapo pad and she promptly stuck a claw through into the bladder. I then invested in a heavy thick pad that covered down the sides, too . . . problem solved!

**alexnell** · 11-16-2001, 04:30 AM

There's a product called Soft Claws. It's rubber caps that go over the cat's nails. You can get them in colors even. Your vet might have them, or try www.drsfostersmith.com .

[ November 16, 2001: Message edited by: alexnell ]

[ November 16, 2001: Message edited by: alexnell ]

**wayne0214** · 11-17-2001, 09:05 AM

I have heard of people having water beds (which were popular about 20 years ago), and also having a pet indoor cat, that is until the came home one night and found their apartment floor all wet!

**4 feline house** · 11-17-2001, 09:44 AM

I had both a waterbed and cats for a couple of decades, as have a couple of my friends and my brother and sister-in-law. None of us have ever had a cat puncture the bed. However, every few months one of my stud earrings would come off in the night and poke a hole! Even then, the material used for waterbed mattresses is so thick and tough, that even if there is a puncture it is almost always of the "slow leak" variety. I have never seen or heard of a house being flooded because of a poke in the waterbed. I guess it has happened, as per Wayne's post, but it must be extremely rare.