Declawing Cats

My mother found a stray over a year ago and on Sept. 11th of 2003 the cat gave birth to 4 kittens.
We convinced mom to keep 2 kittens and 'mommy cat'. One kitten (now cat Simba) I am taking once I am settled into my house. I rent right now and its 'No Pets'.
I should be moving into my house by the spring.
Anyway, Simba was 'fixed'. I also wanted to know about declawing. Is he to old for it? Is it mean? I dont want him to be in pain, and I dont want him tearing apart my new house.
TIA for advice everyone.

imo...i think that the declawing is a really bad option..Yes it stops them from scratching but if the cat was ever to get loose outside...they would have NOTHING to defend themselve with and that can be dangerous..

plus it is VERY painful for the cat

i would definatly NOT declaw the cat.
when i went to an animal shelter for a cat they told me i absolutely could NOT have one if i was planning on declawing b/c it is nhumane. they have to break their knuckles and then pull out the nails. the poor cat then has to walk around in casts. Like oct.2004 said, it is veryyyy painful for the cat. and then if they get out or something they cant defend themselves.
my mom declawed my cat and i resent her for doing it.
i dunno, i just wouldnt want anyone pulling out MY nails.

I would not declaw my cat either. Believe me her claws and the pulls in my comforter drive me nuts BUT she has NEVER EVER clawed our furniture. Make sure she has a scratching post and keep a water bottle in the beginning if she goes for the furniture give her a little squirt she will stop fast enough. JMO

I am absolutely in the 'DO NOT DECLAW' group.

We keep our kitty's claws trimmed .. and we have been lucky that he accepted our training him to use the clawing post, and only the clawing post.

A squirt bottle never did work with our boy when he was bad .. but fortunately he learned about the clawing post .. and actually uses it as one of his little games. When he chases someone upstairs .. he darts into his room and goes straight to the clawing post, which is positioned just inside the door of his room.

A tip I read was putting the clawing post at a doorway .. and that seems to be his game .. run up the stairs, dart into his room, do a quick 180, and dig into the post while peering down the hallway to watch and 'intimidate' whoever might be coming.

Of course, in the early training stages .. 'they' say you should pretend to claw on the post yourself .. gives the kitty something to mock .. which is what we did .. and even still do. And of course, if you find kitty clawing in the wrong place .. pick kitty up and bring right to the post .. put the paws up on the post .. and you mock clawing as well.

Good Luck!!

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Posted by oct.2004bride

imo...i think that the declawing is a really bad option..Yes it stops them from scratching but if the cat was ever to get loose outside...they would have NOTHING to defend themselve with and that can be dangerous..

plus it is VERY painful for the cat

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This is what I was thinking as well. Also, I would never ever want to hurt an animal. TY so much ladies for your opinions. I have been leaning towards the 'non declawing' but I wasn't 100% sure. Of course I dont want him ripping stuff up around the house or when we have children to hurt them, but I do think they use their claws probably when they need to defend themselves. He is a great cat and I just wanted other people's opinions. TY again!

Someone else mentioned the nail caps, we use them on our cat Baja and they work wonders. They are called Soft Paws (www.softpaws.com) and you can either put them on yourself or you can get them put on at PetSmart or a vet. Our cat doesn't even realize they're on his paws.
Basically its a plastic cover, so they can still extend their claws but not really catch or scratch anything.

We had our cat Gunnar declawed 14 years ago...and what they say about it making the cats nasty is TRUE in his case!!!
I would never declaw a cat after the experience with him!
Of course, he can defend himself pretty well outside with his giant razor sharp teeth, so he's adapted pretty well! (I have the scars to prove it)

i would vote for not declawing....sounds pretty cruel...

Chloe is declawed and she is the most affectionate playful cat. However she does bite play....it doesn't hurt and she doesnt chomp down....but it could be a result of the declawing....she licks a lot too!!

I struggled with this...but in the end we did it....I did tons of research and found it to be a better option for us and our family one day. Chloe also NEVER has and NEVER will go outside unless its in her carrier to the vet....

We did it when we got her fixed...my vet explained to us exactly what he was doing and he did not break her knuckles or anything like that. She was fine about a day later.

I disagree that it is 100% cruel, we declawed our cat when he was a kitten...I've seen these animals after surgery in the hospital...yes they are bandaged, but they are also on pain meds...they mostly sleep because of the meds, and then it's over.
They are not awake for the procedure, they don't feel it. And if your cat is in pain, then your vet should be giving him adequate pain meds.

This section is repost from an earlier debate...(my DH wrote this) a LIWer was getting shredded from her older cat and was out of options...she was going to have to give him up, or declaw him:


'We're sorry that you are in this dilemma. It is obviously a difficult situation and there is no simple solution. You will need to weigh the benefits versus the risks in making your choice for the cat.

THe soft paw option has the benefit of a non-surgical procedure. However, a cat with her behavior will require anesthesia each time the soft paws are placed (every 6-8 weeks). Expect elevated costs and risk concerns for repeated anesthesia in the long term

Lazer and tendonectomy procedures are available and some vets do them. There have been some problems associated with them.

Declawing middle aged cats has increased complications depending on the surgeon and the patient, which include increased sensitivity, possible pain, and infection. All are generally eliminated after relatively short periods if present.

Chemical behavioral reconditioning has it's benefits, however, some have complete opposite effect, meaning the cat gets worse.

The choice is yours.

In the many situations I've dealt with that the client's have been 'stuck' at this age, I have performed declaws with no little to no complications.

If this was my cat, I wouldn't hesitate to declaw him, but once again, it would be me doing the surgery...because there are different declawing techniques.
I use a fine surgical blade specifically for declawing that leaves a very tiny opening where all is necessary is surgical glue, the feet are bandaged, the cat gets medication for pain, morning, evening, morning, evening, morning and then goes home on medication for pain, and antibiodics. All clients have been happy with this procedure including my own cat.

The other way a declaw is done is the reason why declawing has received a bad name in the past (a guillitine (sp?) nail trimers is used where the nail and toe are disarticulated and the opening is very large where sutures need to be placed. Rarely a piece of bone is left, so there's a higher probabililty of infection and pain.

Good luck with your decision and keep us posted.

-Kathy and Brian'

I understand why people chose not to do this procedure. However, I just kept thinking that one day my child would be playing with my cat and would be scratched...what would I do?

I could never get rid of my cat....or keep my kid away from my cat...so I did what I felt was right.

Hey, if a vet who studied this procedure, and performed it on their own cat....then I have to say it makes me feel better about my cat going through it.

Kathy's DH is definitely one opinion that truly helped me make my decision.

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Posted by Chloegirl

I understand why people chose not to do this procedure. However, I just kept thinking that one day my child would be playing with my cat and would be scratched...what would I do?

I could never get rid of my cat....or keep my kid away from my cat...so I did what I felt was right.

Hey, if a vet who studied this procedure, and performed it on their own cat....then I have to say it makes me feel better about my cat going through it.

Kathy's DH is definitely one opinion that truly helped me make my decision.

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Oh thanks!!!

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Posted by lvdolphins

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Posted by oct.2004bride

imo...i think that the declawing is a really bad option..Yes it stops them from scratching but if the cat was ever to get loose outside...they would have NOTHING to defend themselve with and that can be dangerous..

plus it is VERY painful for the cat

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This is what I was thinking as well. Also, I would never ever want to hurt an animal. TY so much ladies for your opinions. I have been leaning towards the 'non declawing' but I wasn't 100% sure. Of course I dont want him ripping stuff up around the house or when we have children to hurt them, but I do think they use their claws probably when they need to defend themselves. He is a great cat and I just wanted other people's opinions. TY again!

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I would definitely vote for not declawing for many of the same reasons lolita mentioned. I believe it's actually been outlawed in Europe because they believe it's so inhumane just to give you an idea. On the off chance your cat ever gets out, you want it to be able to defend itself against other animals and not-so-nice humans. Good luck!