NWR: Declawing cats?

FH and I got our kitten with the plan to declaw her. . .but now I'm reading online and I feel horrible - I don't want to hurt her and everything online says that it is really horrible.

To the girls whose cats were declawed - were they okay afterward? Did they appear to be in a lot of pain? They said de-clawing the cat can change their personalities and a whole bunch of other stuff.

I know there are a few people on this site who are vehemently against declawing cats, but all four cats that I had growing up were declawed (front paws only) and they were fine. I was young when most of them were declawed, so I don't remember any personality changes, etc - but as far as I know, none of them were in severe pain from it (that we knew of). My mom wouldn't have gotten any more declawed if the first one had given us signs she was in severe pain, you know?

Thanks girls - I was just reading all that stuff and got so sad - I don't want to hurt her, ya know?

I just needed to hear that

we declawed our first cat but felt so bad afterwards that we didn't declaw our second. He was fine after the surgery but he wouldn't trust anyone touching his front paws for years afterwards... I read about how painful it is supposed to be for them and just couldn't do it to another kitty again...

ETA: The one I did not declaw did destroy all of our brand new furniture, so sometimes i really regret not doing it

You got a kitten???

We declawed Jade and she was fine.

Karine has 4 cats and didn't declaw any of them because Mike thought it was inhumane. I went there on Friday and my hand is all cut up from one and I have holes in my knee from the other.

She has damage to her furniture and the molding around her doors.

Just something to think about! =)

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Posted by MSeed

You got a kitten???

We declawed Jade and she was fine.

Karine has 4 cats and didn't declaw any of them because Mike thought it was inhumane. I went there on Friday and my hand is all cut up from one and I have holes in my knee from the other.

She has damage to her furniture and the molding around her doors.

Just something to think about! =)

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I'll call you tonight haha

Huh??

TTYL

I know there is def 2 sides to this, and that is why I was struggling with it

FH and I will have to think really hard about it tonight :)

But aside from that - anyone use Wantagh Animal Hospital? We need to find Anna a veternarian regardless

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Posted by MrsHtobe

I know there is def 2 sides to this, and that is why I was struggling with it

FH and I will have to think really hard about it tonight :)

But aside from that - anyone use Wantagh Animal Hospital? We need to find Anna a veternarian regardless

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We used to use Wantagh Animal Hospital and then my mom switched to Massapequa Animal Hospital. She looooves it there. My sister goes there and I went once or twice with Dutchess before we moved. Dr. Jennifer Mignone is really nice, if she is still there, but my mom goes to a male doc there that she loves. I will get the name for you if you want it. She likes them muchhhhh better than Wantagh.

Being a huge cat lover, I have to give my opinion (and I've had cats my whole life).
I believe it's inhumane as well. You're basically taking away the cat's defense mechanism. Even if you keep the cat indoors where they won't need their claws, it takes away from their being.

My friend's parents did it to her cat and her personality changed completely, for the worse.
Now, I know, plenty of people have said their cat is fine now so I'm happy to hear that since I'd hate for a cat to change drastically like my friends cat.

If you're doing it because you're worried about your furniture and about being scratched, why don't you just teach the cat not to scratch. There are so many methods to correct bad behavior instead of taking away a part of him or her by declawing it.

Sorry, just my opinion. I respect others decision to declaw but I thought you may want to hear an opposing response as well.

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Posted by JBoothIn2008

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Posted by MrsHtobe

I know there is def 2 sides to this, and that is why I was struggling with it

FH and I will have to think really hard about it tonight :)

But aside from that - anyone use Wantagh Animal Hospital? We need to find Anna a veternarian regardless

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We used to use Wantagh Animal Hospital and then my mom switched to Massapequa Animal Hospital. She looooves it there. My sister goes there and I went once or twice with Dutchess before we moved. Dr. Jennifer Mignone is really nice, if she is still there, but my mom goes to a male doc there that she loves. I will get the name for you if you want it. She likes them muchhhhh better than Wantagh.

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yes, please send it to me!!!

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Posted by MrsHtobe

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Posted by JBoothIn2008

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Posted by MrsHtobe

I know there is def 2 sides to this, and that is why I was struggling with it

FH and I will have to think really hard about it tonight :)

But aside from that - anyone use Wantagh Animal Hospital? We need to find Anna a veternarian regardless

---

We used to use Wantagh Animal Hospital and then my mom switched to Massapequa Animal Hospital. She looooves it there. My sister goes there and I went once or twice with Dutchess before we moved. Dr. Jennifer Mignone is really nice, if she is still there, but my mom goes to a male doc there that she loves. I will get the name for you if you want it. She likes them muchhhhh better than Wantagh.

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yes, please send it to me!!!

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Just looked it up online and the doc's name is Dr. La Porta. Dr. Mignone doesn't appear to be there anymore. Here's their website:

Massapequa Hospital for Animals

declawing my Kasha was the HARDEST decision i ever had to make. i was a firm believer in never having a cat declawed. technically it's a form of mutilation, and i swore i would never do that to any cat i had. well, that changed when we moved in w/ victor. when i lived alone w/Kasha, i let her scratch whatever she wanted. we tried hard to discipline her when we moved in w/ victor, but she was too set in her ways. my choice was either give up the cat, give up victor, or get her declawed. i still feel very guilty about what i did, but in the end it was the decision for all of us.

we declawed her when she was 6 years old, which is too old for a cat to be declawed. she had the laser surgery, and stayed at the cat hospital for 3 days. she was still woozy when she came home, but in no time was back to her old self. her personality has not changed one bit! and she still tries to scratch everything in site. it was a tough decision, but for our family it ended up being the right one.

if you need the name of a fantastic vet, let me know. we went to the cat hospital in East Williston, on Hillside Ave and they were fantastic. that's the only vet I will send Kasha to now.

ETA: I have a very nice scar on my right forearm from Kasha, that she happily gave me AFTER she was declawed. when she wants to fight, she knows what to do

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Posted by JBoothIn2008

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Posted by MrsHtobe

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Posted by JBoothIn2008

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Posted by MrsHtobe

I know there is def 2 sides to this, and that is why I was struggling with it

FH and I will have to think really hard about it tonight :)

But aside from that - anyone use Wantagh Animal Hospital? We need to find Anna a veternarian regardless

---

We used to use Wantagh Animal Hospital and then my mom switched to Massapequa Animal Hospital. She looooves it there. My sister goes there and I went once or twice with Dutchess before we moved. Dr. Jennifer Mignone is really nice, if she is still there, but my mom goes to a male doc there that she loves. I will get the name for you if you want it. She likes them muchhhhh better than Wantagh.

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yes, please send it to me!!!

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Just looked it up online and the doc's name is Dr. La Porta. Dr. Mignone doesn't appear to be there anymore. Here's their website:

Massapequa Hospital for Animals

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thank you!

Please do not declaw your kitten. They say its like amputating half a persons fingers. It is so uncomfortable for them. I rescued 2 kittens brother and sister last year. i had the same idea from my MIL that i should declaw them. P.s I did not and they are wonderful, as long as you have a scratching post with cat nip they will not claw at your furniture Please FM me with any wuestions.

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Posted by teenigrrl

declawing my Kasha was the HARDEST decision i ever had to make. i was a firm believer in never having a cat declawed. technically it's a form of mutilation, and i swore i would never do that to any cat i had. well, that changed when we moved in w/ victor. when i lived alone w/Kasha, i let her scratch whatever she wanted. we tried hard to discipline her when we moved in w/ victor, but she was too set in her ways. my choice was either give up the cat, give up victor, or get her declawed. i still feel very guilty about what i did, but in the end it was the decision for all of us.

we declawed her when she was 6 years old, which is too old for a cat to be declawed. she had the laser surgery, and stayed at the cat hospital for 3 days. she was still woozy when she came home, but in no time was back to her old self. her personality has not changed one bit! and she still tries to scratch everything in site. it was a tough decision, but for our family it ended up being the right one.

if you need the name of a fantastic vet, let me know. we went to the cat hospital in East Williston, on Hillside Ave and they were fantastic. that's the only vet I will send Kasha to now.

ETA: I have a very nice scar on my right forearm from Kasha, that she happily gave me AFTER she was declawed. when she wants to fight, she knows what to do

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Yeah, the girl where I adopted her told me that they will still fight - they just bite instead lol.

I will let you know about the vet - I'm going to check out Wantagh and Massapequa because they are so close, but if I don't like either one, I'll make the hike.

Thank you