so my kitten (cat) is almost 2 years old. she is the cutest, best baby in the whole world. Recently, shes been scratching a little bit, carpet, sofa, bar stools in the kitchen
we are moving into a brand new condo in a few months and FH is dead set on getting her declawed. He 'doesnt want to spend x amount of money only for her to destroy it'. Im torn, I agree but at the same time, I hate the thought of her in pain ... honestly, shes like my child, it hurts to think that she will be in pain ...
has anyone had a cat declawed? what should i expect?
FH made the appointment for her surgery for next tuesday ... fortunately I wont be there when she comes home, I wont be home from a business trip until Sunday (thank god I wont have to see her in pain)
teenigrrl
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
Posted by KarinAmanda
how long does the recovery take usually? like are they walking that same day? do they have little bandages on their feet?
she stayed at the kitty hospital for 2 nights so she could recover. when she was home she was walking OK, not perfect, but OK. you also need to use special litter. she didnt' have bandages, but she did have stitches which you need to watch that they don't bite at, otherwise they have to wear that conehead collar.
KarinAmanda
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
Posted by teenigrrl
declawing my baby was the hardest thing i ever did. she was 6 at the time, and when i lived alone, i had all old stuff so i let her scratch everything she wanted to. well, once i moved in FH, she scratched everything, ruined the leather couches, so we decided to declaw her. i cried so much when we brought her in, but in the end, it has worked out. it took her about a month to go back completely to her old self, but she's the exact same cat. she still tries to scratch stuff, it's like she doesn't even know she has no more claws. we did the laser surgery, which is recommended, esp for older cats (2 and over). if you have any questions, let me know.
ok i feel a little better, we opted for the laser also. i guess i will let everyone know next week
heathermatt
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
my cat was declawed....i am very happy we did.,..she was in pain for a bit but it is funny it has been years since and she will still scratch on the floor like she has nails...
MOB08
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
My daughter puts little caps on her cats' claws so they don't scratch up the furniture. They seem to work pretty well.
hyphenbride
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
We have 2 cats and did not declaw them.
We make sure that they have scratching alternatives--a post and a mat so they can fill their scratching needs.
We also used 'soft paws' when we first got the kitten so she wouldn't scratch. It's basically a little plastic cap that goes over the cat's claws so they can't scratch the furniture. It's worked great when the baby was incessantly scratching everything. Now she's a bit older and just sticks to the scratching post so we don't bother.
I hope you've tried these options before going for the surgery!
hyphenbride
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
Posted by MOB08
My daughter puts little caps on her cats' claws so they don't scratch up the furniture. They seem to work pretty well.
Can you please stop talking about your daughter? You sound like one of those obsessive mothers who comes on the boards 24/7.
Kidding! Hi mom...this is so pathetic that we're both so obsessed!
KarinAmanda
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
Posted by hyphenbride
Posted by MOB08
My daughter puts little caps on her cats' claws so they don't scratch up the furniture. They seem to work pretty well.
Can you please stop talking about your daughter? You sound like one of those obsessive mothers who comes on the boards 24/7.
Kidding! Hi mom...this is so pathetic that we're both so obsessed!
awww you two are too cute!!! im going to look into the soft claws that everyone is talking about! thanks girls
(layla is sitting next to me snuggled in her blanket and she thanks you all!!)
Soon2BMrsD
Posted:
Member since
Re: nwr ... sad about having to declaw
i have had 2 cats... if they are indoor cats there is no real need for their front claws (what the vet told us) as long as they have their back claws incase they get out. If they were out door cats then he would have tryed to talk us out of it. so i guess its up to you
