Ugh! My fiance says we have to de-claw my cat. Is this painful for cats?
Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at
8:40 pm
I’ve bought her a scratching post, a scratching rug, let another cat scratch the post hoping she’d catch on from watching — to no avail. She still scratches my couch, and my fiance–who has nice furniture–doesn’t want her ruining it. Any suggestions?
Filed under: Cat Scratching Post
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This is a question that can really cause fights. De-clawing is a personal opinion. My two are de-clawed and they have never had any problems. Talk to your vet and get information from them. There is a new way to do it that is less painful on the animal. There are other options to prevent the animal from destroying the house. There are small caps that can be put on the nails that will prevent them from clawing the furniture. They come in bright colors and do have to be replaced every now and then. You can keep the nails clipped to keep the damage to a minimal. My two still have their back claws so every now and then I file the tips off with my nail file. Make sure they have a scratching post and if you see them thinking about using the couch or easy chair spray them with water. Praise them for using the scratching post and tell them what wonderful kitties they are.
cats nail will shed anyway
is it painful to have a baby…. come on… are you going to get her fixed? I’d think that that would cause pain too. For a few weeks you exchange her litter for pieces of newspaper in her box. My cat and previous ones are fine and they are all declawed. Saves a bunch of money on furniture. Even though she is declawed she will still scratch at the furniture at least then she won’t ruin expensive furniture. I wonder if any of these people who are criticizing actually own a cat or have ever for that matter
If furniture is more important to you than your cat’s body parts, you need to find a home for your kitty where it won’t have it’s fingers chopped off at the first joint for aesthetic reasons. Find a home for your kitty, then maybe adopt a cat who has already gone through the pain and agony of this surgery and miraculously made it out with his/her sanity.
And in response to another of the answers given here, there is never, NEVER a good excuse for declawing all four paws. These poor cats can’t even scratch their itches, which is a ridiculous sacrifice to require of them just because you like your couch.
All it takes to train a cat is some Soft Paws nail covers, a spray bottle, and aluminum foil placed over the cats favorite incorrect scratching site until she picks a correct one. You don’t have to use these things forever, just long enough for the cat to establish a habit of scratching in the right place.
awwe I heard this is the most painful thing ever for a cat! anddd if someone does decide to do it, they should do it when the kitty is real young. So just try the scratching post and all that first, and if yer fiance doesnt like it, too bad! Maybe you should find another one [a cat lover].. bahabha =/
My family has had cats my whole life (for a grand total of seven cats). Every single one of them has been declawed. NONE of them had any sort of complications, behavior problems, depression, etc. Not all of us have the time that it would take to train a cat not to claw furniture, and cats can be incredibly hard to train. My boyfriend and I are gone during the day and there is no way we would have been able to prevent the sacrifice of all of our furniture. Yes, a pet is more important than furniture, but really – who has the money to spend on new couches, and who wants to look at a shredded one every day?
My baby Rocky was declawed at five months old. I had the laser surgery done on him; the vet kept him overnight and the next day I brought him home and he wanted to jump on everything, same as usual. If he was in pain, would he have done that? I don’t think so!! He is about the happiest cat I’ve ever seen, and it doesn’t hurt like hell anymore when he kneads his paws on me or tries to hug my neck. In fact, if anything he’s happier because I can pet him MORE because he’s not scratching me while I do!
For more information on this side of the story, visit http://www.geocities.com/declawing/ . It’s not my site, but a very informative one I found when I was making the decision on what to do with Rocky and his razor-sharp claws. And I HIGHLY recommend finding a vet who will do the laser surgery – it cuts down drastically on the recovery time and chance of complications.
(and don’t tell me I could have cut them – he was SO wirey and wiggly at that age that the vet couldn’t even give him a bath!)
Declawing the cat is unacceptable. It’s actually illegal in some areas because of its inherent cruelty. All cat protection groups are against it and many breeder and rescuers will not adopt cats out to those who feel this is an option.
Visit a website like Doctors fostor & smith. They have all kinds of gizmos that might help. Good luck to you.
It may not be all that painful, but the cats I’ve met that were declawed had behavior issues. And they occurred after the fact, so I think it has everything to do with the operation. They turned into biters and took to "boxing" since the claws are gone.
If she won’t stop, try buying some Soft Paws or a cheaper knock off version of them. They are glued to the kitties claws like press on nails, and prevent them from damaging anything with their claws.
I am eagerly waiting mine to come in the mail, because my darling little Samurai Jack is a terror to anything that moves (or doesn’t). =/
Tell him that’s fine, if you can remove the tip of his penis.
Seriously, you are amputating the end of the cat’s toes. The cat doesn’t know she’s doing any thing wrong-you have to show her where you want her to scratch EVERY time you see her clawing the furniture. There are many brands of deterrents to warn her away from forbidden areas.
Still-I would ask myself…how is he going to treat ME if I do something he doesn’t like?
De-clawing a cat is a major surgery, which is risky! Fixing your cat if you have not will help the claw, and behavior problem. It will even lengthen the years in your cat’s life. With a google search, you may print a free/low cost certificate for your area for the procedure. De-Clawing a cat is not only risky but it causes many deadly problems in cats. If the problem is that unbearable, there are alternatives to the surgery. Below are some websites explaining the risks with de-clawing alternatives. You have to ask what do you love more your cat or the furniture in your home.
de-clawing a cat is not a good thing because one day she may have to protect herself. But you can clip her nails every week. I do and have done this for years and it helps alot.
Declawing a cat can solve the furniture problem and often results in inappropriate urination and biting. I have seen many declawed cats surrendered to shelters because of it.
Declawing a cat is illegal in all the countries of Western Europe. They have furniture in their homes too and somehow solve this problem.
If, after your fiance reads all the posts here against declawing, I suggest you have him lay his hands on the kitchen counter with his fingers outspread. Then take a mallet or hammer and whack him really good on all his fingers. If this doesn’t convince him that it is painful and cruel then you need to ditch him and look for a more appropriate life partner.
It depends on how old your cat is. If she is fairly young like a year or less it will be easier on her. But if she is older she may have more problems with it. Just remember that declawing is a very touchy subject and you should be sure that it is what you want. Remember that if your cat ever goes outside then it is a risk of not being able to defend itself. However if your cat is strickly indoors it is just fine to declaw them. Also I would recommend only declawing the front feet because believe it or not cats can still climb to a certain degree if they need to or are in danger. It’s not terribly painful either. Of course with any surgery she will be sore for a time but they usually heal very quickly. After about a day or two she will be back to her normal self but you will still need to keep her from jumping off things so she doesn’t risk opening up the incision again. But this is your choice to make, it’s your furniture that is being tore up.
depends on what state you are in,, I just heard that parts of ca
has out law de-clawing of animals, I would get a spray bottle of water and give a little spray at them
Well, it doesnt feel good for a few days…but it will be fine. I promise you that it will be the best thing that you ever did. I dont think that I could keep my cat if she wasnt declawed. I recommend doing front and back. The put it under when they do it and it takes about a day for them to start feeling better. I really recommend it. *Note: do not let her outside after she has been declawed. She will not be able to defend herself.
yes, if you train your cat it wont mess up the furniture. like we did. we put double sided tape on the corners or where we think that they might scratch the furniture. they don’t like the tape sticking to there paws so they will leave it alone.
if you de-claw them & they get outside they wont be able to protect them selfs. so thats why we didnt get this done & it dose hurt them & it takes a long time for them to get over it.
Well you did a good job at buying the scratching post and things..another thing i would suggest is buying cat nip and putting it on the scratching post. If that doesn’t work then de clawing the cat would be ideal.
I also got my cat declawed.
Its bascially like getting any surgery for a human. They put the cat "to sleep" and perform the surgery..then of course comes the recovery..stitches would be on its paws and yes, it would hurt. I think the recovery time is like a week or two. [I'm not sure exactly]
So its painful for a little while, but the pain DOES indeed go away.
Hope this helped!
=]
HONESTLY, would you like to have your fingernails ripped off? Image having no fingernails or finger tips for that matter. Imagine not being able to do all the stuff you do NORMALLY on a day to day basis. ex. opening a box of cereal, a cabinet, answering the phone. Now think of it on a cat’s point of view. They WALK on those paws! How painful do you think it is for them. Especially having to go to the bathroom. Infection is very risky. Even after they’re healed… its still awkward for them and God FORBID that kitty would every NEED them for something. After you had no finger tips for a year… dont you think it would still be awkward as hell?
De clawing a cat is not a good thing to do. It messes up their sense of balance, since they walk on the tips of their toes on the claws not their pads like dogs do, and they can’t defend themselves outside. They are sore after being declawed but heal eventually. If your cat is scratching the furniture and he has alternate places to scratch, squirt him with a water bottle when he does this and keep on him. He will find out eventually this is a bad thing to do and will knock it off, then he will go and scratch something else, hopefully your scratching post. A water bottle is the best thing because cats hate getting wet and it wont hurt them.
The younger it’s done, the less painful & the quicker they’ll heal. Like any surgery, there is some discomfort, but like any other trauma to the body it all heals. Some people are against it saying it’s crule. But if it gets so bad that it causes misery in your life, and your furniture, go for it. I’m a vet tech of 9 years and I have yet to see any complications like "behavior problems that some people claim" I have a 15 year old declawed cat and she is doing just fine. I also have a 3 year old non-declawed cat that doesn’t bother the furniture! As long as your cat is healthy and you’ve tried everything else, go for it. Make an appointment to talk to your Vet about the pros & cons and all of your questions. Good Luck on what ever you decide.
Its Like Cutting Of your Finger at the first Joint..The First little Knuckle..Its Really Cruel,,,BUT, Working at a Shelter If A person does it and takes good care of the Cat..I’m just Grateful The Cat Gets a Good Home..I understand people not wanting their stuff tore up..I wouldnt do it But I brought home a Cat the Other day and She is Declawed(I didnt Know Till I decided to Bring her Home)You can Buy these Glue on Nails That last 6 to 8 weeks then you just reglue new ones on..Thats a Nicer Alternative.Or Keep her nails Trimmed!
Perhaps if you read the following websites you’ll see that declawing can be very painful for cats and not only that some cats will resort to peeing all over the house because they think the pain from their feet while inside a litterbox is causing the pain–thereby avoiding the litterbox based on this belief.
http://www.de-clawing.com/
http://www.declawing.org/
http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawapi.html
De-clawing a cat is horribly painful for them. It would be like removing the first digit of your finger + if the kitty gets outside it will have no way to defend itself.
That said I would try a few different things. Catnip – put it on the cat tree. Water bottle – Spray the cat every time it tries to claw on anything other than the cat tree along with a stern NO!
There are also things called Soft Paws or Soft Claws that you glue over your kitty’s just trimmed nails that make it so that they don’t do as much if any damage.
A can can be taught not to claw certain things. Just need to be patient and consistent.
Best of luck to you.
I’ve recently talked with a vet about this issue. Not only is it painful, it’s cruel. And also, it is psychological damaging to the cat. If you choose to declaw your cat, be prepared to end up with a cat who may be forever depressed, and whose personality will probably be different as well. Cats need their claws. If you decide to let your fiance win this one, give your cat to a loving home where he/she can keep the claws. If I loved my pet, but chose to honor my fiance’s demand, this is what I would do. Or, tell your fiance you will declaw your cat as soon as HE gets all his fingernails ripped out by the roots. Painful, mean, and not necessary. Good luck.
There are other alternatives such as sprays that you can spray the couch with to discourage the cat or double-sided tape for the same purpose; even tiny rubber claw tips that the vet could apply to your cat’s claws so he won’t tear up whatever he claws. You need only to break the cat from the bad habit he has developed – it may take a month or two, but once the habit is broken, your furniture will be fine.
I personally think declawing is very very cruel.
I’d get rid of the fiance myself, but try one of those sprays for furniture first before resorting to such drastic measures as declawing.
can buy some sticky pads in Petsmart to protect ur furniture
sprays are also available
PLEASE DO NOT DECLAW!!! IT IS TERRIBLY PAINFUL FOR YOUR CAT AND IS NOT DONE ANYMORE IN THE CIVILIZED WORLD. WE ALSO STOP DOING THESE THINGS. It’s barbaric. if ur cat gets out (things happen!) – it will be helpless w/out his claws – even squirrels can kill him.
Have a good one:-)
Sometimes we have to do what we have to do. Yes it is painful, just her lots of love and attention. Most cats get through this just fine. I hope that she is young because the younger the easier they recover.Keep the scratching post and scratching rug though My cat still likes to pretend shes scratching even though she has been declawed. Good luck.
I’ve always been opposed to de-clawing cats, but when I got a Himalayan kitten he ruined everything in my house and I gave in and had it done.
He got along fine, but you really need to be careful that they never get outside because they can’t defend their selves.
He is a happy and loving cat and seems well adjusted to it.
I know it sounds cruel and I always thought so myself but I didn’t want him to rip everything up in my house. I would never want to get rid of him, so I made the choose to do it.
Yes! De-clawing takes off the tip off the cats two, and is very painful to them. Many cats tend to pee in the house instead off using the litter box because they can’t "scratch" the litter to cover up the waste. Please don’t de-claw her! If she was in a fight she would have no defence. I’m very glad my cat wasn’t de-clawed when he was attacked by a dog– it saved his life
it is very painful for cats, they have a hard time walking afterwards as it is hard to put weight on the paws i wouldnt suggest getting it declawed unless you are willing to keep it inside all the time as it will have no defense then. plus you will have to baby it around awhile, probably yout best bet is ditch the boyfriend.
I could do it for you for about 5 bucks. All I need is a pliers,and some whiskey…. I need the whiskey for myself so the screams won’t bother me so much
Yes it’s painful, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get it done. If it’s between the cat losing it’s happy home, or getting declawed I’m sure the cat would rather be declawed.
There is a new surgery available that uses a lazer. It is just a little bit more expensive than the old knife surgery, but LOTS less painful with a much shorter recovery period.
Also there is one non-surgical option. It’s called "Soft Paws" and you can get it at your local pet store. It’s a sheath that you put a tiny drop of glue in and slide it on your cats nail, one at a time. It covers the claw and prevents scratching damage. They last for awhile, but do need to be reapplied.
well it could be
I think this is INHUMAN.
We don’t have a right to declaw any animal just so they wouldn’t ruin our precious furniture.
I despice people who do that.
IT WILL HURT YOUR CAT, something I would never do for any fiance.
Yes, it is painful – ask your fiance’ how he’d like having all of his fingers amputated at the first joint for someone else’s convenience?
Talk with your vet about options before mutilating your pet.
http://www.thepetcenter.com/sur/catdc.html
http://www.acvs.org/AnimalOwners/HealthConditions/SmallAnimalTopics/DeclawinginCats/
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_declawing_and_its_alternatives.html