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Declawing a 2 year old cat... evil?


vaporleak

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First off, I'm a HUGE animal lover and never thought I would be saying what I'm about to say. I owned a cat with my ex, life was great, the cat was great, and we loved him like crazy. Well after my ex and I broke up, I took the cat and moved in with some family on a temporary basis. Well it's been about 6 months now, and my cat has started to slightly claw their furniture (when the scratching post is literally 3 steps away), and he claws up my leg when I get home, as well as the carpet. These behaviors have slowly developed over the last 3 months. I've tried the squirt bottle, a loud "NO", clapping, nothing seems to prevent him from doing it again. I even tried the claw covers, but they don't stay on very long because he is highly intelegent and determined, so he'll spend hours picking them off.

 

This is cause a lot of stress in my life as well as in his because my roommates are always mad at me because of my cat, and him because they can't seem to control him. Once I move out of this living situation I know I will either have roommates or a boyfriend, so I just don't see this problem going away.

 

Should I declaw him so that he is not constantly yelled at? He is a tiny-ish cat, so I don't think his weight will be an issue as far as the after surgery is concerned. Will this hurt him a lot? Do I have any other options? Please give me any options, because I really don't want to do this to him, but I don't see the alternative. Thanks.

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My mom just had her older cat declawed and her vet actually refused to do it. She explained that either he gets declawed or he'll have to be put down. So they did it. It took him so much longer to heal and he had individual claws that got infected afterward.

 

2 years old isnt too old, but I stil wouldnt.

 

Have you tried cutitng his claws? Just take a good pair of fingernail clippers and clip off the ends of the claws. Just the tips so the claws are not sharp. Do this once a week to keep them dull.

 

Also you can get the two sided sticky tape and big furniture squares that deter them from scratching, at Pet Smart or Petco. They stick to the sofa, etc and when the cat tries to scratch, they stick to it and never go back.

 

Also, buy another scratcher. for some reason cats really seem to like the cardboard scratchers. They're pretty cheap too. try one of those.

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Don't do this. Declawing is like amputation for cats. Also, they can have phantom claw pain (like ghost nerve pain) after the claws are taken out. Finally, think about how much of cats lives are spend clawing. It's a major part of who they are!

 

Have you tried everything? Maybe a free animal lover behaviorist can give you tips on getting him to use the scratching post instead of furniture.

 

Seriously though, search the internet and read about the horrors associated with declawing cats before you make any decision. You sound sensitive and concerned so I'm hoping you won't declaw it. The cat can also become very neurotic after being declawed.

 

Maybe give the cat to a shelter if you cannot have him around? You could then pick up a cat that doesn't claw the furniture.

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I hate to even mention this, but if his behaviors are getting worse and it is since you have moved in with this family.....maybe something is going on there? Maybe he is stressed out to the max, or maybe something is happening when you are not around.

 

Anyways, you could try changing his living situation. Maybe he is bored. Or stressed in that house. I'd do anything - even letting my pet live at another family - rather than declaw.

 

I've had personal experience with a cat who was declawed and got out of the house one day and met an awful death. That is besides how much damage the actual declawing itself did - you couldn't even pet this cat and he was scared of humans (so you can imagine when we were looking for him after he got out, we got to him too late).

 

Anyways some pets are more sensitive than others and sometimes a change of situation can help a great deal. Does he go outside at all?

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The best thing you can do is like some mentioned is to start clipping his nails. I use a large human nail clipper. It works great. My cat's claws can't grab onto anything because the nail is no longer pointy and sharp. Once her claw starts to catch onto things like clothing and her toy string, I know it's time to snip the tips again.

 

I have been furtunate though with the fact that my cat is not even remotely interested in clawing furniture and/or people. She does love to claw on my carpet though, but thankfully it doesn't cause any damage.

 

You say that the behavior happened after moving to a new place, so it sounds like the cat is having a hard time readjusting to her new environment and is lashing out because of discomfort. I would search the internet for tips to help make her feel calm and safe again. This is a common occurrence with cats.....Good Luck!

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Well I see a few people mentioned that maybe he is uncomfortable or maybe he is being treated badly, but I don't think that is what is going on. I feel it's the actual texture of the couch he is interested in. I had a microfiber couch with my ex, and the cat had zero interest. The couch he is clawing in the new house is a different fabric that I think he is drawn to for some reason.

 

Also, there is another cat in this house, and I noticed when he claws his scratching post (or the couch), he is usually doing it to show off to us humans, or to show off for the other cat. I think I'm going to try the tape and maybe buy a few more scratch posts for around the house.

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Does he have a "safe zone"? That helped a lot with my wild kitten. I have two cats, yeah, it's more activity and can be more stress on them especially if they feel they are competing for territory or attention.

 

For instance, one post is X's. And another post is Y's. They each have a spot that is only theirs. No one is allowed to touch them when they are their special spot - it's a safe zone to run away too and chill out at.

 

So I started with the kitten (when she was a kitten), I'd pssstt and move her directly to her spot when she was acting up.

 

Now all I have to do if she starts scratching or doing something I don't want her to be doing, Psssttt.

 

Catnip on their special posts/ spots can drive it home that it's a good place to be.

 

well, I sure hope it all works out!!!

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I would try clipping nails first before anything else. His recent clawing seems largely due to you and your ex splitting up...stresses, new environment, etc. Have you researched any cat behavior experts (is there a "cat whisperer? lol) they may have some suggestions. Have you tried getting a slipcover for the couch so it feels like your ex's old couch? Maybe then the cat will lose interest.

 

Although....I work at a vet's office and we declaw adult cats all the time. The vet *hates* to do it, the vet techs all complain about how "cruel" it is, but....we still do it all the time. We even have a cat that the vet practice has "adopted" and we ended up having to declaw him because he took a swipe at a young girl and we were risking a law suit. He was a few years old at the time and slightly overweight, and we still declawed him. However, do note that we declawed the cat in January and he still walks kind of funny.

 

Giving him away to a new home is an option..but if he's already stressed to the max then a brand new home with new people isn't going to help any. Plus you never know if they'll give him away or take care of him properly.

 

I would try clipping nails and any other suggestions you find on behavior. As a last resort, yeah, I would declaw the cat if I was in your position. Given the choice between declawing and having to give up my cat to an unknown fate, I would choose declawing.

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Get rid of the cat. It's not fair to the people to have their furniture defaced and it's not fair to the cat to have his paws defaced.

 

This is the last option. My cat is a Siamese, he's almost like a dog in the way he follows me around, and the way he gets all excited and crazy when I come home. We are pretty attached to each other.

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Declawing is evil...period. It's banned in some countries for the sheer cruelty of it. I don't have much advise for you except that your roommates should be more understanding. It's hard to teach cats to "behave", they are too independent and frankly, they consider themselves the owner of the human. My cats have a few different scratching posts and a scratching wheel, but occasionally they still claw at the furniture. I don't sweat the small stuff because I love the animals.

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Well there's a lot of talk about the cat here, but hardly a mention of these people's furniture. Furniture is a lot more expensive than a cat. And I don't think it's a good attitude to continue to let the cat destroy other peoples' property while leisurely pondering what to do about the situation.

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What about those little nail caps? There is a product on the market that is little "caps" you can put on a cat's nails -- called Soft Claws. You should Google it and check them out. They're made of vinyl or something, and they help to keep cats from doing damage to furniture, rugs, etc.

 

Declawing is not the way to go. It's really, really, really awful for cats.

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Well there's a lot of talk about the cat here, but hardly a mention of these people's furniture. Furniture is a lot more expensive than a cat. And I don't think it's a good attitude to continue to let the cat destroy other peoples' property while leisurely pondering what to do about the situation.

 

I have a feeling that sofa is a lost cause by now. lol

 

One of our members started a thread recently that said, "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." I do not consider declawing evil, but once you do that and then allow the cat to go outside or give him away to anyone, I do believe that is morally very wrong.

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What a horrible procedure. It's the equivalent of cutting your fingers off at the first knuckle. I can't believe it's even allowed. People who do this should not have cats in the first place. It always used to make me feel sick to the stomach when I was working with them. Even the vets hated doing it. It's sheer cruelty.

 

If you're going to have pets, then you need to cat-proof your house. Just like you would need to baby-proof your house if you had a kid. I don't see many sane people cutting off their kid's fingers so they won't be able to ruin things in the house.

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Dragon Lady is correct! Declawing is literally equivalent to someone amputating your fingers at the first knuckle. When I worked in-clinic, we did not do declaws. We did have some success with softclaws...they are literally glued over the top of the sharp nails and last for quite a while. Again, if you choose softclaws, keep the cat inside because it is the same as being declawed...they can't grip and climb or defend themselves when in danger.

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Well there's a lot of talk about the cat here, but hardly a mention of these people's furniture. Furniture is a lot more expensive than a cat. And I don't think it's a good attitude to continue to let the cat destroy other peoples' property while leisurely pondering what to do about the situation.

 

I guess that depends on what you use to determine something's value - personally I think that a life far outweighs a piece of wood and fabric......

 

I also agree that declawing is a terrible thing - it is illegal here in the UK and can actually bring on other behavioural problems such as aggression and spraying around the home.

 

As the others have suggested there are some products that you can try to help lesson the attractiveness of his couch or the sharpness of his claws. If your current situation is only on a temp basis could you perhaps keep him in your room when you are out and then let him out into the livingroom only when you can supervise him and be ready with the water gun?

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The thing is, declawing is not going to solve your problem anyway. When it comes to indoor animals there will always be something to damage your home. Clawing is just the beginning of it. That is why some people just choose not to have animals in their homes. I know lots of people that wouldn't dream of having a cat, dog or even a bird. My MIL is one of them, many of my friends and relatives too. If you want a cat or any other animal, then you pretty much have to get ready for an imperfect home. And it's never a good idea to take one into another person's home and turn it loose. It's a good way to lose friends.

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