To declaw or not, that is the question?

[ilovebunnies]

I am thinking of asking my friend for a kitten for my birthday. :p The only way I will be allowed to get one is if it is litter trained and this sounds harsh but declawed. :o My mum wouldn't let me so I might think of giving up instead of ruining a poor kittys life. :( I have an expensive house with leather couches. :mad: I have tried scratch posts before but they won't work. :eek: Please help moi! -doctor-

[Bingalulu]

I know a lot of wonderful animal-loving people will be furious at me for saying this, but: I think if the choice comes down to (a) adopt a homeless kitty and declaw him, or (b) don't adopt a homeless kitty, the right decision should be obvious.

I have also heard that it is important to choose a very good veterinary surgeon to declaw a cat. Much of the misery suffered by declawed cats (where they try desperately to scratch, showing the "phantom limb" syndrome) has to do with a poor surgical technique and outcome, neurologically in particular.

My suggestion is that you seek out the very best veterinary surgeon in your area and make an appointment to have your new baby declawed. Then go to the animal shelter and find your little love!

Honestly, I think it is wonderful for you to adopt a sweet kitty who would otherwise be dead, even if declawing was necessary. Again, I hope you can find a truly skilled veterinary surgeon. That's the most important thing --

Good luck~

[Pixiestyx]

If you want a cat but are against declawing (as many people including myself are), maybe you should wait until you are old enough to make your own decisions about your pets. Cats will scratch leather sofas. There are other things besides posts you can try, like those flat cardboard scratching boards, or soft paws paw covers, but you don't know if they'll work with the cat you get, and if its a situation where if those things don't work, you have to get rid of the cat or have it declawed, I don't think you should risk it. I'm against declawing because what they do is remove the first joint of the cat's paw that has the claw attatched. One of our family cats was declawed when we found him, and his front paws give him pain still (and we've had him for over 13 years now) you can see he's in pain when he jumps down and lands on his front paws. Declawing is illegal in many places, and many vets will refuse to do it. Can I make a suggestion? Call animals shelters around your area and tell them you want a declawed cat, and that way, the next time they get one, they can call you. You'll be getting an adult cat, not a kitten, and it may not be a purebred, and you may not have it in time for your birthday, but you'll be saving the cat, and you'll be able to have it under your mother's conditions, also, adult cats are just as beautiful and loveable as kittens (also less of a pain in the arse).

[ilovebunnies]

Hehe, Thanks! I was thinking there are kittens in the newspaper that have been adopted and the person can't handle them. Some are declawed and most litter trained. My friend would prob get it from the pet shop where they have shots and are litter trained. Do you have an idea of how much it is to adopt?

[Bingalulu]

Well, ethically and morally, adoption should be free. However, we all know that animal adoption costs a lot of money for the rescuers, who then care for the homeless cats until they're adopted. For dogs, it costs even more.

Everyone who adopts a wonderful cat or dog from a shelter should automatically make a financial contribution to a no-kill shelter. For every creature we rescue, there are 3-10 others whom we never even meet.

[fullamef]

declawing removes the first part of the digit from the cats paws. ouch. i am personally very much against declawing

[burnthalo]

Our cats are not declawed, and they're still kittens... (about 11.5 months, and 9 months) We have leather furniture and that was a major concern for us, but we have been trimming thier nails since we first got them, they still don't like it enormously.... but they don't kill us when we do it. We have a scratching post in our bedroom, which has a natural-fibre, twine type rope circling the post with a ledge on the top that is carpeted, our 9month old kitten loves that one, and our 11.5 month old kitten likes the cat tree... it has 2 ledges and a house with a "deck" and he likes to scratch on that. They've never scratched on our furniture. It APPEARED that our 11.5 month old was going to or actaully was scratching our leather chair once, and we squirted him and said NO! and after we took a look at the the chair there were no scratches on it. we took the spray repellent and sprayed that end of the chair anyways, and they've never even "stretched" on the furniture in the same way ever again.

I don't want to sound silly, but we got our first cat from a petstore, and i know they usually buy from byb BUT they won't sell the kittens unless they're healthy, and while they're in the store they usually have posts and toys to play with so our kitten, Boo, already knew to scratch on it. (even though we got him from a pet store he was a 'rescue kitten'.)

Our second cat we got from a shelter ran by a single lady in her house (it was aweful) but she was a no-kill shelter, and she had posts and toys and whatnot for the animals. She knew automatically to scratch on the post. Maybe i was just luck ? ;)

That's my story, i hope it helps.

[lilgypsyhammy]

I wouldn't declaw, just cut their nails.

[FrozenEcho]

I would never dream of declawing a cat, when I volunteered at the vet clinic, I watch my vet declaw a cat. It was horrible. Instead my cousin told me how she uses Soft Claws on her cat. A product that is an alternative to declawing it works great! And you can get it at a local Petco or some other large pet store. Please consider this before you declaw!

[ilovebunnies]

Thanks for the replies guys! It doesn't really matter to me if it is a kitten or cat just something that will sit and cuddle. Im actually alergic but its only mild. I never knew thats adopting is free? There are alot of homeless kittys in the newspaper as well. Do you guys suggest I buy one, adopt or get one out of the newspaper. Btw, what is Soft Paws?

[FrozenEcho]

You can learn alot about Soft Claws at their website- www.softclaws.net

[meow03]

hi,
i am very much against de-clawing aswell. If u do get a kitten tho, dont worry if its not litter trained because u can teach it urself and it will learn really fast.

a kitten can be litter trained at as young as 4 weeks of age like mine. she was a dumped kitten and was free at the vet.

goodluck! :)

[brandy pup]

Adopt a declawed cat from your shelter and do not make a kitty go thru the mutaliation of cutting off the toes.

A Rational Look At Declawing
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/stopdeclawtemporary/

WHY CATS NEED CLAWS
http://www.wholecat.com


FACTS ABOUT DECLAWING
http://maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm

TALLYS DECLAW PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/declaw.html

EDUCATE DO NOT AMPUTATE
http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/

[animalsrcool]

You should declaw the front, but not the back. This way he will be less prone to scratching, but will still have some claws. I think declawing is like taking off their fingers, so this way its a win-win situation. Try getting those colored claw guards they have if you don't want to de-claw :)

[PIFTails]

Good grief...Declawing is not an option for a cat lover.
Why bother it is painful for the cat and expensive for you.
http://www.declawing.co.uk/declawingpif.html

I have 7 (soon to be 8) cats and I trained them all to posts in minutes.

Scratching posts DO work if you have the right post for the cat.

Some cats like vertical posts others like vertical. Materials vary from wood, wood with bark, sisal rope, sisal material, carpet, backing of carpet. All posts must be sturdy and allow a cat to stretch fully, never use the door pads they are too light and cats hate them. Also several posts are needed around the house near to sleeping places.

If you are not willing to train a cat, I suggest you adopt another type of animal which has no claws to begin with.

Why torture a cat by removing it's paws at the first joint for your own selfish needs, when declawing brings no advantage to the cat.

But if you are actually wanting advice on training and are willing to buy several scratching posts to find one that suits your cat, that would be a different response.

BTW Cats are not free to adopt even if you don't pay for the adoption, this quiz shows that a 'Free' cat cost as lot of cash to get up to the standard of a shelter cat
http://www.piftails.com/calculatorinitalcosts.html

[andreaS15]

Adopt a declawed cat from your shelter and do not make a kitty go thru the mutaliation of cutting off the toes.

I was going to say that. If you really want a cat with no claws, I would suggest getting one that is allready de-clawed. I'm against de-clawing also, if you have seen the procedure you would know why. Alot of people de-claw cats and drop them off at the sheltars.

ALSO, if you have allergies, there is a good chance if you bring a cat into your home your allergies will get worse. Mine did, and I didn't believe the Allergist, and kept working with cats untill I got asthma, Now i can't even seemy kitty. SO there is a chance this could happen to you (actually there a chance you allergies could go away too). You may want to get tested for these allergies and find out how bad they are, and get an idea if they woudl get worse, or better.

[brandy pup]

You should declaw the front, but not the back. This way he will be less prone to scratching, but will still have some claws. I think declawing is like taking off their fingers, so this way its a win-win situation. Try getting those colored claw guards they have if you don't want to de-claw :)


Bad advice.

A Rational Look At Declawing
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/stopdeclawtemporary/

WHY CATS NEED CLAWS
http://www.wholecat.com


FACTS ABOUT DECLAWING
http://maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm

TALLYS DECLAW PAGE
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pointe/9352/declaw.html

EDUCATE DO NOT AMPUTATE
http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/

[Kims Critters]

Do NOT de-claw your cat/kitten. It is very cruel. Many vets in the states won't even do de-clawing anymore. Not only is it physically cruel to do it to them (would you like to have the first portion of your fingers and toes removed?) it also takes away their natural defense. I truely believe that cats should be kept indoors (but I am not bashing ppl with indoor/outdoor cats), even indoor bound cats can escape to the great outdoors. If they are frightened by another animal, they can climb a tree to safety with their claws. Without claws, the cat is defenseless.

I have had cats all my life. I rescued a female whom was declawed. She got out and attacked by a dog. If she could have climbed a tree, it would not have happened. Thankfully, she survived the incident.

Someone mentioned that morally adoption should be free. I totally disagree with this statement. Stop and think for a moment. If you want a free animal, would you be willing to dool out hundreds, and in some cases thousands of dollars to care for your pet? Also, consider the expenses that shelters and rescues have to deal with: cat food (dry and wet), litter, immunizations, treatment for any illness/injury, in some cases microchipping, etc. The list goes on and on. I use to do cat and dog rescue before turning to exotic rescue. The costs are astronomical. Rescues need to get some of the money back. Plus, charging an adoption fee usually ensures the animal in question is going to a good home. Also, buying from petstores allows for the breeders to keep breeding into an already maxxed out over population problem.

[fillerbunny]

I agree.. if your parents refuse to allow you to have an intact kitty, rather than declawing a kitten, I would look into adopting a previously declawed cat. The shelters are full of them.

Declawing- while preferable to death- is a pretty horrible, painful, and frequently traumatic process for a cat to undergo. Trimming the nails is an option, but the cat may still be able to damage your furniture.

[fillerbunny]

I'm with KimsCritters on the adoption fee.. as somebody who has hand-reared a litter of kittens and rehabilitated a feral cat, the time and money spent rescuing and providing for these animals far exceeds the adoption fee. The fee to adopt a cat out here is $65-. The tests performed the day the cat arrives at the shelter run around $40-. If the cat needs vaccines or medical care, you're already over the initial fee. Maybe the cat needs to be spayed or neutered. Many of the cats are not adopted right away.. so factor in the cost of food and all that good stuff. For an unweaned kitten, weeks of KMR (very expensive!). It's not cheap to run a shelter.

Not to mention, unfortunately, people seem to value what they pay for more than what they don't. The fee also keeps people who want a cat for insidious purposes away.. if you're looking for a cat to abuse, chances are you're not going to pay $65- to adopt one when you can find a free one elsewhere.