At what age do you declaw and neuter a (male) kitten?

Question

I know I know. Its mean. But I have to.

Answer 1

DO NOT DECLAW!!!!! There are alot of alternatives. You do not have to. If you are considering it to save your furniture you should not have cats. Some alternatives are actually having patience and commitment to actually train the cat to scratch on cardboard scratchers and other scratching posts with catnip, and squirting the cat when he goes to scratch something he isnt suposed to. Soft Claws nail caps work good, aswell as just taking some figernail clippers and actually trimming the tips off of the claws. I got my cat used to me touching his toes right when i got him at 8 weeks, now i can do anything with him, hes 2 yrs old now. I can trim his claws, he only claws on posts, not the new furniture, i can take him on a harness and leash since he is indoor only unless on a harness. When u declaw a cat, they resort to their second line of defense wich is biting aswell as developing phantom pain like a person who has had his limb amputated from like war or something, and they develop arthritis and its mutilation plain and simple. Look at all the links i provided and see the FACTS on what the procedure actually is and does to the cats.

My male cat was neutered at 8 weeks of age from the animal shelter, many vets will do it that young.


TO MRS OUTLAND: DO NOT EMAIL ME TELLING ME IM NOT INTELLIGENT. WHEN I SEE ANIMAL CRUELTY IM GOING TO CALL THE PERSON OUT ON IT, I PROVIDED FACTS TO WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO TO THE POOR CAT THAT DEPENDS ON YOU TO KEEP HIM HAPPY AND HEALTHY!!!!!!!
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Forwarded message...originally sent to Declaw Hall of Shame

To:
Subject: Horror Stories
Date: Tue, 13 Jun 2006 14:36:31 -0400

I have two horror stories to share with you. The only two experiences I have had with declaw have both led to pain and misery for the cat.

Snowy was my 4th birthday present. Because my sister and I were so young, my mother had her declawed to protect us from scratches. After the casts finally came off, Snowy seemed fine for a while. Then she began chewing her feet. She almost always had bloody feet from chewing them open. My mother went back to the vet many times and was constantly told it was "just a nervous habit" and nothing could be done other than spraying the feet with things to keep Snowy from chewing them. As the years went by Snowy became more and more agressive with her own feet, until finally, she would chew even through the vet recommended hot sauce that made her vomit. We moved away and my mother found a new vet in the new town. He took one look at poor Snowy's feet and told my mother what was REALLY happening. Regrowth. Snowy had walked for 8 years on agonizingly painful feet in which new, mutated claws had grown INSIDE her foot. She had to be declawed again. We watched tears fall from the vets eyes as he soothed her and carried her back for surgery. My mother has never forgiven herself, or the vet who hurt her, and then refused to help her afterwards by lying to my mother about what was happening. I was in my twenties when we had to have Snowy put to sleep. She had severe arthritis and in a matter of just days, her feet had become completely unusable. She had vanished and when we found her huddled in the basement at last, she was crippled and in agonizing pain. I do not believe she would have suffered that way if she had never been declawed.

The next cat is a foster rescue that I have while she is recovering. She is a beautiful dusky orange medium hair with the most vibrantly gold/orange eyes I have ever seen. Punkin was brought to us when our landlord found her nearly starved to death. Punkin is the victim of a four paw declaw. The people that put her through this trauma did NOT have her spayed. What they DID do was toss her out when she showed typical behavior problems of the majority of declawed cats. She cannot use a regular litter box as "normal" litters very ovbiously cause her feet pain to scratch in. She can only use Feline Pine litter. She also bites. Abandoned outside with no claws, Punkin very nearly starved to death. Even when she found a place with stray cat feeding stations, the other strays would not allow her near the food and she could not stand up for herself. She was found laying 20 feet from a feeding station, mewing weekly as though begging for just one bite. Punkin is doing much better with a Feline Pine filled litter box and is learning not to bite. While Punkin is slowly recovering and gaining weight, she is still in pain. The butcher who declawed her took a bit more than he should have. More than half of the bone structure in her front paws is missing. Punkin walks on stubs and flaps of paws. She can not run or jump or climb. If she hits something the wrong way with her foot she screeches and collapses. Punkin is a wonderfully sweet cat. Our vet is researching any method available to repair her feet as much as possible to reduce her pain. If no option can be found, Punkin will face a life of pain or being put to sleep to free her from that.

This is the price of declaw. The money an owner pays is nothing next to the life of pain and unhappiness paid by the cat. No loving owner, educated in the truth of declaw, would ever do this to an animal. This should be outlawed in our country as it is in so many others. I will slash my furniture with a knife myself before I will EVER have a cat declawed!

S. K.
Phone Counselor
Animal Allies

Answer 2

Kittens Declawed Age

Answer 3

I've had four male cats in my lifetime, and none of them have ever had spraying problems. Even the first one, which we never got neutered (which was a mistake) didn't spray...that one was probably lucky though. If you get him spayed fairly young, I don't think you'll have spraying issues. I'm strongly opposed to declawing, myself. If it comes down to declaw him or let him be put down, declawing is the lesser of two evils...but please try behavior modification first. MAKE SURE to get a good, sturdy, tall scratching post. It needs to be tall enough for him to be able to stretch all the way up and scratch, and should be sturdy enough that he feels secure putting his weight against it. You can also get those scratching boards that lay flat. Put it next to your couch, not tucked away in a corner. If he scratches the couch or the carpet, say "NO" and move him to the scratching post. Keeping his claws trimmed nice and short will definitely help minimize damage until he's learned what not to scratch. In my experience cats don't much like to scratch leather, so your couch should be okay. You can also guard spots against scratching by taping them- ie we put tape on the corners of the couches, because it's not a good texture for scratching and the cats leave it alone, but it's hard to tape the whole carpet. If you're worried about the new carpet, maybe you could put down some old area rugs to guard the landlord's carpet. Once he's trained to use the scratching posts, you can take off any tape or coverings. Good luck!

Answer 4

It is not nearly as mean as you think it is. I did not want to do either to my cats, but they are both doing just as well after spaying, neutering and declawing.

You can neuter him after six months. It will keep him calmer and he will not spray once he has been neutered.

Declawing cats is great for the furniture and cats do not know the difference. They will still try to sharpen their missing claws. I recommend only taking out the front claws. That way he has his back claws for jumping up on the couch.

The only thing that is important is that declawed cats stay inside. It is dangerous for a cat to go outside without front claws.

Take care,
Troy

Answer 5

Hi Mrs. Outland,

I spayed and declawed my new kitten when he was 3 months old. The vet knew how old he was, and didn't say anything negative about the age.

He doesn't yet realize that he has no front claws. He'll jump up on something and look surprised when he falls off!

Answer 6

why do you have to declaw your cat? I understand neutering, but even if it is an indoor cat his claws are like his fingers. Cats can easily be trained to not claw the furniture. How would you like someone to cut your fingers off? Buy a scratching post, use double sided tape on your furniture, the best trick i had was shaking a jar of pennies at my baby boy. I even had to break out a squirt gun. All are effective yet humane ways of training your cat to not scratch or claw the furniture. Please don't declaw your kitty.

Answer 7

Our female cats were spayed at 6 months, so that's about the same time you can neuter a male.

We declawed the younger indoor cat at the same time she was spayed and she is fine.

Answer 8

Mine were done at 4 and 5 months. My vet tells me that if she can grab them, she can clip them.
None of my cats have front claws. (all have back) and they remove just the claws, not toes or joints, or anything like that. They all act like they still have front claws. The two who are six years old haven't had claws since about 4 months. There is no way they remember that.

At one point, I had one cat with claws, one without. The one with claws walked up to the scratching post and made scratching noise. The one without followed suit and got this strange look on her face when no noise happened. She didn't have a clue why he made that noise and she didn't. Indoor cats truly don't know the difference!

Answer 9

Imagine typing on your computer keyboard without the first joints of your fingers. I am totally against cosmetically altering any animal to "adapt" it to a human's environment. I am even against the nicks vets put in the ear when cats are neutered/spayed. And what's the point of bobbing tails? The claws are there for a reason, so why do people think they know more than Mother Nature? Plus to needlessly put your animal through the pain of the surgery and recuperation is absurd. If somebody wanted to cut your fingers off, would you let them, just so that you didn't have to file your fingernails?

Answer 10

WHY WOULD you declaw?? You can clip the claws instead. Have the Doctor cut off all your fingers at the first joint This is what you are about to do to an innocent kitty. Please reconsider doing this! I have 2 cats who are claw intact and go inside and out, where by the way they need front claws to defend themselves. All Cats find a way outside in time. Good For the Spaying but not the other!

Answer 11

i neuter and declaw all of my cats. they are strictly indoor cats and we are very careful of making sure they do not go outdoors. i do only declaw their front. i have never had any problems. my cats have never acted as if in pain or anything. my vet insists that the cats are either 6 months or 7-8 pounds. he keeps them overnight since they have been put under for the neuter and declaw. he gives me yesterday's news cat litter so my cat doesnt get any clay from regular litter in his paws untill he heals. he also calls to check up on them. i wouldnt take my cats to anyone not like this. as far as being mean, i dont see declawing any different than to neuter or spay. my cats are scared to go outside simply because they are indoor cats and have been since they were born. declawing saves your furniture and any wood you have in your house. as long as you are responsible with your pet, you wont have any problems.