How young is too young for a cat to be declawed?

Question

I just bought a cat recently and want to get her declawed. She is about 9 weeks old now, and I was wondering when the earliest possible time would be for her to get declawed. I was going to have it done when she gets fixed, but she's too out of control with her use of her claws. I don't want my furniture destroyed, and no matter what I do, she still seems to go back to where I don't want her to go. She is a Snow Bengal, so she is naturaly a little wild acting, and I do plan on having her be indoors.

Answer 1

How about I chop your fingers off at the knuckle just below your nails? And I'll make sure there's no pain killers involved after the surgery is done. Oh, and no stitching, either, just some stupid bandaging. It's painful, and completely cruel and unnecessary.

Clip your cats claws. Train her properly. Put a scratching pad right next to the cat's favorite place to scratch. Make it appealing to her. (IE: Catnip sprays) Make the couch un-appealing. Spray a citrus spray on your furniture to make her not want to be near it. They do not like it.

Dear god, if you love your cat, do not get her declawed.

Answer 2

Don't declaw! There are plenty of alternatives that will keep your roommate happy and the kittens whole.

Declawing = the amputation of your kittens' toes. It is very painful and can lead to problems, including bleeding, infection, pain, avoidance of litter boxes (pain again) and biting. Claws are cats' primary form of defense. Should you and your kittens ever become separated, your kittens will be helpless and will be at a disadvantage when it comes to hunting and defending themselves. Declawing is irreversible. I think it is a bad thing.



# Train them (the kittens)

# Get a scratching post. Cats/Kittens need these to stretch and scratch. (you can buy these at PETsMART.com ). Have your kittens go nuts on these, not on the furniture.
# Use a repellant spray (ex. Boundary Indoor/Outdoor Cat Repellent from Lambert Kay)
# Double sided strips can also help save the couch.

# Clip the Claws, here is how you do it.

Get a toe nail clipper or a cat claw clipper. Gently hold the paw in one hand, with your thumb on top of the paw and forefinger on the pad gently squeeze pushing the claw clear so it can be seen (the inside of the claw is pink, this is living tissue that you do not want to cut!). Trim the clear tip of the nail, do not clip the area where pink tissue is visible nor the opaque region outlining the pink tissue. Do that every couple of weeks. Your kittens will be the better for it.

Press-on Nails! (well, not really)

You've probably seen those cat nail caps on TV. These last about 6 weeks and keep your kittens from damaging the furniture. You can find the Soft Claw Nail Caps for Cats at PetSmart. They have received the endorsment of Trey, one of KittenCare's readers.

Hopefully, you will not declaw.


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After you declaw the cat, it will become depressed. Read this story. It's not a good thing to declaw the cat. They had a bengal too, and after declawing it was nowhere near the same.

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Hi Simba,
We de-clawed our Bengal kitten, Bon-Bon two months ago. Huge mistake! She was a WILD cat, very playful, peeking around corners and pouching on everyone. Since she was an indoor cat, we thought we were doing the right thing. Now, Bon-Bon just lays around the house, sleeping. She has no appetite. She's like a different cat. The vet said she was still healing, but it has been over two months. Do cats get depressed? Will she stay this way? Elaine

P.S. Please don't yell at us about the de-clawing. We wish we never did it and if we could turn back time, we would bring our Wild Cat back.

Dear Elaine,
Yes, cats do get depressed. A cat's claws are an integral part of their lives, cats use them to scratch, stretch, investigate and with the glands on the ends, to place scents. This is not intended to make you feel guilty, it's just background. So what do you do? Redirect her attention and energy to things that are not claw-focused. Play with her and spend time with her. Get a cat teaser or a pack of foam balls, rolled up pieces of paper, anything, just get her excited and energized. Set time aside each day for play and then play. Also, monitor her eating. Failure to consume calories may lead to all sorts of problems. Get her supplements if you do not see that getting better. Your Pal, Simba
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Answer 3

You can get a cat declawed at just about any age. Did you know that when they declaw a cat that they actually cut off the toes up to the first knuckle not just remove the nails? OUCH
This obviously causes pain in the feet which may cause the cat to not use the little box as it should. It also causes the cat to 'rebalance' itself and change its gait which causes other problems later for the animal.
Dont get me wrong, im not from Peta, or whatever that group is. I also looked into having my house cat declawed and was amazed at what I found out. They do have caps that you can put on the animal instead of having it declawed. You could try it
After looking into declawing, I decided against it and to try other methods instead

Answer 4

I've had cats all my life and only had one declawed ever. When they are little they seem to be more destructive, just out of playfulness. They have this sticky tape stuff you can put on furniture at major pet stores. They also have these little plastic caps you can actually glue onto the existing claws. They come in all colors, I personally think they are silly, and haven't tried them, but they could solve your problem temporarily until she is older. I didn't give you a direct answer becasue I just don't know if she is too young or not, but she very well may settle down some and some of these alternatives might save you the expense and trouble of declawing, and save the cat her claws too :)

Answer 5

Best age for declawing is 3-5 months of age, but may be performed at any age. I don't really recommend declawing though, because the procedure removes the last bone in the cat's skeleton(on each toe) and once it is done the cat will not grow to be as healthy as it could or should, but if you're dead set on declawing, you really should make it just an inside cat, because it is cruel to take away that line of defense and then send it out into the world.

Answer 6

6 months. most vets will tell you you can declaw a cat at 6-8 months old.. and its best to do it before a year also so I'm glad your thinking of doing it soon! Declawing is NOT like deknuckling as these crazy bitches will lead you to believe. When a cat is declawed by a professional vet, it is put under anesthesia during the surgery and given pain meds. the area will be sore for a few days but within a week-10 days your cat should be back to normal. Follow the instructions/medications your vet gives you to avoid infections!!!!

Answer 7

It is safe right now to have her spayed and declawed. The vet clinic where I work only wants them to weigh more than 1 pound. That is the newest plan from the Board of Veterinarians, and the SPCA where I volunteer do babies that are 1 pound all the time.
It is a little more risky because they are more likely to die from anesthesia complications but if you go to an experienced vet there should be no problem.
De clawing cats is better than letting them live homeless, or outdoors, so don't let people tell you not to have it done. Plenty of people live without fingers, finger nails and do just fine. Same for cats. It is not the best thing of course, but like I said it is better than the alternative.
Good Luck

Answer 8

I say NEVER, EVER get a cat de-clawed. Doing this will take away the cats natural defense. IT will NEVER be able to defend itself from anything. IF for some unknown reason it got outside it could never defend itself from a dog, or another cat, a fox nothing. Try getting into a fight some time. BUT before you get into the fight have both your hands tied to your sides so you can't lift them. This should give you a little feeling as to what the cat might have to go through if it ever gets out. BTW I am the owner of four IN DOOR cats. NONE of which are declawed.

Answer 9

My vote is to not declaw her. There are other alternatives to this problem. One would be start clippingher nails at a young age so she gets use to it. Your vet or groomer can show you how to do this. There is also the soft paw route.

Cats claw that is part of what they do. Why get a cat if you are gonna declaw it as soon as you can. Makes no sense to me.

Answer 10

I would give the kitty to someone that wants a kitty with claws. If you have a cat de-clawed you have taken its only defense mechanism. It may be kinder to give kitty up or you can never let kitty outside to play again. Your solution could also be to get the same fabric that is on kitties favorite furniture put that same fabric on the clawing post. Get a spray bottle fill it with water and a tiny bit of vinegar and when kitty scratches the furniture give it a little squirt. You may even try putting cat nip on the scratching post along with the same kind of fabric. Good luck I love cats it is hard to find a better companion that asks for so little.