declawing my kitten?

Question

i am 3 months pg and my 4 month kitten will scratch at any thang and anyone i dont want to put my child at harm and i dont want to give my kitten away so we thought of declawing. i dont want anyone answering me and telling me how wrong it is to do it. if you have a baby who cant defend for themselve you would do it. the only answer im looking for is the cost and recovery time and what age the kitten has to be to do it. if your going to give me a rude answer please dont bother.

Answer 1

I would not do it. My brother in law and his wife just had a baby two months ago. They have two cats as well. One of their cats is kind of aggressive but she has never scratched the baby. Neither has the male cat who is about 15 pounds and could do some damage if he did. They have no problems. Plus, your kitten will be 10 months old when the baby comes. I think it will calm down some before then. You need to stop playing with it with your fingers or feet and tell it no when it scratches your skin. Always play with it with toys from now on and it will get used to it. It will take a while before it stops attacking you and before it calms down some. Just give it time and if it seems that it will be impossible to have the kitten and the baby together, you will need to find it a good home.

Answer 2

I can totally understand where you are coming from. Although I am not a firm believer of declawing I still believe that humans come before animals...or at least in most cases. I am also a believer that your home would be a lot better for the kitten then any shelter.
Right now your kitten is 4 months old and soon you will probably be taking your kitten into the vet to get it fixed. It is hard on any animal (as well as humans) to be put under as you undergo certain risks. When people bring their kittens in to get fixed they usually make the decision to get them declawed at the same time. This will actually save you money in the long run because you won't have to pay to have the kitten put under a 2nd time. Vets charge different prices so it is hard to say how much yours will charge. But, if you do it at the same time you might get a discounted price.
Good for you for trying to solve your problem instead of getting rid of the kitten all together. If people don't see it like that then they truely aren't seeing the whole picture.

Answer 3

It depends on where you live, what kind of vet you take him to, and how experienced your vet is on how much they charge. You're pretty much looking at anywhere from $120-150. Somewhere around there. Any less, I'd be nervous, any more, you live in a really expensive area. As far as recovery time, DO IT NOW. Your kitten is still young and will bounce back in a day or so, as long as you just take the front claws, which is really all you need to do. This is what they do the most damage with. They really do need their back claws to scratch and for balance. 3 out of 6 of my mom's cats are declawed and I do not regret that decision, they are better cats for it. They are strictly indoors and they are my pets, I take wonderful care of them and they have better lives than 99% of the other pets out there. So I don't give a rats @$$ what everyone else in here says and neither should you. If you need to declaw do it. Just make sure you change the litter for a couple weeks to the Yesterday's News brand (the vet should fill you in), as regular litter gets stuck in their paws and can get them infected. If you have any other questions about declawing, please e-mail me.

P.S. What these people don't understand, is that you have "6 months to train her" and in that time if you haven't done it, you're going to make the declawing process that much more painful for the kitten, because the older the cat, the more painful the surgery. Ask any vet. If you can't train the cat, you've just added more recovery time. DO IT NOW! Oh and "Soft Paws" don't stay on and they are a pain in the butt, thanks.

Answer 4

I just had both my kitten fixed and declawed this morning. I cried when I left them there and felt guily doing it but it had to be done so they don't ruin my home. My declawing bill was : $302.00!!! The breakdown is $55.00 for Pre-operative screening (blood work) like when we go to the hospital. This doesn't have to be done but it is good cause they can check everything before putting them under to make sure it is OK to put the under. The surgery is $205.00. Pain medication is $40.00). They are giving me 4 days of pain medicine. And the medical waste disposal fee is $2.00. You should also have them "fixed" so the female doesn't go into heat and cry all day and night and the male won't squirt and leave a terribl;e scent in the house. My kittens are 5 months old today. This is the time to do it...between 5 and 6 months. My daughter had both her cats declawed and they are fine and happy. I know how you feel about people telling you how cruel it is. I don't even tell anyone anymore cause they make me feel like a criminal. Good luck!! P.S. My Vet had HER cats declawed!!!!

Answer 5

If you feel strongly that your kitten should be declawed, have it done at the same time the kitten is spayed or neutered. The younger the kitten is, the faster the recovery time. Declaw is painful, and you will need to keep the kitten in a quiet area for a few days. Hospitialization is typically overnight. Pain medications need to be given for 3 days post surgery. If you do the declaw at the same time as neuter, you will only have to pay for the anesthesia once. Total cost should be less than $200.00.

Kittens revcover faster than cats. Ideally, a declaw candidate should be under 8 pounds. This puts less strain on the paws during the healing process. Tissue glue or lasers are used to seal the area enabling it to heal faster. A few years ago, some veterinarians were still using suture which could break down and lead to infection.

Facts....Declaw should be done at the earliest age a kitten is eligible for surgery - usually 16 weeks.

Post surgical declaws may limp for weeks, but typically feel better in about a week.

Pain medication is needed for a minimum of 3 days post surgery.

Neuter/spay should be done at the same time as the declaw to minimize the number of times the kitten is under anesthesia, and to be more cost effective.

Answer 6

I have four cats and everyone of them are De-clawed. They are inside cats, I do not let them go out unless they are on a leash, accompanied by me, or in their stroller, when they go for a walk.

It is expensive initially to have the de-clawing done, and depending where you live, it will vary, I payed about 25.00 per paw.
Our vet used sutures and glue, the sutures dissolve, be careful not to let them lick or pick at their paws, be careful to not let your kitten jump too high on anything, it could bust open the suture. They will give your kitten pain meds when he goes home.

It takes anywhere from 6-12 months for de-clawing to (completely) heal, however they should be fine in about 4-6 weeks.

I would ask your vet on the age to de-claw a kitten, but I had mine done along with their neutering at six months old.

I know what other people say about de-clawing and how un humane it is, but I personally think it is up to the individual and the circumstances, and you sound like you are responsible to make that decision.

Congrats on your Baby! And your feline baby too.
Good luck.

Answer 7

Your kitten attacks anything and anyone because it's only 4 months old. Like everyone else pointed out, a kitten will do this, but chill out some as it reaches adulthood as long as you put in the time to properly train it.

Some of the other posters had good ideas on how to do this; don't let the kitten play with your hands or feet, use toys, scratchers, double-sided tape.....and if it comes down it to, a water bottle to deter clawing at people. Keeping their nails trimmed is inexpensive and much less traumatic for the cat.

Even if you get the cat declawed (please, please don't), you're going to have to train it to stay out of baby's room. I would keep the door to your baby's room closed unless you're in there, and don't let the cat get into the crib.

Answer 8

Don't Declaw. It's very painful for your pet (I worked in a vet hospital!), it's permanent (cat can never go outside again but shouldn't anyway) and is simply not necessary. All you need to do is clip her nails with a nail clipper every so often. The first time you try it will seem kinda awkward. Once you do it, she won't put up a fuss and you'll be able to do it very quickly. Very carefully, place your thumb on the paw and push out the little claws and clip the ends, making sure you don't get the cuticle or fleshy part.

If that doesn't do it, try "Soft Paws" tips. They are easy and quite inexpensive. Don't declaw.

Answer 9

Declawing can be rather harmful for the kitten and you realize it's a rather radical measure, however reasonable your motives are. Why not cutting the nails' tips regularly? I myself wouldn't do this to my cat - I've never done this and I don't really find it necessary (by the way, I'm pregnant, too:) but most of my friends who have cats do it. You have to be very careful as to not cut too much and hurt the kitten and it's better if you have someone with experience show you how to do it the first couple of times. Everyone says it saves a lot of problems - e.g. ruining the furniture, scratching, etc. and cats get accustomed to it even if they don't find the experience particularly pleasant. It won't cost you a lot of time and it's much less dangerous and stressful for the cat. Think about it :)

Answer 10

The first person that answered is an idiot. Vets do perform the procedure, just not the back claws only the front. I got my cat declawed when she was about 3 months and she was fine. My vet charged me $60. The younger the better. Because when they get older it is harder for them to adjust. I hear that sometimes they refuse to use the litter box after but that didn't happen to mine or my parents 2 cats. After they are declawed you have to use shredded newspaper as their litter for the first week or 2 while their paws are healing and then they are fine. And they don't even know that they are gone, because mine still uses the scatching post. I call it "sharpening her nubs"