How old is too old to remove a cat's claws? Is the newer laser surgery more humane?

Answer 1

I don't understand everyone's overreaction to declawing. My male started scratching up all the furniture, the door jambs, and anything he could sink his claws into. We yelled at him, squirted him with a spray bottle of water, and chased him away from the tempting objects. We bought a new house recently. After moving out, we discoverd that we had to change out EVERY door frame in the house and caulk the baseboards where he claws at them. Some cabinets had to be refinished as well. I researched the procedure, talked to my vet, and decided to have him declawed. He was home the next day. The stitches came out on their own. He never had any bleeding and not much discomfort. His neutering seemed to bother him MUCH more! Why isn't that considered inhumane?!?! He was back to normal in about 2 weeks. He has even started trying to sharpen his non-existent claws. If he were in that much discomfort, would he try to sharpen his claws?

We are a much happier household now. There's no more yelling, the spray bottle is gone, and he sleeps in our bed every night. His paws look the SAME!!! He is NOT MISSING TOES!!! The ONLY difference is that when I push on the pad, no claws pop out. He doesn't seem to notice ANY difference, and we are all happier. He did not have the laser surgery; it was the regular declawing by my reputable vet that I've been taking him to for years (he's 9).

Answer 2

I'm one of the few people out there not against cat declawing. I work for a vet that declaws and my cats are declawed. I'm very aware of what happens during a declaw since I've seen the surgeries and the post-op process. That being said, I would not ever recommend a cat older then 1 year and I would not do any of my own cats above 6 months of age. I don't think laser surgery is more humane. It's a very difficult and painful procedure for them no matter how it's done.

Answer 3

Cat Claw Removal

Answer 4

RE:
How old is too old to remove a cat's claws? Is the newer laser surgery more humane?

Answer 5

Before you decide to remove your cat's claws please rethink why you want them removed.
Is your cat and indoor cat??
If your cat is an indoor cat you can simply clip the nails and make them really short.
If your cat is indoor and it gets loose, How will it defend him/ herself without claws?
Although recommended that you remove a cat's claws when they are a kitten you could still remove the claws for an older cat. If you chose to remove the nails of an older cat they might not be able to do things that they did before with claws. I recommend that you speak with your vet and consider what will happen after my cat has no nails? I hope this helps, Also it would help people to answer the question better if we knew, How old is your cat? Why do you want to remove your cat's nails? Is it an indoor cat, and outdoor cat, or both?

Answer 6

The new laser surgery is just as dangerous as any other declaw method. I had to have my cat declawed when the apartment I was living in discovered that she was scratching on the carpet. I was told by my vet that the laser declaw was painless and the cat would recover quickly. My poor kitty almost died during the procedure from blood loss (there was not supposed to be any blood loss when doing laser surgery). It was a week before I could bring her home, and months before she was truly herself again. I would never declaw a cat again! It is never a good idea to put any animal through a surgery that is unnecessary!

Answer 7

is this medically nessesary ???? Declawing an "older" cat isn't a good idea. The best time (although i dont believe in having it done) to do it, is when the 'cat', is a kitten. I've heard (and seen) some awful things with the laser removal...scaring, taking off to much of the toe, .. etc. Please do some deep research before you have this done !!

Answer 8

I know there are different points of view, but did you know that removing a cats claws involves amputation? Yes, they have to amputate the last joint of the claws. It would be like taking you in and chopping off the last little joint of your fingertips.

I do not believe it is ever a good idea to declaw a cat. No surgery like that can be humane. If it is less painful at the time, great, but the little stumps will still have to heal.

Is there anything else you can do? Best of luck to you.

Answer 9

Well i see some people believe w should not tailor our pets to our needs... What about when wet get them spayed or neutered?? Is that not changing them to FIT us.. Or getting their hair cut in different styles to suit us?? If getting my cat declawed, makes my cats` life happy because I'm not yelling at him or squirting water at him or getting upset at him for clawing at my furniture or my wood doors. And it makes my life happy for the same reasons. Why is that such a bad thing.. The catty goes through some discomfort for a coulee of days, to have a happier life of more freedom, why not?? Why i had him spayed, he went through 2 days at the Vet. And 4 says of discomfort at home. I thought that was torture. That was actually worse on him, than getting him declawed.. So I feel pet owners should do what they feel is right for the life style them and their pet lives... I believe it is inhumane to keep a dog in a cage all day long while its parents work 8 to 10 hours a day..

Answer 10

checking with your vet will get you the best answer,

but in my opinion they should be a year or under, they're likely to heal/adjust quicker and there's not as much weight on thier paws at that time.
I did the laser, and it seemed to heal quicker/less painful than the tradtional surgery