To Declaw a Cat?

Question

I recently made an appointment to get my cat declawed. My cat is my baby and I love her to death. I decided to get her declawed because she has a nasty little habbit of clawing couches, carpet, chairs, you name it. I'm buring new couches to replace the old ones and I want them to last. She's torn the carpet off he floor in some places and ever clawed holes in a leather couch. I am feeling really bad about doing it now, her appointment is in two weeks. Is there a possibility that she could be either depressed or angry about it for a long time? I know my cat is not a person, I just don't want this to effect the rest of our owner-pet relationship.

My cat really just likes to claw, I have tried tape, foil, pepper, spray and anything else you can name. She has a scratching post and she gets plenty of exercise, I am at the end of my rope.

Answer 1

Wow, you're going to get a lot of responses to this questions as a lot of people are against declawing and i too am among them. However, that is not your question and I think you are asking if your cat knows this is coming and is upset? I may be wrong...
however I do want to mention that there are a lot of alternatives to declawing. There is placing double sided tape on the couches and areas that she claws. Trimming her nails regularly. There is a product called "Soft Paws" that are plastic tips that you glue to your cats nails that stop her from scratching and there is also a SSScat Can that will make a noise and spray some air at her whenever she comes near the area that she likes to scratch (it has a motion sensor on it). I have also added a link that several other suggestions to stop your cat from scratching...so check that out as well please.
If you tried all of this and nothing has worked , then you may not have a choice but to declaw. I do also want to mention that many (not all) cats that have been declawed tend to use their teeth a little more after they have been declawed.
Good luck!

Answer 2

I am not against declawing, but of course the answer to your question is yes. Yes, she could be affected for a long time. If she's a prolific clawer it may even be probable. It's also possible she'll have a bad reaction to the anesthesia and not make it through surgery. Anything is possible.

I wrote a long answer on this issue for someone else, and suggest you look at that answer by clicking on my id rather than go over all that again. From the tone of your question, I'd be more concerned that you're going to get depressed than the cat. The cat will eventually adapt. You, meanwhile, are cursed with more sentient ability than the cat. Don't throw yourself into a mental tailspin over this. If you decide not to declaw, this sounds like a cat that will destroy whatever furniture you ever buy. Have you tried other options to declawing? By options, I mean: clipping the claws yourself, softpaw tips, scratching posts, repellant on the furniture, etc. If so, and the cat is simply a clawer, then your options are: buy nothing but nubby furniture that you can't tell is scratched for the next 15-20 years, live with cruddy scratched up furniture, or declaw the cat, or find it a new home, or send it outdoors. I knew somebody that did the nubby furniture thing once. It works in a modern style home. Everything was either nonupholstered or nubby. Personally, I like more traditional upholstery, so that wouldn't work for me. In your case, sounds like you would have to go with hardwood flooring in addition to alternative upholstery. Keep in mind, even declawed cats will scratch leather furniture. I'm sitting in a recliner that I've had to use a repair kit on even though the cats are declawed. Smooth leather shows scratches; we had a "pebbled" leather set once that was nearly cat-proof, although a front clawed cat would probably still destroy it.

Answer 3

Personally I'm against declawing. When I adopted my two cats I made peace with the fact my furniture could possibly be destroyed and to kiss any deposits made for apartments good-bye. Cats scratch, some more than others. I think it's a bit silly to adopt a cat and not expected that they are going to be a bit destructive.

If you must declaw... make sure you find the best darn vet there is. Get references from other people who have had their cats declawed. An improperly done declaw can cause your kitty a life time of pain and suffering. Do not be cheap when it comes to a declaw!!! Again it will make your cat's life miserable.

There's no way to predict how your cat will respond to the declaw. Maybe she won't even notice, maybe she might become a biter. Who knows. At the shelter I worked at I've known declawed that cats that were big ole sweeties, and ones that would try to bite everyone and were in general not very happy. There's no way to predict how your kitty will respond, every cat is different.

Answer 4

I had a similar problem with my eldest cat but we adopted her from the Humane Society and she had been very abused prior. Due to this, she was a very hostile cat and clawed like mad. My husband ended up with a few sets of stitches from her. She has a scratching post that went to the ceiling and still, she clawed everything else. We tried the Soft Paws to no avail, she simply took them off. Yes I put them on right, even tried using a soft scour to the nail prior to adding the glue. She still took them off. When I got pregnant, we decided to have her declawed for all the reasons mentioned plus so I wouldn't get anything from her clawing me that could hurt my baby. So I can tell you my personal experience:

We opted for laser declaw and when we got her the next day, the vet even said he understood why we chose to declaw once he had to deal with her. lol She acted a bit tired the first day home but other than that, she was fine. Within a week, she was coming around us and actually wanting to be petted and loved on. Today she is a very lovey lap cat that everyone pet her and even became fast friends with our new puppy. So while "some" cats MAY have an attitude afterwards (never in my experience of 3 declawed cats), it's not every cat. Just love on her and let her know you're still loving her and going to keep her. Assure her and I'm sure she'll be fine. Just be sure to use newspaper shredding or special litter for 14 days after the declaw. (Just an FYI, I had my other cats declawed because when they would fight, they were tearing each other up big time. no adverse reaction in any of my cats. We lost one to cancer but we still have 2 and both are very lovey cats!!) Some will disgaree with me but this is my experienece so I don't care. lol

Answer 5

There is a new laser procedure for declawing that is not as intrusive as the old butcher job they used to have to do. It is still a painful procedure and you have to be REALLy careful about infection afterwards.

Apart from that, consider how a cat walks. They walk on their tip toes. They use their nails as part of their balancing mechanism. No, your cat won't be falling down after declawing, but it will be forced into a flatfooted position, which, is like a human having fallen arches. It isn't just the immediate pain of the surgery, it is the long term effects that I don't like.

Still, if it is going to be a question of getting rid of the cat or declawing the cat, I would go with the declawing. There are too many other homeless cats out there.

Answer 6

If you love your cat please do not declaw it. At least find out how it's done first. The claw is attached to the bone in their toe so the entire toe bone up to the joint is removed. Then it's superglued shut. After being declawed, your cat still has to walk around on it's feet that now have been partially amputated. If you keep her nails cut short, buy her a scratching post, take her over to that when she scratches furniture, and put deterrent spray or 2 sided tape with pepper (cats don't like either of these) you should be able to stop the destruction. Also make sure you're paying enough attention to your cat and that it is getting enough exercise. Please try this before declawing your cat.

Answer 7

My cats are declawed. I have guilty feelings about it too, but they're really only sore for a few days, and then they act fine. They continue to act like they're clawing things, just no claws.

You can try soft paws claw covers if you really have reservations about it. I did this for a year, and decided that it would be less traumatic in the end to just have them declawed. My cats hated being restrained and having the covers put on them. They would also sometimes get caught in the carpet. You can buy them at dr fosters and smith website.

Answer 8

If your cat is your baby you wouldnt be declawing her.

Please look at these facts of declawing I will give you and also a real alturnative that I use on my cats and it works.

First of all the alturnative is soft paws. They are a nail cap you can put on your cats claws. They might rip the first set off right away, but put another set on and eventually they will leave them alone.

I can outfit my cats with these covers for 10 years for the same price as declawing.

Now for the real delaw deal facts:

It is very painfull for your cat, infact vets say they rate it as "severe pain" and rate spaying as "moderate pain"

You may not realize that the pain and other complications from the surgery can cause behavioral problems that are even worse than the problems for which the cat's toes were amputated. Your cat will resort to biting as a form of protection. Your cat may even stop using its littler box because scratching the little can become too painfull.

Complications of this amputation can be excruciating pain, damage to the radial nerve, hemorrhage, bone chips that prevent healing, painful regrowth of deformed claw inside of the paw which is not visible to the eye, and chronic back and joint pain as shoulder, leg and back muscles weaken.

Other complications include postoperative hemorrhage, either immediate or following bandage removal is a fairly frequent occurrence, paw ischemia, lameness due to wound infection or footpad laceration, exposure necrosis of the second phalanx, and abscess associated with retention of portions of the third phalanx. Abscess due to regrowth must be treated by surgical removal of the remnant of the third phalanx and wound debridement. During amputation of the distal phalanx, the bone may shatter and cause what is called a sequestrum, which serves as a focus for infection, causing continuous drainage from the toe. This necessitates a second anesthesia and surgery. Abnormal growth of severed nerve ends can also occur, causing long-term, painful sensations in the toes. Infection will occasionally occur when all precautions have been taken sometimes resulting in leg amputation.

Nearly 1/3 of cats that go through this procedure develope complications.

Declawing is considered inhuman and illegal in 25 countries across the world.

As for rescue adoption for declawed cats.... A bigger percentage of delcawed cats get "put down" becuase of behaviour problem associated with removal of the claws. These cats dont stand a fighting chance of a new home.

Please I beg you to cancell your operation for your cat and do some more research. If you can live in harmony with your cat, perhaps you should give it up for adoption.

I am sure you would not like your fingers cut at your first nuckle.

Best of luck to you.

Answer 9

Cats use scratching as a way to mark their territory. Once they're in the habit of scratching on the couch, they're going to keep doing it. Declawing is not a big deal. When I had my latest cat declawed and fixed at the same time, he showed no effect either way. He played and ran around and attacked the bigger cats in the exact same way. I've never seen a declawed cat that was in pain or affected in some way by being declawed.

One thing to remember, though, if you have your cat declawed; you can never let it outside.

Answer 10

When I was little we had a cat and my parents decided to declaw it for the same reasons you are considering it...also because my sister and I were young and they probably didn't want our cat scratching us. Our cat seemed fine...sometimes a little bummed out, and not as playful. Overall I think he had a great life, and lots of love! Unfortunately he was unable to defend himself when he snuck out of the house to go on his escapades! I also feel really bad looking back...it must of been so painful for him. It's like cutting off your fingers from the nuckles! OUCH!

Now that I am older and have a kitten of my own, I have decided NOT to declaw. It is mostly due to the research I have done. There are also other options out there. Have you ever tried Soft Paws (or Soft Claws)? They are covers that you put over your cats nails. My sisters cats have them and it seems to work great. A good old water bottle and weekly clippings seems to do the trick for me.