how old do cats have to be to be declawed and why do they play with the poop in their litter box?

Answer 1

kittens should be 3 months old before they're declawed, and if youre going to get them fixed, its best to do it when they're getting declawed because that way you only have to put them under once.

i have no clue why they play with their poop! mine will sometimes do that to, but my older cat doesn't at all. its probably just a kitten thing. they'll grow out of it. make sure you have lots of toys on hand and that might help break them of that disguesting habit.

Answer 2

It is NEVER a good time to have a cat declawed!! It's the equivalent of ripping off the ends of your fingertips and leaving you to type, work and live with mangled stumps. It's inhumane and it can also cause major problems with refusing to use the litter box (it hurts to dig once they've been declawed and so they don't want to use the box because now it hurts) and aggression with other cats (biting, mostly). Instead of declawing contact a local cat rescue group (I'll help you find one if you contact me offline: [e-mail]) and learn how to clip your cat's claws. It takes about two minutes once a month and is very easy to do. It may save your cat, too - the vast majority of domestic cats turned in for "behavioral problems" to the pound are declawed. That should tell you something right there.

Answer 3

Declawing is usually done at the time of neutering, at six months. However, I do not recommend it; many cats are declawed without incident, but others turn into biters after you remove their main weapons, refuse to use the litter box because they associate it with pain in their paws, or suffer complications from the surgery. Your cat might come through OK, but why take the chance? It's potentially harmful to the cat, and an unnecessary expense to you.

A cat can be trained not to scratch furniture or peoples' hands; they learn well enough when it is clear to them that furniture isn't fun to scratch. There are a lot of aversives out there for you to use--bad-smelling (to the cat) sprays, double sided sticky tape, et cetera. Of course you have to buy the cat a nice tall scratching post, or an old rug or cardboard scratch pad if he likes scratching horizontally; and you have to make sure that while he's a kitten, you take him to the scratching post whenever he tries to scratch something else. People's hands are easy enough--just don't let him play with hands while he's a kitten, and he won't think of it when he grows up.

Playing with the poop in the litter box... Most cats don't do that. Cats do have an instinct to bury their waste, but it's business, not play.

I'm assuming you have a kitten, though; and kittens will play with anything. They have no idea some things aren't meant to be played with. Redirect its attention with an appropriate toy when you catch it doing this.

Some cats are enthusiastic scratchers when it comes to covering up their business; one little trickle of pee and they're scratching for fifteen minutes--seems like just for the fun of it. If your cat does that, you might have to invest in a high-sided or covered box (or just use a plastic storage box) to keep litter from going everywhere.

Answer 4

Generally, vets don't recommend getting your pets declawed anymore. And if you don't want them playing with their poop, be sure to clean out the litter box.

Answer 5

cats should never be declawed its painful they will always feel pain when they stretch. i use to work for a vet that wouldnt even declaw cats. he told me its cruel and painful he said no amount of money could make me put an animal through that much pain. he was the nicest guy too. people would bring in the animals to be put to sleep and he told me at times there was no reason for it . he would call his wife at times and say we have a new addition lol i just filed and made appointments and stuff like that but it was a fun job!

Answer 6

Declawing is cruel. You can clip their claws very easily.
They bury their poop. If you get your cat declawed it will have a great difficulty in doing this. It will also get infections from the litter tray.

Answer 7

They have to be at least 10-12 weeks old and a minimum of 4 lbs to be declawed and spayed/neutered. It is a good idea to do both of these at the same time to save both money and stress on the kitten.

Answer 8

8 to 12 weeks is a good time to have a cat declawed...
It is a cats nature to bury their poop because before they became domesticated they had to do this so other animals couldn't smell them...

Answer 9

declawing is cutting off part of your cats toe so I think that you shouldn't at all

Answer 10

6 months, they want you to clean the poop out and thats how they are telling you, by playing with it.