Should i declaw my cat?

Question

i mean will it hurt him.
he's neutered and almost a year old. he's the only one that has this problem of scratching everywhere... furniture, me, the walls, and everything else he can reach.
or what other alternatives are there? oh and he's and inside cat and always will be... that is if he can stop scratching everything

AHH thank you all. i love my babies and would never have anything that painful done to them. thank you all for the help.i hate myself for considering declawing. especially that one with the graphic pictures. i wont vote for an answer. thats your job because they are all so good. thanks again to all of you!

Answer 1

Make sure you have plenty of places he's allowed to scratch. Talk to your vet or a groomer about products to keep him away from places you don't want him to scratch.

And *please* look at this before deciding: http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawpics.html I don't think "it will hurt" can even begin to cover it.

Answer 2

I would recommend you find another solution for the scratching problem. De-clawing a cat is very painful and tramatizing for the animal, and many cat breeders are very intent on getting the word out that de-clawing is a horrible thing.

De-clawing is the equivalent of a human getting their finger cut off at the joint just below the fingernail. I have also heard of a de-claw where they cut the tendons that disable the claw but not remove it. This can also bring problems.

Also, a cat who has been declawed can develop several behavioral problems. A de-clawed cat is more likely to bite when it has been de-clawed. A cat's first defense is its claws. When these are taken away, the cat must resort to its teeth for protection. This cat be more dangerous than getting scratched because of the various bacteria living in a cats mouth. A cat is also more likely to stop using the litterbox, leaving you to clean up the messes it leaves around the house. Some de-clawed cats can even develop aggression issues.

So in short, yes de-clawing can hurt him, and there are other ways to control the scratching. A scratching post works wonders if you can train the cat to use it. My cats (neither are de-clawed) prefer it to my couch. :) Also, there is a product called SoftPaws. They are small plastic slips that go over each individual claw, making it blunt. That way, the cat can still scratch at things, but it causes no damage. They are rather inexpensive and come in all sizes.

Answer 3

The only way to declaw a cat is to remove the tip of the finger from the first knuckle down. It is painful and their paws are usually sore for a week or two, even with a laser.

First try the following:
1. Keep his nails trimmed short. Obviously you don't want to cut his kwiks, but keep them short so that the nails are more dull.
2. Get him scratching posts and put them toward the center of rooms that are used more often, such as the living room. If you put them off to the side, he will be less inclined to use them.
3. If this does not help, you can purchase something called "Soft Claws" that are little plastic caps you can glue over his nails. They have to be re-applied about once a month.

I would rather you declaw him and he still have a loving home than, say, you get fed up with the scratching and kick him out in the street--but try these alternatives first and see how he does.

Answer 4

I rescue cats and have a few that were already declawed. Those cats tend to have issues that make them unadoptable. Call any shelter and you will find there are declawed cats available but alot are put to sleep because when the adopter finds out the issues they have they are returned.
So just be aware that if you get your cat declawed you may end up with one that bites (not nibbles) and/or will not use the litterbox.
Besides if you love your kitty you would NEVER want to put it through such unneccesary pain when there is plenty of HUMANE alternatives.
Get caps to glue on their claws, trim them often or the best alternative is to train them to use the scratching post. If done right they will not use anything else. Rub some catnip on it to make it irresistable and praise the kitty when it uses it as well as give it a treat.
Good luck!

Answer 5

Do not de claw your cat. If you have other cats its even worse. Its cruel painfull and disfiguring. It is the equivelent to cutting a humans fingers off at the 1st knuckle. Cats will have behavior problems also...DO NOT DO IT!!!!!

The anatomy of the feline claw must be understood before one can appreciate the severity of declawing. The cat's claw is not a nail as is a human fingernail, it is part of the last bone (distal phalanx) in the cat's toe. The cat’s claw arises from the unguicular crest and unguicular process in the distal phalanx of the paw (see above diagram). Most of the germinal cells that produce the claw are situated in the dorsal aspect of the ungual crest. This region must be removed completely, or regrowth of a vestigial claw and abcessation results. The only way to be sure all of the germinal cells are removed is to amputate the entire distal phalanx at the joint.
Contrary to most people's understanding, declawing consists of amputating not just the claws, but the whole phalanx (up to the joint), including bones, ligaments, and tendons! To remove the claw, the bone, nerve, joint capsule, collateral ligaments, and the extensor and flexor tendons must all be amputated. Thus declawing is not a “simple”, single surgery but 10 separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe. A graphic comparison in human terms would be the cutting off of a person's finger at the last joint of each finger



readhere
http://maxshouse.com/Truth%20About%20Declawing.htm

Answer 6

A few problems with declawing. I don't want to sound preachy, just give you the facts. I think it's great that you're looking at other options. Some people just jump right into declawing without a second thought with the argument that if that cat wants a home, he's gonna have to be declawed.

I sit on the side that if a person wants the love and companionship of a good cat, they're gonna have to put up with the claws.

* A declawed cat has no way to defend himself (not just outside, but inside against anything that he finds threatening). He'll know he doesn't have his most natural defense, and he'll be a biting cat instead of a scratching one. Biting cats hide under beds and are very anti-social. They're scared of people, people are scared of them.
* As someone else stated, declawing consists of removing the cats toe as far as the first knuckle. It makes it impossible for them to stretch certain muscles that required for balance and overall physical health. Sounds pretty cruel to me.
* All they'll have to dig with in the litter box are the nubs they will be left with. That will most definitely be painful in the beginning. If the cat is lucky, he'll get over his pain and have no problems. If he's like most declawed cats I've seen, he'll associate the litter box with pain, and won't use it. I've known too many people who ended up putting their cats down because of litter box issues that began after surgery.

Every time I hear of someone considering declawing their cat I just want to cry. I know it can be frusterating to have a cat ruining everything in sight but he's just doing what comes naturally to him.

Get him a good, tall scratching post. Taller than he is when standing on hind legs and with a good steady base in case he wants to scratch facing the floor. Treat that sucker with cat nip and make it look really appealing to him. Cut his nails every few weeks (very easy to do, you don't need to do the back, just the front) and look into Soft Claws, little things you can put on the tips of his nails until he's good about using the post.

I've heard you can spray lemon juice on things you don't want them to scratch and they won't touch it (your walls might be a good place to test that). I haven't had to test it though because my cats all use their post.

If your furniture is old, and you're in the market for new...go with Microfiber. We bought a Microfiber couch and chair last year and they have yet to bother with scratching it. We researched it heavily before commiting to it because our cats did destroy our last couch (which was about 30 years old so we didn't care anyway, lol). We were afraid their habit of using it to scratch on would override whatever caused the claim that they wouldn't. But...they don't like the feel of it, it's no fun to dig into and they haven't even thought twice about it.

Save a paw, don't declaw.

Answer 7

Claws are an integral part of a cat's life. It is not our right to take them away. Declawing involves amputating the last joint in a cat's digit. The claw grows out of the bone and in order to remove the claw, the bone has to be amputated.

Look at your own finger. Imagine amputating the tip at the last joint. That is how declawing is performed. They call it onchyectomy (removing the nail) but the correct term should be phalangectomy (amputating the phalanges or "fingertips").

IF YOU THINK DECLAWING DOESN'T HURT...THINK AGAIN!!

Cats in the wild are meant to hide their pain. Showing pain makes them vulnerable to predators. Declawing is a very painful procedure.





After surgery, these cats are in excruciating pain. As soon as they learn to manage the pain they hide it. Don't be fooled if someone tells you their cat didn't feel any pain after being declawed.

DECLAWING IS AMPUTATION.

And, since it's an amputation of a digit, it can have long term repercussions. Yet many people don't think of it like this because they don't really know the entirety of what declawing entails.

Let's help to educate - not amputate. Please help us get the word out about declawing. Our cats give us unconditional love. And they need us to protect them. Help the world realize that declawing is inhumane. It is not an option!

ALTERNATIVES TO DECLAWING

Behavioral modification - my personal favorite. If the cat stops clawing inappropriately then one has a cure. The drawback is that it requires some concentrated vigilance and action on the part of the owner. Initial attempts often fail and require persistance, inventiveness and willingness to try a number of different techniques. These techniques range from covering items in foil, using a squirt bottle, verbal admonishment and showing the legal scratching surface to show of anger (growling, hissing, but never smacking). Frequently cats stop doing things if they know they make you angry which requires some display of anger even if it is just hissing. Crude but sometimes effective and certainly cheap.

Soft Paws - This product consists of blunt plastic sheaths which are "Superglued" onto the nail. They need to be replaced as they fall off.

Nail Clipping - This is the lowest tech treatment of the problem. It does however require people to learn to do it themselves or bring cats to the veterinarian or groomer to have it done. It is not difficult if the cat is reasonable. Cats may however continue to claw and can still do some damage.

THE ETHICAL QUESTION:
Is it permissible to subordinate the welfare of one species to another? Is it permissible to impose one's will on a member of another species at all? Is it permissible to impose one's will on a member of another species "for his/her own good". If it is permissible to impose one's will on a member of another species "for his/her own good" how far is one entitled to go before violating this trust? Who is entitled to make the decison and on what authority?

Answer 8

Declawing will not only hurt him, it is inhumane. They don't just remove the claw, the equivalant of your fingernail, but also part of the toe. It is a very painful surgery.

Get him a scratching post and train him to use it. You can demonstrate and they will often get it right away. Everytime you seeing him scratching something inappropriate, take him to the post.

Trim his nails with clippers. Have a vet or groomer show you how. It is not difficult. I taught mine to tolerate it by giving him a treat for each claw clipped. If his claws are shorter, he'll be less inclined scratch, do it less often and cause less damage.

Answer 9

If that's what you want to do. It hurts, of course, like any other surgery. But they will sedate him and give you pain meds to feed him for a few days after he comes home. If you do laser surgery, it costs a little more but it's worth it because there are no stitches needed and it's a clean, cauterized cut. Less infection, irritation and clean up (no bandaids or blood). If you take just the front ones it won't be so drastic and he won't do all those destructive things. The alternative is "claw caps" that you paste on the claws (don't ask me how you get the darn things on) and I heard they were terrible (fell off, got litter stuck in them). Or you could pay a fee to get them trimmed weekly... My cats got their front claws done. They don't scratch me when playing, claw up the furniture and all that nasty stuff. They aren't bothered by it, it just took them a week or two to get used to the funny feeling. Especially the girl since she clawed EVERYTHING, that was her hobby, playing or not. And the boy finally learned to jump, he's so lazy he would just claw his way up everything.

my cats were 6 mos. the younger the better so don't procrastinate, he's still really young.

PS: no behavior problems, they're as happy as clams. Frisky, fun and regular cats.

Answer 10

There are alternitives, you should first get him a scratching post. Then he could still scratch. Next, show him what he is doing wrong by puishing him when you catch him.
Cutting off a cat's claws is like cutting off your nails for good.
Even your fingers, its just wrong. It is taking away a natural instinct, forever. It won't grow back. Once you see them try to scratch and fail, you will understand!

Answer 11

Don't! That's like asking someone to cut off your fingers. The next best thing would be to have the filed. As long as you keep up with it, it keeps their nails short and it doesn't hurt them at all. You can also get gloves, or a scratching post. If you can train the cat to pee in the litter box, you can train him to scratch a post.