Since declawing is not an option, what do I do?

Question

I have 4 cats. 3 females and 1 male. My male cat I rescued, well all of my cats have been rescued but my male cat was declawed when I got him and he holds his left paw up sometimes and can't use it due to that I suppose. That is why I don't want to declaw my other cats because I don't want them in any pain during or afterwards..plus I know what the declawing process entails.
Anyway, my dilemma is, our back porch, the cats have scratched a good amount of paint off of the wall. It's about 3 feet wide and 2 feet tall, of this huge chunk of paint gone. The chunk missing is about half an inch deep. It's terrible! I'm really wanting to paint the inside of my house, including the back porch but am afraid that they'll continue to scratch the paint off and I'll have a big ugly chunk missing out of the wall again.

Are there any alternatives to declawing? I have heard something about plastic things that go on the nails, I have never seen them but are they easy to put on?Any other suggestions?

I do have scratching posts for them and they do not use them at all :(. We have cat toys, everything. They're really good dispositioned cats, they just claw at the wall.

These cats are strictly inside cats.

Answer 1

You can try trimming the cats' nails. I clip our cats' nails by pushing slightly on the pad of the foot to get the nails to come out and then using baby nail clippers to take off the hook part on the end of the nail. This still leaves them a claw that they can use if they need it for defense or balance, but without the sharp hook they do much less damage if they scratch something that they aren't supposed to. If you take it slow and let them get used to it then you shouldn't have any trouble. My cats don't particularly like it, but they tolerate it and it goes very quickly.

I have heard of the plastic things, but it just didn't seem like a very practical solution to me so I didn't look into it any further.

Answer 2

1.) Get them a scratching post or two. Scratching is a natural instinct of cats. Introduce the post in your house, and when ever you see them scratching at anything that is not the post, take them to it and show them how to use the post. Or you can put some fresh cat nip on it and if your cats are older them 6 months old, they will cling to it.

2.) If your cats are indoor outdoor cats they will need their claws for self defense. If they remain in the house, then they have "Soft Paws" you can put on their nails. You can order them right off line. Depending on the cat, they can stay on for a few weeks to a few months. Good luck!

3.) Kitdragon ~ Unlike most mammals who walk on the soles of the paws or feet, cats are digitigrade, which means they walk on their toes. Their back, shoulder, paw and leg joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves are naturally designed to support and distribute the cat's weight across its toes as it walks, runs and climbs. A cat's claws are used for balance, for exercising, and for stretching the muscles in their legs, back, shoulders, and paws. They stretch these muscles by digging their claws into a surface and pulling back against their own clawhold - similar to isometric exercising for humans. This is the only way a cat can exercise, stretch and tone the muscles of its back and shoulders. The toes help the foot meet the ground at a precise angle to keep the leg, shoulder and back muscles and joints in proper alignment. Removal of the last digits of the toes drastically alters the conformation of their feet and causes the feet to meet the ground at an unnatural angle that can cause back pain similar to that in humans caused by wearing improper shoes.

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.

Answer 3

If you take your cats to the vet they can put the plastic caps on the tip of your cats claws and it's not expensive at all. I'm so glad to hear that you aren't going to declaw your cat. So, go get those cats some caps on their claws and then you can have your house back and painted with no worries. :)

Answer 4

Hi!
Firstly, I want t tell you how amazing you are for rescuing those cats! I myself have 2 rescued strays that are now mine. Okay, so here was my problem. My first cat, Jasmine, she used to scratch up all my furniture and nothing worked with her so I was forced to declaw her. I had her declawed by laser to make the surgery easier for her and she did extremely well will recovery. She was jumping around the day after her surgery and never had any problems. Declawing isn't my first choice but the laser was pretty good. It was pricey though. So, I just adopted Bella, an older stray who came up to me at my house. She was also clawing on everything. There are these vinyl caps for cats paws that you can buy off of ebay, they're called SOFT CLAWS. They're vinyl caps that go on your cats claw, and are held on with superglue. I have them on Bella and she has scratched nothing. They were pretty easy to put on Bella, because she's lazy and easy going. But, if your cat is frisky and doesn't like having his/her paws touched, it might be a task. I helped my brother put is soft claws on his cat and we wrapped his cat up in a towel and my sister-in-law held his chin so he couldn't bite. The good thing is that once they're on, they last for about 2 months. If your cats are easy going, go for it! They're called Soft Claws, search them on ebay! Plus, they come in cute colors! I have red and green on Bella for Christmas. LOL

Answer 5

If they're inside cats you can get them declawed because they won't need to be able to climb trees to hide from predaters. They do have little plastic claw things you can put on a cat to stop it from clawing. They work good and as for applying them there will be instructions on the box. The cats won't like them though. My cat was always chewing at them but they never came off.

Answer 6

You can go to drfostersmith.com and order some they are called soft claws nail caps and are $19.99 for 40 nail caps. You didn't specify if the cats are inside or outside if they are outside you should not put these caps on you cats it will take away there ability to defend themselves. Also have you thought of giving them a scratching post it might stop them from scratching your walls. I hope this helps.

Answer 7

Carpet the wall they like to scratch. Make that area a cat area. Carpeted wall,ramps and stairs and tree limbs and lots of hanging and floor toys. The cat room. My neighbor has a cat room and her cats love it. Bright colors and 1 8x12 foot wall is carpeted. The entire room is filled with 2x6s ramps going up and down and a big shelf in the window for neighbor snooping and cat naps.

Answer 8

1st declawing a cat isNot bad, all of my cats have been declawed, and not a one has Any pain... they dont even know that there claws are gone.. they go through the motion of sharpening claws and everything...

2nd. do you have scratching posts for them? if not try that.

3rd. yes there are plastic things that go around there nails, but we dont rreally recomend them.. there is 2sided sticky tape.. that we recomend some people to use, put it on the wall or whatever there scratching and whenever they go to scrath there paws stick and the sto after a few times like Wth?

im sorry but why does everything think declwing and debarking are bad? its not... and what will you do if they dont stop scratching? think about that... declawing only has them in "Pain" for a few days.. as long as its done by a Good vet, they dont ever feel pain again.. and like i said they dont even know theres no claws.

If you have questions youc an email me at [e-mail]

Answer 9

Many people, as I did, imagine that declawing is simply a matter of plucking out the nails. But it's more severe than mere nail removal.

When cats are surgically declawed, the veterinarian is actually amputating their toes. That's equivalent to removing the last bone in our human finger along with the nail. why would you people even do that?

Answer 10

Cats have scent glands in their paws, so when they begin to scratch somewhere, the smell attracts them to use the same place each time. The link below has lots of advice on how to stop cats scratching furniture and walls.

http://www.celiahaddon.co.uk/pet%20problems/cats/frameset.html

Be patient, it can take several weeks to break the habit of scratching a certain item.

Hope this helps.