If you have cats, please come in.

First - I am not looking for a debate.

We recently got two kittens (brother and sister), and we are waiting til they are old enough to have fixed. DH and I are trying to decide if we should have them declawed. I already see them ripping up the carpeting on my staircase. I do have scratching posts but apparently they don't use them.

I'm just wondering if people still do this.

Thanks.

Re: If you have cats, please come in.

I think it will be illegal soon, if it isn't already.
Either way, it's very hard to find a vet that still does it.
I have 2 cats and there are things you can do.
You have to get them used to their posts- try using cat nip on it, try different types of posts, my cats like the sisal boxes that just lie on the floor and they scratch that.
I also began trimming their nails at a young age- so they got used to it- I do it all the time now and they are fine with it- keeping them shorter reduces the damage
I have plastic shields for the sides of my couches- they are clear and attach to the couch without damage.

They also sell nail caps called soft claws- I haven't used them but you can google them to see what they look like- they are supposed to be good too.

The cats are young now- they will slow down with the wild behavior as they get older as well

I wouldn't declaw a cat- it's very very painful and can lead to major behavioral issues like not using the liter box (because it hurts too much to dig in it) and aggression.

Message edited 2/13/2017 2:55:49 PM.

If you have cats, please come in.

I have two cats and I would never dream of declawing them. It's like cutting off your fingertips to the knuckle (what I heard).

As kittens they wil scratch, but give them a scratching post and plenty of toys. Deter bad behavior from furniture, etc. they'll grow up of this behavior.

If you have cats, please come in.

I had 2 cats when I was younger that I had declawed. They were in so much pain I didn't do it with the three I have now.

It's extremely painful.

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Don't do it. It will result in further behaviors problems.

I have three cats and they all have claws. I provide scratching posts and they use them. They have scratched some things (couch and dining chairs), but it isn't bad and they know it's wrong. It's the price you pay to have cats.

If you have cats, please come in.

Kittens scratch. It's part of the deal when people want a cute kitten. It's like wanting a baby but not liking when it cries.

The scratching goes away most of the time as they age. They can use a scratching post.

And declawing is now considered archaic.

Message edited 2/13/2017 3:13:53 PM.

If you have cats, please come in.

I wish it weren't such an awful ordeal. We got a cat last year (she was 2 when we got her - so past the kitten phase), and she still claws stuff. It drives me insane! We have the plastic caps (which she chewed off), we spray her with the water bottle, we clip her nails all the time, and we have tons of scratching posts with cat nip. And yet still still wants to go for the new couches and chair. We tried putting the 2 sided tape on the couch, but it didn't stop her from just finding another spot (and eventually the tape just came off on us as we walked by). So now we have ugly covers that we use to cover the couches. She still claws at it but it's shredding the cover and not the actual couches.

If you have cats, please come in.

I would never do it. Everyone has already listed all the reasons not to above.

Re: If you have cats, please come in.

I won't comment on the declawing but I will say that our cat never cared at all about those carpeted scratching posts (despite how much she loved to get her claws into the sofa and the rug) but she went nuts on the corrugated cardboard ones. We had a bunch of them and it really helped,

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Try something like this- it comes with catnip to attract them to it.
Once they get their scent into it, they will want to scratch there.

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I would definitely not get them declawed. You can learn how to trim their nails yourself. Also, there are a lot of different types of cat scratchers. You'll have to buy a couple to figure which they like best. (My cats loved the Scratch Lounge.)

When you see them scratching something you don't want, you should pick them up and put them on their scratcher.

If you have cats, please come in.

No, no compassionate people do it anyway. I don't mean to sound harsh, but a lot of vets refuse to do it nowadays, it's really borderline animal cruelty. Please read up on it before you consider it or consider finding a different kind of pet. Cats scratch naturally. A scratch pad and certain sprays may deter them from scratching furniture but nothing is guaranteed.

If you have cats, please come in.

You can't want recommendations for disfiguring a living animal and then say no debate. Please, just get a bird or fish in that case. I have nothing to add to what everyone else said. Vets liken it to amputating a human finger to the first knuckle.Do you understand yet?

Re: If you have cats, please come in.

I think what people don't realize is that when you want a pet it comes with a lot of sacrifice and give and take.
Your house will be messy.
There will be hair everywhere.
The pet will piss and shit where it shouldn't at times.
My cats tend to eat too fast and vomit a lot- I have stains on my rugs. (I found a great rug cleaner for that, thankfully)
They scratch things sometimes.
They jump on the counter sometimes.
They walk where they shouldn't after walking in their liter box.
If you want to live in an immaculate house at all times, then you can't have a pet. Because no matter what, something will happen.
You can declaw the cat, so great, no scratched furniture- but the cat will still have an accident outside the box if it's sick, or something sets it off
It still might puke on your couch
It still might shit on your bed to spite you for going on vacation.
Pets aren't 100% convenient. They aren't on this earth for our pleasure only. If you want an animal to live in your home, ,you have to be aware of that.
That's why some people don't have pets.

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Re: If you have cats, please come in.

My DD literally JUST read an assignment in her reading account online 5 minutes ago about declawing cats, and how inhumane it is, and that NJ is passing a law against it. She was telling me that she couldn't believe people do that. Put packing tape on your furniture, or spray them with a water mister when they scratch it.

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I know how you feel. We have two cats as well. We have scratching posts everywhere in the house. Every time the cats scratch a "new" area, I get a new scratching post to distract them. Nothing has worked. Only one of the two cats scratches at things other than the posts - and she has completely destroyed one area of carpeting in the house.

It's the price of cats. I used to randomly think about declawing, but once I actually read up on it, and discovered what the true nature of the procedure is, I never considered it again.

If you have cats, please come in.

Just as everyone listed above, declawing cats is completely inhumane and hardly a vet will do it now a days. We had a cat who, no matter what we did, completely distorted the carpet near our stairs. We learned to be more diligent with our next two cats and provide scratching posts, cardboards and lots of toys to keep busy. Even though they don't scratch so much now, one still uses the doorways and when they jump on the couches, they leave scratch marks. We knew they would and bought inexpensive furniture because of it.

Cats scratch. Try and provide items and toys to use and discourage them from clawing where you do not want them to.

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I would recommend teaching the kittens to scratch on the post.

My husband did that with our cat when she was a kitten, I thought he was crazy. LOL! But I must say, our cat never scratches furniture, she only scratches her posts. And she's indoor, so it's not like she gets to scratch outside.

It worked for us, it might be worth a shot. He would scratch it and our cat would try to play with his hands and eventually she figured it out.

We also have a scratching post on all levels of our home. (We have a split, so there are 3 levels of living space.)

Good luck!

If you have cats, please come in.

i have a cat, and when I adopted her I had to sign something that said I would never declaw her because of how inhumane it is. I do not think people do that anymore, unless it is truly necessary.

When my cat was a kitten, she barely used her scratching post too, but eventually she did.

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We recently adopted a very old, sick cat who had been declawed probably 10+ years ago. He compensates by using his teeth instead of his claws so he might not be clawing up the furniture but he'll take a chunk out of your hand!

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very painful for the cat for the rest of their life. Plus, if you cat gets out they are unable to defend themselves. Claws are their weapons

If you have cats, please come in.

I have had cats all my life and they always had their front claws removed when they were fixed. None of them had any complications. Now that i am married we have two cats since they were kittens and clip their claws every two weeks since they were small. They are used to it and don't fight us. But whatever you decide is your choice and whether or not your Vet does that.

Message edited 2/13/2017 9:22:57 PM.

If you have cats, please come in.

My parents had our cat declawed about 15 years ago, and she was in such horrible pain afterward. My mother felt terrible. I don't think I could do it after watching what my cat went through (not the cat in my avatar, btw).

If you have cats, please come in.

I've had a large number of cats over the years (even fostered some) and we do not get them declawed.