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The sheaths do not work...
We have a kitten we rescued and are also contemplating declawing her. She has already scratched our older daughters face so close to her eye ( she was playing with her and the kitty jumped up)...She scratches on our furniture and has put a hole Iin my daughter's duvet cover on her bed.
You can clip the sharp points off the kitties claws as we do. It only needs to be done about every 2 to 3 weeks. And when they have scratching posts and cat-furniture, they don't destroy home furnishings. Do you have a cat-tree and scratching posts for her?
Quote:
We know that declawing is not a great choice, but she will remain an indoor cat and we feel that although yes, she is a kitty, she is very rough around the kids and our things are getting ruined.
Your cat may need a scratching post and cat tree from the store. Are the kids "rough" around her? Sometimes the children pay a little rough with a kitten or cat and the animal tries to defend itself. If you mutilate her by removing her claws/fingertips she may turn to biting to avoid rough play.
Location: Central Bay Area, CA as of Jan 2010...but still a proud Texan from Houston!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NYMD67
FYI.... The rescue we got her from suggested them.....
Pour kitty is very loved and very well taken care of... She is just a bit curious and a little rough. The kids are not rough with her...
Sorry to hear that a rescue shelter suggests destroying a cats normal physical trait.
FYI Cats want their claws, cats want their freedom, cats want to be outside and away from kids most of the time.
How would you feel if someone yanked out your finger nails...imagine how that would feel especially if that was one of your main protection, hunting and climbing features? Imagine what it would be like to lose the ability to even give yourself a good scratching when you itch? It is not normal to rip a cats claws from them...nothing at all normal about that.
instead of the scratching post go to the pet store where they sell these cardboard scratching items - they come in all sizes and shapes - its the only thing that keeps my cats from scratching the furniture - the other thing is they sell little plastic covers for their nails - they come in all colors - your vet maybe able to put them on if you have no luck - my last suggestion in trying to keep them is to buy high baby gates to keep them out of the room with the leather furniture - declawing is inhumane as it is chopping off part of the cats toe to the first knuckle so the last suggestion is to find a no kill rescue that will take them in - there is a site that lists all rescues by states www.petfinder.com - i wish you luck
Location: Central Bay Area, CA as of Jan 2010...but still a proud Texan from Houston!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nancy thereader
Not one of my clawed cats has ever scratched a person, sofas and rugs, yes. But, never a person.
My cat of 25 years never did either! He was so very beautiful and special...but he loved to terrorize all the critters outside! That's what cats do naturally. My cat really never wanted to even sit on the furniture as he mostly wanted to be outside lazing in the sun. Here he was at about 22 years old...sitting outside on the patio...he was beginning to go deaf and blind.
I've said this before, and I'm sure I'll say it again...love isn't enough. Just about everyone who owns a pet loves their pet. Love is secondary, and more often than not love gets in the way and makes people do the easy thing instead of the right thing. Love isn't special...it's ordinary, and something a toddler does quite well when they squeeze a kitty until they can't breathe.
I love JJ. I love him so much I can't look at him without smiling, and the thought of living without him makes me feel sick inside. But I'm also responsible for him, and that is so much bigger and more important than love. If my choice was to cause him harm or give him up, I would either move heaven and earth to find a third option or say my goodbyes.
I worked at a vet clinic that only did declaws with a laser. It IS less painful and it DOES heal faster. We also used heavy pain control, including a pain patch, and the cats were usually on their own feet that night. If nothing anyone says convinces you, please look for a clinic that uses pain control, and not just a single shot the day of the surgery. Declawing is so painful that new pain control medications are often tested on cats recovering from the procedure.
But it doesn't matter how much or how little it hurts. It doesn't matter if you keep them indoors for the rest of their life. It's still putting your wants over their needs, and that's a failure of responsibility.
But it doesn't matter how much or how little it hurts. It doesn't matter if you keep them indoors for the rest of their life. It's still putting your wants over their needs, and that's a failure of responsibility.
Location: Central Bay Area, CA as of Jan 2010...but still a proud Texan from Houston!
7,484 posts, read 10,397,494 times
Reputation: 8955
Quote:
Originally Posted by ParallelJJCat
But it doesn't matter how much or how little it hurts. It doesn't matter if you keep them indoors for the rest of their life. It's still putting your wants over their needs, and that's a failure of responsibility.
Declawing a cat period...is putting your wants above the cats innate rights!
The sheaths do not work...
We have a kitten we rescued and are also contemplating declawing her. She has already scratched our older daughters face so close to her eye ( she was playing with her and the kitty jumped up)...
She scratches on our furniture and has put a hole Iin my daughter's duvet cover on her bed.
We know that declawing is not a great choice, but she will remain an indoor cat and we feel that although yes, she is a kitty, she is very rough around the kids and our things are getting ruined.
Perhaps you aren't aware of what declawing is. It is not "removal of the claws" It is amputation of bone, tendons, ligaments and nerves. Regardless of the method, it is amputation and most cats feel pain all their lives.
Don't let people who do this and defend it tell you different. Cats HIDE pain. It's in their nature. So who really knows how much their little toes hurt every time they walk and every time they scratch in the hard stuff in their litter boxes.
Not only that, cats walk on their toes. After the amputations, their gait is completely changed. They no longer walk right. They probably suffer from back pain very early on from this, and suffer it all their lives. Cats hide pain until it becomes so severe they can't hide it any more. A cat can seemingly do all normal activities and people will insist there is no pain, but cats hide pain. Imagine subjecting this innocent baby to a life time of pain.
Cats use their claws to stretch their back and leg and hip muscles properly. Without the claws they can't do it right. so again...back always in pain because they can't stretch properly.
Trim the claws weekly and teach the children how to play with the kitten and teach the kitten to not scratch.
A kitten who scratches usually has been taken from her mother and litter mates too soon so did not get the proper socialization skills a kitten learns from mama ad litter mates.
When she scratches during play tell her no and stop the play. Ignore her for a few minutes. Do this every time she scratches, she soon will learn to sheathe her claws. And tell the kids to keep their faces away from the kitten.
Please read this link on what declawing etails. There is also, in these web pages a list of 26 countries where declawing has been outlawed because it is considered cruel and inhumane.
Places like England, Brazil, Bosnia and many others.
And 8 cities so far in the USA:
West Hollywood, CA
Santa Monica, CA
Beverly Hills, CA
Berkeley, CA
Burbank, CA
Culver City, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
Please, please, don't do this to the little baby. Teach her instead. You will also be teaching your children much about love and the humane treatment of animals.
Give her her own furniture and teach her to use it. Teach your children how to teach her, also. Please, don't mutilate the kitten, don't teach your children it is okay to mutilate a kitten.
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