views on declawing

Im kinda stuck between a rock and a hard spot.
Mikey goes in this weekend to get neuterd (hes two years old).
He really needs it done since he has been very terratorial with my boyfriend dan (ie peeing on his stuff) and also with with spraying in my room where my mom's old cat used to spend a lot of time (we moved in once she bought a new house).

I used to have two cats that he grew up with since he was a kitten but now its just him. While he is being de-man-a-tized I was considering getting him 2paw declawed.

Im not sure i wanna do it. I mean this cat is my world...the most important thing in my life next to family ( and dan...kinda lol). Do you think its an evil thing to do to him. it would be a good idea for us since he has clawed up a chair....a door way and every now and then i gotta yell for him doing on the recliner. The biggest thing to urge me is we are getting a new thousand dollar leather sofa and I dont want little holes in it form him.(when he relaxes he retracts and releases his claws). Dan suggested we never let him on the new couch...yeah right...we have nap time,cuddle time, icecream time,pizza time,spongebob time, americas funniest home video time all on the couch! hes my lap dog! lol..

what are your views?
anyone ever have behavior problems with there cats afterward?
I just dont want my Mikey to change on me.

How old is this cat? You may have issues even if you neuter him. Depending on the age, it may no longer be a hormonal issue but a learned behavior. As for the declawing, I'm torn. I do not like to declaw adult cats, because the weight/pressure put on their paws. It's just a very painful process, and they often pop stitches or become unglued. I have two cats, one that had it's front claws removed as a kitten (and let me tell you this cat is NOT defenseless) and one that drives me nuts and still has it's claws intact. He was an adult when he came to us (stray) and I just couldnt' bring myself to do it. He does claw up and ruin somethings, but I try and take precautions to minimize the damge he does. I just chalk it up to pet ownership and do the best I can. Having said that, I don't have a brand new couch to consider. :rolleyes: Anyway, there's my thoughts on it.

I am not a cat person so you probably wouldn't like my answer!!! :zerb: :halohorn:

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

How old is this cat? You may have issues even if you neuter him. Depending on the age, it may no longer be a hormonal issue but a learned behavior. As for the declawing, I'm torn. I do not like to declaw adult cats, because the weight/pressure put on their paws. It's just a very painful process, and they often pop stitches or become unglued. I have two cats, one that had it's front claws removed as a kitten (and let me tell you this cat is NOT defenseless) and one that drives me nuts and still has it's claws intact. He was an adult when he came to us (stray) and I just couldnt' bring myself to do it. He does claw up and ruin somethings, but I try and take precautions to minimize the damge he does. I just chalk it up to pet ownership and do the best I can. Having said that, I don't have a brand new couch to consider. :rolleyes: Anyway, there's my thoughts on it.

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thanks!
Hes two years old. I too am torn!! i dont wann hurt my baby!!!

You may have trouble with him even after the neutering, but hopefully it will lessen the occurences and possibly eliminate them. I think neutering is a definitely good decision.

The poor little guy isn't gonna be too happy after the first surgery, but I figure it's all better for him in the end. At least with regards to that. My thought with having my first cat declawed, was that she'd live a better life with me even if she went through some temporary pain. Declawing is pretty painful. He'll have his paws bandaged and depending on the vet he may or may not have stitches that will also have to be removed. Are you prepared to keep him immobile as much as possible. Maybe a small crate? You don't want him to have the run of the house, because he can hurt himself if he's jumping off furniture. Again the decision is going to have to be yours. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

I would NOT get him declawed. It would have been much better if he was neutered at 4 months old and declawed at the same time. Unneutered male cats/dogs are ANNOYING to say the least. He may get slightly better as the hormone levels drop, but he probably won't ever be the kind of cat he would have been if he had gotten neutered when he was supposed to.

Also, declawed cats know that they don't have claws and will instead start using their teeth. Not a good idea if you like your fingers.

We decided to not declaw our cats. We gave them scratching posts and trim their nails, but I guess it depends on the cat. I grew up with all declawed cats, but they bit more :)

Gee...our family encountered a similiar situation. We rescued our cat Yahya from the local humane society. He's getting nuetered next week. My husband wanted him declawed but I heard its such a terrible thing to do. Anyway after much research I found these from Petco

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.as...&familyID=9556&

They have them at petsmart too. I have not tried them since Yahya uses the scratching post and scrathing pad (love this thing) but I heard they're great.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.as...&familyID=5858&

They sell them at walmart too.

Good luck and if you want some more to read this is a site I was looking at

http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

I have had both declawed cats and cats that are not declawed.

Looking at it from my point of view, I do think cats need to be kept control of when it means the health of your furniture or other things the cat may decide to destroy. However, declawing also meant the cats did bite more, they were not defenseless at all, but thier biting became a bit more problematic. I have tried the caps that was suggested by Ivy, they are great, as long as you remember to check them often to catch them when they do come off. As long as you catch them and replace the caps, you wont have torn up furniture or anything.

And as others have already said, the marking your cat is doing may or may not stop at his age after being nuetered. Really, it is best to spay or nueter an animal as young as possible to avoid this type of situation and many others that can arise from your pet not being fixed.

declawing is a major surgery involving the amputation of bone. It is not a minor thing, and is painful especially during recovery time which can be weeks. He also will not be able to use normal litter, and will have to use shredded newspaper. Me personally I think it is too painful for me to inflict on my cats. Trimming the nails, the nail caps, and other things to claw on are a better bet.
The paws can become infected afterwards too despite all precautions.
JMO
Wolfy

I have two cats that are declawed and one that isnt (because she has never been a furniture scratcher). One was declawed the old way, you could tell she hurt for a week or two after the surgery, my other cat was declawed via Laser and he only acted like he was in pain for a couple of days. The laser method is more expensive but involves less bleeding and quicker healing. My cat's personally have not became biters after their de-clawing. Good luck to you and the cat on your choice.

Well I made the appointment to get him fixed, he'll be going in next friday.

She asked if i wanted him declawed and i said "i'll let you know".
Im going to try the nail caps as many of you suggested first. The funny thing is, Mikey is a 6 toed cat...think they'll charge me extra! hahah

anyways,
he's got a week of nail caps to try out.
I dont think declawing is something i wanna do to him, I see how much he uses his mitten like paws and cant imagine the pain he would be in (he uses his paws more like a human uses their hands).

thanks everyone!

Don't declaw older cats...its just not cool.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Don't declaw older cats...its just not cool.

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not cool like hippee not cool, or smoking not cool?

totally not gonna do it now. just read a fact sheet that someone posted....um no way!


I had not idea what it all incluced, to much that can go wrong.
Besides...the couch may be a thousand dollars but mikeys happiness and health means more to me.

I don't like declawing. It just seems like the lazy way out for people who don't want to provide a scratching post or other outlet for their cat's natural behavior. Our cat is fully clawed, and my boyfriend built him an awesome cat-scratchy-post thing, and he has never clawed our furniture. Also, I know that if he somehow got outside (he is an indoor cat) he could have some sort of defense against the coyotes/etc. Or, heaven forbid we can't keep him anymore, someone could possibly end up with him who let him be an outdoor cat and he would have no defenses; I just don't like it!
As for spaying and neutering; it is just asinine not to fix a cat. Unless you're into cat breeding and showing that sort of thing, what good reason is there not to?

When you're in at the vet having Mike neutered ask a vet tech to show you how to safely trim his claws at home. I did it for years with our cats. The male didn't like it but then I didn't start till he was an adult. The female was used to it since kittenhood. I'd trim back the sharp bit of her claws, give her ears a quick cleaning, etc....called it her "day of beauty" LOL. Course she was smart enough to know that there was a nice treat waiting afterwards.

Maybe if you could get Mike to accept a nail trimming you could cut back on some of the damage. Try having someone help you and they can feed him bits of tuna while you snip away (be very careful of the quick or pink area...have the vet tech show you and also what to do if you nip into that bit).

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

When you're in at the vet having Mike neutered ask a vet tech to show you how to safely trim his claws at home. I did it for years with our cats. The male didn't like it but then I didn't start till he was an adult. The female was used to it since kittenhood. I'd trim back the sharp bit of her claws, give her ears a quick cleaning, etc....called it her "day of beauty" LOL. Course she was smart enough to know that there was a nice treat waiting afterwards.

Maybe if you could get Mike to accept a nail trimming you could cut back on some of the damage. Try having someone help you and they can feed him bits of tuna while you snip away (be very careful of the quick or pink area...have the vet tech show you and also what to do if you nip into that bit).

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thanks!
mikey is pretty laid back and understands I only wanna "love" him (thats what i call it when I gotta do something that irratates him..like the time her ate string and i had to pull it outta you know where...yuck!).

Over all hes a good cat, he acts sassy when i dont show him full attention when i come home from work. but other than that he is a sweety so nail trimming shouldnt be a problem.

Thanks again you guys! I needed a little push in the right direction!

Ps. I suggest to anyone ever wanting a cat...look for a 6 toed cat (hemingways) they have a great personality and truly are one of a kind...Oh and try using an Elton John song as a middle name! or little guys name is Mikey Elton John Tiny Dancer (makes the vets go crazy when they call for us in the waiting room!)

I love Hemingway cats! :) My Cleo is declawed, but she was declawed when she was spayed, and both she and I were youngins at the time. A bit late jumping in here, but yeah I agree with the general concensus and glad of the decision! Mikey sounds like a sweetheart!

little guys name is Mikey Elton John Tiny Dancer (makes the vets go crazy when they call for us in the waiting room!)

Is this all one name?? I'm already crazy, don't need any help!! Several pets around here go by same name, such as lil guy, big guy, etc.

Mikey elton john tiny dancer is his first and middle.

I call him Mikey, Michael, Miquel, mikey-pie, big mike...etc
When I get super mad at him I yell "mikey elton john tiny dancer!!!!!"
my grandma thinks im nuts!!!

our old cat was named
Leo Ba-dee-Oh Shaabaa-laabaa-lin-ski
(although hes not an elton its still ridiculous to say ha!)

I agree with grandma:D

Well today is the day I took Mikey in to get "snipped".
I passed on the declawing but did fork over the $4 to have his nails trimmed.

He looked so scared when the vet scooped him up and carried him away:(
Im waiting for Dan to pick him up some time after 4pm. I am at work now and all I can think about is Mikey and his poor sore spot. (if ya know what i mean).

Not that i dont trust Dan to remember (ok i dont trust dan to remember), but Im having the vet (or tech) right down his med dosage as well as any other info i should know. knowing dan he would come up with some way off number and tell me I gotta use a spoon or a beer bong to give it to Mike (thats dan for ya).

anyways..thanks for all those posts..i really felt good about my choice not to declaw him..and I owe it to your posts! ( and that website that showed me those terrible pictures)