How old does she have to be until she can be declawed? She's 2 and 1/2 months old now
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How old does she have to be until she can be declawed? She's 2 and 1/2 months old now
I had one of my cats declawed. I don't recommend it due to the following:Quote:
Originally Posted by kashumz
1. It is extremely painful for them after the procedure.
2. They need them to climb trees.
3. They used them to protect themselves from other animals.
I would never do that to a cat again.
She's an indoor cat.
Like rina said, it is a very painful procedure, and it takes a long time for the cat to heal. When a cat gets "declawed," what the vet basically does is cut off the first knuckle on the cat's toe, then stitches or glues the wound closed. The cat must walk on the amputated toes during the healing time. Some cats have litter box problems after they've gotten declawed because it's quite painful to try to dig in litter or cover waste and the cat associates the pain with the box and not the surgery. Some cats have severe psychological trauma afterwards, most at least associate the car and the vet with BAD, and will overly stress if they have to have something done at the vet or if you're transporting them somewhere.
If you're having problems with your cat shredding at home, you can opt for things less painful than the surgery, such as providing a scratch area with cat scratchers (you can buy them in a variety of textures such as cardboard, sisal rope, or carpet to please your cat), or even clipping the cat's nails. I've found that you can just clip the front paw's nails about once a month (it depends on how fast your cat's nails grow though) and that usually ends the shred problem.
Do some research before getting the cat declawed, if only to inform yourself about what will be happening to your cat.
To answer your question, though, it really depends on the health and size of your cat. Most vets won't do elective surgeries on cats younger than four months, some make you wait until six months. You kitten should be going through the vaccination stages right now, so if you haven't gotten that started then you should set an appointment for that and ask your vet when you get there. =)
You can get these great little vinyl covers for your cat's claws now. I wouldn't recommend declawing - my sister did it and the cat was miserable for months.
They really do work! And they are so much better for the cat!Quote:
Originally Posted by Emland
You have lots of colors to choose from and it makes your cat look like it has painted toenails.
You can by them at your local Petsmart, Petco, and vets offices usually sell them too.
Check it out: Soft Claws at Petsmart
Thank you for your posts! I'm trying to convince my dad not to declaw her right now. It certainly is a lot cheaper then the surgery!
For years, I had bad luck when I had my cat declawed!
The answer to the question is anytime after 4 months of age and would best be done in conjunction with the spay-one surgery to get over. The younger they are, the faster they heal. My clinic performed 6 declaws a week and we probably had 1 every 6 months have residual pain after surgery usually due to having large feet. Keep her nails trimmed short, about every 2-3 weeks until she's old enough. Soft paws and other nail covers work about as well as press on nails work for us-an active kitten will have them off in no time.
Declawed cats can still climb trees and still defend themselves due to both actions relying on the back feet more than the front-just a little trivia!
Do the soft paws stick on? Auni is a very hyperactive kitten, she jumps and runs around for hours at a time every day, attacking anything that moves. Will she be able to pop the soft claws off because of her activness?
They do happen to be temporary.
You glue them on.
Usually lasting 3 months on a kitten or cat, then you
Either replace them with a new one, sometimes your able to glue the one that popped off back on.
I only use soft paws on one of my cats because it likes to shred my furniture.
The cat is very active and still attempts to shred the furniture -
I trim nails, buff the top and sides of the nail lightly with a fingernail file to give the glue something to adhere to and glue one on as they fall off.
Of course it takes more effort on the owners part.
I personally think the little extra effort is well worth it.
How is this possible?Quote:
Originally Posted by mrscoltweaver
They "hug" the tree with their front legs and shimmy on up. When fighting, they will slap with front paws but the same hugging technique applies here, too. Most of the damage is done with the teeth and back claws.
They have to be at least four months old. I had that done to my cat about 2 months ago now. Although it is painful they are coming up with different ways to remove them. I would recommend laser surgery.
You no I actually thought that was illegal to do now I have 2 kittens so I just trim them x
My mom tried to trim Auni's claws, but she had screwed up something and the nail split in half
And she couldn't touch it anymore because poor Auni was howling. :( My mom is quite careless.
My dad might not want to spend 20$ every 3 months for the soft claws, we have money issues and he can hardly afford the regular declawing surgery. I highly doubt he'll be able to afford Laser surgery, stevienicks.
My dad does not like cats. I have been saying exactly what you guys keep saying, It hurts the poor animal. But all he does is say: "I don't care, Atta did fine when we got her declawed!" But then I reply saying that Auni is not Atta, plus she will be younger then what Atta was when we had gotten her declawed. It might hurt her more, it might not. My dad only wants to declaw Auni because she runs around so much and always scratches my dad, he wants the claws out because it hurts. Which is what bothers me the most, he only wants them out because it hurts HIM.
I had two declawed cats as a teenager (my mom wouldn't allow them indoors any other way). I would NOT recommend it for any cat owner.
The first one went insane within a few months after the surgery and began biting people viciously without provocation, hard enough to break the skin. She went so far as to jump on my face and bite it in the middle of the night while I was asleep. She became so unhandleable that we had to put her down. We couldn't deal with her vicious behavior and we couldn't think of anyone who would.
The second cat became a frequent biter after the surgery but was never as bad as the first cat. She would only bite with provocation (i.e. excessive petting, holding her in a way she didn't like, trying to bathe her--things cats usually scratch you over rather than biting). However long after the surgery she still flinched if you tried to handle her feet, as if they still hurt.
It's fairly easy to train a cat on a scratching post. There are a lot of websites about the subject. I now own 2 cats who have claws, and they haven't torn apart my apartment yet. Both were adopted from a shelter and one was trained in a previous home to scratch on posts, because I had no trouble getting her to use one exclusively. The second cat is a 5 month old kitten so he's a hellion anyway, but his destructive clawing has been minimal and he's predominantly using the posts already. They both seem a lot happier and healthier than my poor declawed cats were!
Try to talk your folks into getting or making a scratching post (wood or rope, not carpet). You can't really get surgeries on a kitten until she's 4 or 5 months old anyway, so you'll need something for her to scratch until then. If she learns to use the post in that time, you can probably talk your dad out of declawing pretty easily ("Why spend that money if she doesn't scratch things up anyway?").
krishva this post is almost 5 months old. Poor things are probably already declawed. Hopefully your post will help other decide to train their cats to use scratching post rather than have them declawed. I too have known people to have cats declawed and the effects are the same as with your 2 cats. Some of the cats that I know develop strange habits of only walking on furniture or hardwood floors, or just carpets. I really think it does something to their minds and their sensitivity.
I have an indoor cat and she has learned what she can claw and what she can't, with very little coxing. I opted to not get her declawed because the last cat I had was declawed and the first thing I saw was a personality change... for the worse. He was in pain and became angry. He couldn't stand not being able to play like he once did. I hated myself for that, and knew then I'd never put an animal through that trauma again.
Softpaws are great but they have to be redone every 6 weeks or so, depending on your cat.
They are put on with superglue, basically like fake nails for person.
Some cats will chew them off at first, but the longer they have them, the more used to it they'll get. Still, it depends on the cat.
My oldest cat is declawed (happened long before I knew what the process was) and he has had no problems.
I have seen cats that do have problems afterwards.
I have helped in the procedure and it is awful. The cat is in a lot of pain after so if you do have it done, make sure and ask for post surgical pain meds.
Cats do have a harder time defending themselves outside and climbing trees, and what is an indoor cat now can end up being an outdoor cat in the future.
They sometimes end up being biters because they can no longer scratch. I have encountered these types... ouch!
Discuss the options with your vet and ask how many of these procedures they do and if they provide pain management.
Good luck to you.
I simply trim my kitten's claws every 2-3 weeks when I trim the dog's. No problems so far. I had cats in the past that were declawed and it caused major problems with litter box use as time passed (they simply refused to use it any longer).
I would never declaw a cat again.
That is untrue I asked many people about the litter box issue before I declawed my cat and they said that they had had no problems. I too have hadno problems. She simply does her business and then cleans her paws.Quote:
Originally Posted by rdhdscrpio
We've been using soft paws for the past 4 months on our kitten and unfortunately we just can't do it anymore. We put them on and he gets at least 1 to 2 of them off by the next day. When you are doing it that often, they get VERY expensive. The supposed 3-4 month supply doesn't even last a full month. With a baby on the way, and after already trying the more 'humane' alternative, we have opted to declaw him (he is 6 months old now). Just something to keep in mind, those soft paws are NOT all that great. He isn't even overly active, he is just a pretty normal middle of the road kitten, lazy most of the time with spurts of energy throughout the day. I do not recommend Soft Paws. They are a big headache and very disappointing. If they have 1 or 2 off, they might as well have them all off because they can do just as much with 1 claw as they can with all of them.
If you go to the right vet and are sure that they do a good job with other cats I see no problem. My cat Kiko acts as though she still has her claws. She is not psychologically damaged and she had no complications. The key is to leave the bandages on as long as possible. I even had to retape the bandages a couple times to keep her from infecting the wound. It was not really a choice for me my mom said have it done or she lives outside for good. To be honest though I would have done it anyway because it did no harm to my cat. Her personality is the same as it was when I first got her at 6 weeks old. Its all a matter of opinion and it all depends on the situation and the vet. My vet is wonderful and she took very good care of Kiko who is my pride and joy. She's the child I haven't had yet. I wouldn't trade her for the world.:)
Someone asked about how soft paws stay on. They are glued on using a medical-grade super glue. My experience has been that cats try to get them off the first time around, then get used to them. They stay on an average of six weeks. As the cat gets older and the nails are larger they tend to stay on better. The nice thing about them is that once the cat gets past the "kitten crazies" she may not need them any longer.
While I advise against declawing, which does involve amputation of the toes up to the first joint, I realize that in some cases it is justified. (There are some real hell-cats out there!) Make sure to go to a vet who does the procedure often and does it well, to minimize any physical/emotional post-op complications.
I agree with you on this. I didn't want to get kiko declawed (my mom made that decision for me) but I see now that she would have tore our house apart. She still tries to sharpen her claws even though she doesn't have any and if that's any indication of what it would be like everything in our house would be destroyed or on its way to being destroyed. I don't regret it now but before I felt that it was inhumane. She is still able to defend herself and that was my main concern when it was done. That if she got outside by accident would she be able to survive.Quote:
Originally Posted by carolbcac
FYI guys no we didn't get her declawed. I convinced my dad not to.
I am semi against it too but only 1 of those is correct... My parents have a cat that been declawed... It took about a week if I can rememeber for the front paws to fully heal after the procedure. After that the cat barely even noticed it didn't have front claws... It was an indoor /outdoor cat and it caught mice, birds, and other wierld looking things... It also climb up trees no problem even with out claws. She's about 13 years old now and she's really actives at times... I had thought all about those threes reasons but owning a cat that had been declawed made me realize that the cat still can be a cat just like it would be with claws... and also people say bites from cats can be bad... infections from scratches are much worse if not treated properly... I remember on the news about a woman being infected by a cat scratch that had cause damage to her reproductive system which made her unable to have children.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rina _4
I do agree about the pain though but just think having the pet spaided or neutered is just as painful... especially males when it gets its nuts chopped off...
So like I said my cat is over 10 years old been inside and out still lively... is able to defend herself in her own way... like they say Life has a way for everything.
If people think declawing is inhumane how about tails on coccer spaniels... they aren't born with short tails they get them cut with in a few weeks of age.
The thread is over two years old, and the kitten didn't get de-clawed.
Getting a female cat spayed is probably a lot more painful.Quote:
Originally Posted by Saria21
I agree, a lot longer recovery time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sariss
They fall off a lot I used the stick ons for my kittens and they would constantly fall off... I'd be putting a few back on each day and I would glue those on very well!! I have always had my kittens declawed and all of them were happy and very friendly! Like any animal they treat you as you treat them! If you love your cat than your cat will love you!
I have to say all these things you read can make you worry but the declawing of a cat may yes be painful as any surgery but in conjunction with a neuter/spay they have the proper medicines and you can ask for a mild take home pain killer for those first few tender weeks ( mine were always back to their rambunctious selves in as little as 2 weeks)
To play the devils advocate with the declawing thing...
All of my cats are declawed. They always have been.
However, they won't be anymore. They have always been declawed because that was the rule at my parents house. All cats got declawed. My black cat wasn't going to, but when I was forced to move home for a year, it happened then.
One of my cats suffered nerve damage from the declaw, and it still bothers him to jump down from anything higher than 4 feet. His damage came from an old-school, poor technique.
All the other cats are fine. We still do declaws at work - it's becoming rarer and rarer each year, but they still do happen. We ONLY declaw cats with the surgical CO2 laser, as it is the most effective - it cuts the recovery time in half, no need for those little booties, and it just seems to WORK better.
In the many MANY declaws I've seen.. besides my own cat which was done by a crap vet with a shoddy technique (she got fired after that iirc), I have never seen problems - and while they do occur, they are not as common as most would make you believe.
We had one owner who was convinced that her cat bit her more after it got declawed. Well duh. The cat was BALLISTIC, and used all teeth and all claws to attack you, then when she got it declawed at 4 years old for that reason, it just bit more because it couldn't scratch.
That's not to say I don't condone it. I've had it done because it had to be done. Now that I live on my own I would only ONLY consider declawing if I had exhausted all of my options and nothing was working.
Just my two cents. Yes, it's painful - what surgery isn't? The cats we declaw act no different post-op than the ones simply getting spayed or neutered. They are walking, using their litterbox, hopping onto ledges, etc within 12 hours usually.
I actually totally agree with everything Sariss said. (Don't have a heart attack.) I just never bother saying so cause I know I'll just get bombarded -- it's such a hot topic.
It does carry more weight coming from someone working at a vet's. I volunteered at a vet's for a couple of summers in high school so I saw a lot of declaws. I never saw problems either. Out of all the cats I've had, only two have been declawed and neither of them ever had any problems. (The second one was at a clinic where they keep them for a couple of days for the entire purpose of making sure everything is OK.)
I think a lot of it has been exaggerated also. It's like everything else -- you hear about all the bad stuff, but not the stuff that didn't go bad.
I've heard that it does depend a lot on the vet and whether it's done correctly, and I've always wondered whether the problem ones were bad vets. It's nice to see a semi-confirmation of that.
However... I don't "condone" declawing either. I felt bad getting the one done (had to do it due to where I was living and didn't have the financial option to move), and I too would only use it as a last resort. (And I have the scars to prove it.) So I really don't like doing it.
It was just nice to hear this from someone else.
Just curious... what the vet's opinions are on the matter? I've always meant to ask mine but keep forgetting.
Our vets seem to have the same opinion as mine, and like me, have only ever seen one or two cases where there were problems, in the literally hundreds they've seen/done.
Interesting.
Hey Sariss (or anyone), do you know roughly how much declawing costs?
My partner really wants a cat but my only concern is it destroying the furniture, I would let him have a kitten if it could be declawed.
That varies huuuugely, so I couldn't give a rough estimate. Just call around.
That's all right, thanks anyway...Quote:
Originally Posted by Sariss
The cat that I posted about a while back (a stray) is pregnant with her second litter and if all goes well we might be taking one of them.
We did not think she would be able to have kittens due to an injury which is why my mum never caught her to get her spayed.
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