OT: NEED Cat Owners Advice!!!

[Mikeyjer]

We recently rescued a kitten in a neighbor's tree. He was stuck up there for a couple of days. He was very scared and hungry when we brought him home. Give him a flea bath and shots at the vet. I would like to know to declaw or not to declaw the kitten? I've heard and read both sides of the story. We are unsure if we want to do so or not. I've got 4 parrots and I was told that cat saliva is toxic to birds. So IF we keep his claws, it's accident waiting to happen. I'm a dog person and have never liked cats until this one. He was starving to death, skin and bones. First night when I fed him, he was gulping down his food instead of chewing. That's when it hit me how sad it was to watch any animal eat that way. He follows me everywhere I go so I'm getting quite attached to the little bugger....lol.... Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!!!! :rollface::rollface:

 

[MVlk]

We rescued a cat from our front porch in a similar way. Was not a cat person until then as well. We decided to not declaw. I am sure like fish, temperaments will vary, but it has worked out fine. Every once in a while the claws catch on something, but she has been very good and uses the scratching devices we bought.

 

[VandyTime]

If its a kitten, i'm sure them birds could teach kitty a lesson early! I would be afraid of the one that can unlock it's cage. I stayed away from that one!

 

[KristyS96]

I've had a cat for about 7 years and for the first 3 he was and indoor/outdoor cat. When we moved, he became an indoor cat so he was de-clawed. I've regretted doing that to him ever since. It was pitiful watching him recover after having it done... I will never do it again to another cat.

 

[Pickupman66]

I have had cats both declawed and not. out current cat has her claws. she is gentle and very well mannered and has always been good with the kids. she has not scratched anything except us a time or two by accident. if you keep the claws, keep them trimmed regularly. they will get used to it and you can do the fronts pretty easily. keep something they can tear up readily available like a good carpet scratching post.

as a kitten, if you are considering getting the claws out, now is the time. my previous cat was declawed late with no ill effects. my mother always had hers declawed if they were inside cats to prevent them from destroying furnature. all truly depends on the cats temperment. if it was a stray, and its mother was stray, then it may be more prone to scratching furnature. this is just from my experience.

best of luck with the little guy. Ive always liked cats. the one I have now is one of the sweetest. she however, doesnt like white fish in my tank and tries to get em.

 

[waynesworld]

de claw save the possiability of having a terroist run lose

I have a found dislike for cats as they have cost me a lot of $$$ by tearing things up but I know you are a sucker for a stray so if you are going to keep it fix it and declaw

 

[Mikeyjer]

If its a kitten, i'm sure them birds could teach kitty a lesson early! I would be afraid of the one that can unlock it's cage. I stayed away from that one!

I put a pad lock on my macaw's cage cause he WILL get out of his cage. He have learned to open up his new cage even it has double latch on it. He learned if you unlatch one and get it stuck and unlatch the other lock then give it a firm push, voila the door opens. He can open his cage door within 5sec. But I don't think the cat would go bother him cause even my huskies are afraid of him.

Wayne, that's what I was afraid of. I have a lot of house plants on the window sill and I really don't want him to knock them over or eat them. Plus the pair of Parakeets I rescued last time at Sam's Club parking lot would definitely be in danger if he ever figures out to climb on curtains to get to them since they are hang over infront of a window. He's already making a wreck in my bathroom as he learned to get up on my sink counter and knock stuffs over. He unrolled a new roll of toilet paper all over my floor. He also placed Q-tips all over the floor as well. The vet clinic thinks he's about 4 months old right now. We're having him neutered in 3 weeks when he goes in for his rabies shot and possibly declaw. They said it would be a lot easier for him to go through as a 4 lb kitten then a full grown adult. But I've heard they can have issues later on in life since they do cut their toes off at the knuckle. It sounds awful to me! I do clip his toe nails about once every 2 weeks right now. I give him fresh water 3-4 times a day and keep his food filled up. I clean his litter box on a daily basis, a lot easier then taking my dogs out..... I was also told that there's a vet that doesn't cut the knuckle but surgically remove their toe nail. That's where they go to have theirs done. It's a very hard decision to make.......

 

[commonstranger]

Mike I think I would fatten him up and get him healthy and then find him a loving home but thats just me. No cats here Id say my dogs would not appreciate that, lol.

 

[DMBillies]

We now have 3 indoor cats and all of them have their claws. Every once in a while one of them catches their nails in a carpet or couch (which signals to me that I haven't trimmed them recently enough), but we have a cat tree with sisal rope that is the only thing they regularly scratch on purpose. They like sisal better than anything else because of the way they can catch their nails in it anyway. If you stay on top of keeping their claws trimmed, the amount of damage they can do is pretty minimal until you determine if it is a problem.

I, for one, wouldn't have it done unless the cat shows that he is willing to use them in ways you don't want. 2 of our cats started out scratching on couches, but just a few times of swatting them and/or yelling at them to stay off of the couch and praising/giving treats when they use the cat tree and we really haven't had any issues since.

Ethics aside, I just wouldn't waste the money unless you REALLY value your furniture and can't afford to wait and see if it is really is a problem.

 

[Chris27]

De-clawing a cat is like sending the Marines into Iraq just wearing boxing gloves...

A cat's primary mode of defense are it's claws - what would happen to that poor little thing if it accidentally escaped and was forced to live outside for any amount of time?

I have 4 dogs (2 German Shps, Doberman & Dachshund), 8 cats, 2 birds, a turtle, a tortoise and three fish tanks in my small house.

The cat's usually are the most destructive, by they by far are the most interesting pets to watch and live with.

Think about it, the fish can't leave the confines of their 180 gallons and the dogs follow us around like robots, but the cats are entirely different beasts.

You may find they just enjoy laying on your lap while watching TV, or you may find they like to climb the Christmas tree or french doors, or you may find that some cats can make a 90 German Shepherd cower in the corner like a 6 week old puppy...all animals are unique, but I wouldn't be without at least one or two cats.

 

[Chris27]

Oh an by the way - don't worry about Cats living with birds, the birds are much meaner and tougher then any domestic cat you'll bring into the house - my cats are terrified of my son's two Cockatiels.

 

[MVlk]

I'd say hold off on the declaw for now. Getting a good scratching post/toy or two should do wonders. My wife and I kept a spray bottle filled with water to discourage bad behavior for the first few weeks. We only really had to give a little spray for a few weeks. Cats are smart and will learn quickly.

 

[NicoleC]

I find dogs overall to be far more destructive than cats, although I have heard crazy cat stories. I second the spray bottle and scratching post advice, especially when dealing with a young kitten that doesn't have any bad habits yet.

But you do have to accept that sometimes cats will get scared and out come the claws. Like on your leather sofa. Declawing doesn't really help with this, since most of the accidental damage comes from the rear claws.

If you decide not to keep him, please be careful placing him in a new home. "Free to good home" and cheap animals are often picked up by bunchers to sell to labs for medical experiments, plus dog fight trainers looking for animals to be killed.

 

[ZachB]

I have a cat and I would never get her de-clawed, I think it's cruel. I have a log in the house that she tears the heck out of. I also just ordered a 77" cat condo for her to play on that has scratch posts. (E-bay dude, so much cheaper)

If you give them something to scratch, they will make use of it. I've never had a problem with a cat scratching furniture.

I would also not worry about the parrots. They would do more harm to the cat I believe.

That's a young kitten ... it will be a terror (declawed or not) until it grows up a bit. I got mine at a year and a half and she was still very wild (but my cat is very weird anyhow) - calmed down a lot in the last year or so.

 

[Angela Short]

Hi Mikey! I have had both clawed and declawed ( was that way when I married his dad ) and I would personally never declaw unless I had crazy expensive furniture and the cat showed he was not trainable to scratch only where allowed. My himalayen would and could scratch you just as bad with his back feet, which they tend to leave, and he bit real bad. My neighbors cat who was also declawed on the front then banned to be a outside cat after baby was born was the exact same. He would bite and use his back claws to scratch if he was mad. It was like they were meaner since they didn't have there natural defence in place.
I have had multiple cats my whole life and have never had a problem with destruction once they got past the kitten stage. One thing I would recomend is go ahead and get two! Cats play so well together if they are raised together. My 2 boy kitties (not littermates) play all the time and would be lost without the other even though they are thought to be solitary animals. When I lost a cat a few years ago and was down to olny one I could tell he missed his playmate.

If you lock a kitten up in a bathroom he will destroy it, I know! They can make lots of trouble and do a lot of stuff they normally wouldn't like climb the shower curtain but they are just board so its to be expected. A water bottle and a firm no will teach him very fast what is not allowed and get him some nice scratching posts and lace it with catnip and he will be fine. My cats like the sisal rope kind also.

Also if you socialize the cat to the parakeets he should be fine with them and even pals. I actually socialized my super ferociouse hunter cats to our bunny and they totally left Oliver B. Bunny alone. At first they tried to attack him but they saw me holding him and loving him and telling them no no and they got the picture in just a few days. They actually would play with him and be easy but go kill wild bunnies in the yard and leave them on the step to show us. We had to hide Ollivers eyes that time :lol:.

I just love cats and think they are the best pet someone can have.

 

[Angela Short]

This is Lenny poking him the first night
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/?action=view&current=000_1742.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/000_1742.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

And trying to get a little nibble. He would start sniffing Oliver and then just ever so litely bite at his back area! I would tell him No and love ollie in front of him and he caught on real fast not to eat the new family member!
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/?action=view&current=000_1741.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/000_1741.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

And this is Spook taking a nap beside of Oliver on the second night. He would have been snuggled up next to the bunny but the bunny didn't like that.
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/?action=view&current=000_1734.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y239/shortcory/000_1734.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

It only took about 2-3 days before I totally trusted the cats with him, the grey cat I had to watch a little closer for a few days because he just wanted a little nibble just to "taste" but was totally trustable within a week.

 

[fishdoc11]

Think of it this way. Declawing is taking the last bone in your finger off (P3, the one with the nail/claw on it) at the joint. So if you look at your finger after declawing it would have only one joint and not 2. It is very painful and in some cases can actually cause the cat chronic pain for life. There are methods that make it less painfull with less chance of chronic pain such as using a laser and more importantly good use of regional limb perfusion with a local anesthetic prior to surgery along with, of course, additional pain control. A nice alternative is soft paws that can be applied (glued with super glue) over the claws every few weeks. Some cats will adapt to scratching posts and never will be much of a problem destroying things sharpening their claws. Some can become big problems with their scratching behavior.
With all that being said many times cats can and do go on to live normal happy lives after being declawed so if that ends up being the only alternative between the cat having a good home and going to the pound opting for the declaw is a very logical choice IMO. It's a very controversial subject among cat owners and veterinarians and in the end you have to make your own choice. I hope that helps and if you have any more questions please ask

Chris

 

[zef004]

I wouldn't get any cat declawed like fishdoc said your cutting off there finger tip. And it's painful. I had a ocelot for 6yrs and never had any prob. And if anyone knows those are big cats mine was 35lb and 4' long without the tail when she passed away. But I've seen her beat down a lab before that was over 50lb. she was strong and never clawed me. She alwas keeper them in. She had her own bedroom and I would go and get old carpet from a carpetstore and nail to her wall so she can scratch on that and not my mom expensive furniture. and also she would be waitting for me everyday after school by the back sliding glass door and jump up with a flip when she saw me. I miss her.
She was best friends with the dog across the street. And was a wounderful bigcat. If I every get a cat again I would get a ocalot. Back than she cost $500 now there like $2k. So don't see that any time soon.only if a good deal come by.

 

[SRT80]

soft paws are a option.

Steve

 

[Mikeyjer]

Think of it this way. Declawing is taking the last bone in your finger off (P3, the one with the nail/claw on it) at the joint. So if you look at your finger after declawing it would have only one joint and not 2. It is very painful and in some cases can actually cause the cat chronic pain for life. There are methods that make it less painfull with less chance of chronic pain such as using a laser and more importantly good use of regional limb perfusion with a local anesthetic prior to surgery along with, of course, additional pain control. A nice alternative is soft paws that can be applied (glued with super glue) over the claws every few weeks. Some cats will adapt to scratching posts and never will be much of a problem destroying things sharpening their claws. Some can become big problems with their scratching behavior.
With all that being said many times cats can and do go on to live normal happy lives after being declawed so if that ends up being the only alternative between the cat having a good home and going to the pound opting for the declaw is a very logical choice IMO. It's a very controversial subject among cat owners and veterinarians and in the end you have to make your own choice. I hope that helps and if you have any more questions please ask

Chris

We have actually thought and read about all that. To us it is cruel to cut the toes off. I'm just more terrified for my birds more then anything else. We have no intention to get rid of the kitten to all those other posters that have suggested. He already had his distemper shots and just the rabies and leukemia shots left, plus neuter. That's due in 3 weeks.

Zach, take a picture of the kitty condo to show me. We got him a small condo for now. Been looking at kitty furniture with the hideaway litter box within a furniture and also a tree stand.

Angela, I LOVE bunnies, too bad I'm very allergic to them now. I used to raise mini lops. He will be the only cat. I am actually very allergic to cats, so far he hasn't bothered me too bad. My best friend who have multiple cats, I choke to death in her house.... But we thought about bring the little kitty over to play with their kitty when we visit. They just got 2 more kittens about his age so they should play well together. So far he plays with my chihuahua, but I can't trust my huskies with him yet. They tried to kill him numerous times.....Hence not to declaw!!!!

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I appreciate it!!!! :rollface: