<p>Here is that other thread, ga2012mom. The title is a hoot!
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/669708-people-climbing-cat-help.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/669708-people-climbing-cat-help.html</a></p>
<p>I would vote against declawing. Particularly for adult cats. If they are only occasional scratchers, perhaps just a quick squirt with a water bottle and a loud NO will cure them. I find it has worked with our cats. We adopted one who had never been taught to stay off kitchen counters (yuk). Didn’t take long before she figured out that it wasn’t acceptable here.</p>
<p>Declawing is one of those euphemisms that conceals the real extent of mutilation. The surgery involves amputating each toe up to the first knuckle.</p>
<p>It’s considered so barbaric in the UK that it is now illegal. </p>
<p>I won’t post a link because there might be some weak stomachs, but if you Google for “cat declawing photos”, you will have no trouble seeing exactly what it means to “declaw” a cat.</p>
<p>One alternative that many people do with indoor kitties is to trim their claws, just like clipping your fingernails. I have had some success with one kitty, not so much with our little former-feral kitty. It’s really easy to do if you have a cooperative cat. You can do with plain old toenail clippers.</p>
<p>My husband uses an air can (duster) to run the cats off of things. It only works temporarily. :)</p>
<p>Is there any acceptable procedure that could help “declawing” the Political Forum? ;)</p>
<p>A few years ago I was laid off and had to move in with my parents. My mom gave me the option of getting my cat declawed or putting him outside. Since he had never been outside in his whole life, and I felt he would just be coyote bait out there, I decided to go with declaw. I tried everything I could find, first. He had several scratching posts. When he would try to scratch the furniture I would shoot him in the face with water and he’d just keep right on going. </p>
<p>He was a little drunk when I brought him home and stumbled around for a couple of days, but was otherwise fine. He was up and running in a couple of days.</p>
<p>Some cats recover quickly from declawing, but others can be traumatized. I had a teacher who confessed her guilt to my english class in high school because she’d had her three year-old kitty declawed, and the cat had been avoiding her for a week and seemed depressed and angry. Another issue is that if your cat manages to sneak out, he/she will be pretty much defenseless. </p>
<p>I personally think that declawing is cruel, but others will disagree. Training, soft paws, and a simple claw trimming can be really simple solutions to the problem. Trimming really is a simple affair. All you have to do is take a regular old pair of nail clippers, and make sure you cut above the pink quick, which is really easy to see.</p>
<p>Saying that it’s easy to trim a cat’s claws assumes that you have a mellow cat who doesn’t mind being held down and having his paws pressed and nails clipped. Most of the cats I have had hated that. If you have to spend 2 hours dragging the hissing, clawing frightened cat out from under the couch and wrapping her in multiple towels every 2 weeks just to clip nails, it becomes a different equation. Which is torture? Frequent trauma or once and done?
I don’t think I would have it done to a young cat, but I might decide to not adopt a cat that hadn’t been declawed previously…</p>
<p>When you provide scratching posts, make sure they don’t wobble. Cats don’t like to scratch things that move. A floor to ceiling 4x4 works well and can be easily made - preferable with several perches attached along the pole. Cover the pole with sisal, or various kinds of carpet - not loopy carpet though. I had one for my 2 cats and they loved it - napping on the perches, racing up and down it, leaping from it. My current cat loves to tear up cardboard boxes - makes a mess but they’re plentiful.</p>
<p>We’ve had decalwed cats. I do not care about my furniture - my house is not a museum, and the cats can use the couches. However, sometimes declawing a cat is a neccessity. My old cat was declawed because she had a nasty habit of launching into the air when spooked (and boy it did not take much to spook her - a Pink Floyd song, a saucepan falling on the kitchen floor, etc.) and then landing with her claws sticking out like eagle’s talons. She also loved to curl up on DD’s pillow right above her head… When the cat barely missed D’s eye during one of her neurotic air launches, H said, “Either the cat gets declawed or else!” Off to the vet she went… Came back with a painkiller patch on her side and crazy-glue like polymer fillings on her paws. She was kind of spaced out for about a day, then peeled the patch off and became her normal self - bouncing off the walls, chasing jingle balls, going after flies and moths. She was young; usually it is not recommended for a cat older than 5 years old to undergo this procedure. I’m not a fan of the procedure, but if the choice is the cat or the claws, then the choice is relatively easy to make.</p>
<p>My current feline friends get their nails trimmed regularly. It takes a lot of skills, patience and stealth to trim the claws of my older kitty. I usually grab her, wrap her in a blanket, sing a song to her and work very quickly! The baby cat does not mind the procedure. I highly recommend getting a special tool (I use this one made by Bamboo [Bamboo®</a> Pet Center - Cats - Nail Care](<a href=“http://www.bamboopet.com/all_products/detail.php?ID=252871937&nID=3z2]Bamboo®”>http://www.bamboopet.com/all_products/detail.php?ID=252871937&nID=3z2)) instead of using nail clippers designed for humans. Vets also offer nail-trimming services.</p>
<p>My friend had some success with a device called ScatMat: <a href=“https://partners.radiosys.com:4449/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=2641515§ion=10840&beginIndex=0[/url]”>https://partners.radiosys.com:4449/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=2641515§ion=10840&beginIndex=0</a>
The cat learned to avoid the table QUICKLY. Here are some reviews from Amazon:[Amazon.com:</a> Customer Reviews: Scat Mat Electronic Pet Training Mat, Sofa 60" x 12"](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Scat-Mat-Electronic-Training-Sofa/product-reviews/B0017XBDPA]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Scat-Mat-Electronic-Training-Sofa/product-reviews/B0017XBDPA)</p>
<p>This is what they do to declaw a cat…Do you really want to do this to your cat:
[Educate</a>!! Don’t Amputate!!..declaw surgery pictures](<a href=“http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawpics.html]Educate”>Educate!! Don't Amputate!!..declaw surgery pictures)
[DECLAWING:</a> What You Need to Know](<a href=“http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm]DECLAWING:”>http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm)</p>
<p>This is a procedure that is purely to benefit the human in the house and not the feline at all. There is no benefit in cutting off a cats toes. There are ways to train a cat not to claw things and an unruly cat can gets its claws trimmed if there are at least two people there. When we first started trimming our cats claws this is what we did, we rolled them into a towel with just the front paws sticking out (looked similar to a burrito) with hubby holding them and me cutting. Over time they completely quit trying to claw things (namely us, we did not care about the furniture). After a few times they normally start to accept this happening. We also always gave a treat after we were done so the would associate good tasty things we getting their nails trimmed. Also giving them a bit of cat nip and waiting for them to relax afterwards helped as well. </p>
<p>We have also used the duster can to discourage bad behavior. We never sprayed them directly just in the direction and the sound enough was able to make them stop. Now when they have a slip all I have to do is pick it up (not spray it) and they stop.</p>
<p>Be careful spraying water at their face, if the water gets in their ear it can cause an ear infection.</p>
<p>Please don’t jump on declawing as the first line of defense. See if other things will work first.</p>
<p>Oh another some cats that are declawed will move on to biting because they no longer have their claws.</p>
<p>The scratching problem is one we are too familiar with. Although tempted a number of times, we never did declaw the cat. He is a smart cat, but refuses to be trained. If we yell at him, he does generally stop scratching the couch, but he always comes back. Sometimes, we let him cool off in the basement, if he is really insistent on scratching (anything there is fair game.) Our vet said he would declaw him if we wanted, even though he is an older cat, but we never did. I have seen many success stories on declawing, but I was worried myself about it, and could not do it. If I got another cat, I would look for one that already was declawed and given up. I trim his nails, and he is ok with this, but if you do not file them smooth as well, they can still scratch. I bought that machine that they show on tv. Those animals must be on drugs, because the noise of the nail against the emery board on a motor is very disturbing to cats and dogs.</p>
<p>Cats are just little women in cheap fur coats.</p>
<p>When I was single and had a cat, I also had leather and suede furniture. The cat clawed and scratched all of it, and the ruined furniture didn’t come with me when I got married. I don’t see how clipping the nails prevents damage. There is still a claw, there are still edges on that claw and scratch marks can be made. </p>
<p>I loved my cats dearly, but the damage they can do, coupled with a pretty severe allergy to them as I got older, means that I will never have another cat. I never tried training them, but I am hearing now that it can be done. Best of luck to the OP with this challenge.</p>
<p>Please don’t declaw your cats… Most adoption organizations in the U.S. require you to sign an agreement saying you won’t declaw the animals you adopt, and if you do, that the animals can be removed from your home. It’s banned in all of Europe, last I’d heard, and I know it’s illegal in the UK. It’s amputation for the convenience of human beings, and particularly for cats that aren’t kittens, it can be pretty traumatic. The fact that there are vets that refuse to do it is pretty telling…</p>
<p>Whenever you get a kitten, if you start right away with brushing them and clipping their claws, they’re not going to like having their claws clipped no matter what you do, but they’ll let you do it. I bathe my cats and make them wear collars, and they’re not fond of either of those, but it’s part of regular cat maintenance for us.</p>
<p>Fill soda cans with pennies, or buy a few bulk packs of canned air, and set them around the house so that they’re in easy snagging distance so you can create a huge racket whenever the cat’s acting like they’re going to claw at the sofa. If you’re diligent about keeping their clawing under control, there’s no need for anything drastic.</p>
<p>Declawing should be used as a last resort before putting a cat to sleep. At least give your kitties the benefit of the doubt and see whether or not they’re even interested in your boyfriend’s leather couch before you put them through the trauma of surgery and recovery…</p>
<p>It is not “banned in all of Europe”. We human beings do a lot of other amputations for our convenience. We do not blink an eye at removing a female cat’s reproductive organs. One can say that spaying is cruel, too, because spayed cats lose their natural hormones, become lazy, overeat, develop diabetes. However, in the US spaying is considered a procedure that saves cat lives (and I agree with that), while in some other countries there are “contraceptive pills” available to stop a cat from going into heat. </p>
<p>Oh, Aibarr - cats should NOT be bathed by immersing them in water. Just do a wet wipe routine and “fuminate” them instead of bathing them.</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of declawing, and it should be used as the last resort (and definitely not as a furniture-saving procedure), but as I said, if the choice comes down to the cat or the claws, the claws go. </p>
<p>(I’m surprised that there are vets who would even consider declawing an 8 year old cat).</p>
<p>That should read “most of Europe”… my apologies.</p>
<p>[Countries</a> where declawing cats is illegal or inhumane](<a href=“http://www.declawing.com/list.html]Countries”>http://www.declawing.com/list.html)</p>
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<p>They’re less ‘bathed’ and more ‘showered’-- I put on some sweats and get the first cat, and we stand with the cat’s head and ears out of the water while we shampoo, lather, and rinse the rest of the body. Kitty is then handed out to the husband, who’s waiting with two bath sheets straight from the dryer, where they’re dried off and then set in a sunny spot to be irritated at us. I strip off the first sopping pair of sweats, don the second pair, and repeat with the second cat. The rest of the afternoon is spent with the cats being brushed or played with as requested (or with me doing the mountain of laundry that the process generates). </p>
<p>For us, it’s something that our vet recommends–one of my cats has skin allergies and needs to be bathed with a special moisturizing shampoo in order to be comfy… it stops his itching for a little while, otherwise he ends up with huge bald patches where he’s licked his fur off. Kitty Two has tooth problems and has trouble grooming… she gets her teeth brushed, dried off, and coated with prescription OraVet wax three times a week, too (if you think nail clipping is bad…!!!). It’s just easier to say “baths” than to explain the whole spiel…</p>
<p>This was a pretty predictable breakdown of this subject. There are people who will never get a cat because of the destruction the cat’s claws can cause. So is it better that cats are euthanized in shelters? The cat’s claws or its life?</p>
<p>I am against it in principle. But. Our no-kill shelter kitties destroyed the screens and screen doors and were able to escape into coyote country (they always came back, thank God). Expensive consult with vet, and her reco was to declaw. Which we did. End of screen problem. Clawful kitties can become outside kitties. Clipping the claws didn’t work, because they work really hard to sharpen them right back up again.</p>
<p>Our most recent kitties are not declawed. And they get outside. What are you gonna do? Furthermore, I have scars all up my legs where they jump on me and try to hold on. I don’t care about the furniture, curtains, and ahem, Persian rugs. I can’t keep a squirt bottle everywhere. Truth be told, they are so hyper they have not endeared themselves to AnnuduhMom. So maybe they need Ritalin instead of declawing. (yes, they are neutered)</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t buy the argument that declawing is the worst thing that can happen to a cat.</p>
<p>My vet recommended not declawing older cats because they were already accustomed to using their claws to save themselves from a fall and would become prone to injury from falling without the claws they had used for years. They would only declaw kittens for that reason.</p>
<p>There is a dramatic difference between declawing for convenience and declawing for medical reasons or even to protect a cat by keeping it from getting out in coyote country. </p>
<p>We had an impossible cat who complained loudly and bit when her nails were cut. (She was so tough to pill, the vet needed a tech and a long metal thing to stuff it down her throat.) But the others have been easy. You never know. I have one cat who has a claw that grows into a pad, so I clip it short. He pays no attention at all. And he was feral.</p>