De-Clawing

[StinaKSU]

I have just been extreamely lucky and never had a cat that could not very easily be convienced to use a scratching post instead of the furniture.

I gotta say, you are pretty lucky. Cats will MOSTLY scratch where they prefer...if you happen to have a place for them to scratch that they prefer they won't scratch too much on other things....however if they decide they like your fancy expensive leather couch better than whatever you have ot provide them to scratch on....its not easy to train them not to do it...or for example my roommate's declawed cats loves to pretend to scratch the walls.....that's her preferred surface...and she'll do it all over the house, providing her another surface wouldn't help b/c she already does it all over...and many cats just like to scratch everything. Most kittens can be trained to scratch specific things easily (although even then though some will still scratch things they shouldn't, my cat occasionally scratches the carpet and furniture...but luckily not enough that she's ever caused any really significant damage to anything). Adult cats already have their habits...and if you adopt an adult cat from a shelter sometimes you just can't keep them from scratching whatever they feel like...plain and simple...again I'll say I really dislike declawing adult cats....but if it gets them a home...

 

[PaulSage]

The laser method, although more costly, is significantly less "traumatic" for the cat, in my experience.

 

[eyelids]

The laser method, although more costly, is significantly less "traumatic" for the cat, in my experience.

Are you saying they can give cats laser claws now! That is so cool!

Seriously, if and I mean IF I ever have to have a cat declawed it will be via laser.

 

[PaulSage]

Are you saying they can give cats laser claws now! That is so cool!

Yup. It was a big fad that caught on after Dr. Evil had lasers attached to sharks' heads.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Yup. It was a big fad that caught on after Dr. Evil had lasers attached to sharks' heads.

Where can I pick those up for my leo??

 

[eyelids]

Yup. It was a big fad that caught on after Dr. Evil had lasers attached to sharks' heads.

I thought he could only get mutated Sea Bass...

 

[brandy101010]

Ok. To Get a cat to not scratch where you do not want it to scratch You have to understand the natural behavior of cats. Scratching serves Two purposes for cats. Claw maintence and to mark territory. scent glands in between the pads of the paws produce an odor that humans do not pink up on. When cats scratch to mark their territory it leaves the mark and the scent that is telling other cats. "this is my house" Now if a cat has no reason to mark it's territory it won't. The only reason a cat would mark is if it feels threatened. Now of course a cat is still going to scratch for claw maintence. But usually they choose one or two spots that they like to do that. If you have a cat that is scratching all over the place it is likely that he/she is "marking". In this case you need to find out why your cat is marking because something is wrong and the cat does not feel safe in it's house. If you have a multi cat household, maybe the cat is not getting along with one of the other cats. If you have a cat flap to the outside. maybe he feels insecure and thinks strange cats will come in his house.

You can make your cat feel more secure by not having a cat flap and letting him out on demand through the door. This way the cat knows no other cat can get in unless you let him in. If you have to have a cat flap. get one of the electronic ones that comes with the collar that will only let your cat in. (maybe a strange cat came in one day and freaked your cat out.)

If you live in a multi cat house hold, some other ways to make your cats feel more secure is to go by the 1 per cat plus one rule. If you have 2 cats, have 2 litter boxes and if you have the room have an extra one too. Some cats will guard the litter box from the other cats and not let them use it. . make sure you have plenty of food and water dishes, plenty of comfy places for the cats to sleep. plenty of scratching posts if they are not competing for the things that are most important to them they will feel secure and less behavior problems will arise.

I just realized this is extremely long lol. Sorry i'll stop now. I could go on and on about cat Behavior. I have studded it a lot. lol

 

[StinaKSU]

Scratching serves Two purposes for cats. Claw maintence and to mark territory.

Have you ever known a declawed cat that didn't try to scratch things? The MAIN purposes for cats to scratch may be to mark territory and for claw maintainence...but they are not the only reasons. Some cats just like to scratch (like dogs that just like to bark...it can be a self rewarding behavior that can be nearly impossible to train them out of)...and a lot of times "scratching" is the cat stretching and then deciding to just take a bit of a scratch while they're at it. My roommate's cat that I mentioned before is a cat who does that....she does a full out stretch on the wall and then relaxes and pretends to scratch at it (and no I'm not talking about marking behavior) and my cat does the same thing to the carpet (except she has claws and I yell at her when I catch her doing it...lol). Both of our cats have done this their entire lives (she had her cat since birth, I've had buie since she was about 6 weeks old) and the behaviors don't change with environmental change. Also cats naturally mark their territory when they're feeling perfectly content, not necessarily because they're stressed out in some way...and many cats that are stressed out will hide and try to make themselves as unnoticeable as possible.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Does anyone have any info about anything such as brain waves of a cat during and after being de-clawed to see how much it really effects them?

 

[StinaKSU]

I don't know of any studies off hand...I imagine the only ones that may have been done would be short term physical pain, cortisol levels related directly to the surgery and healing time after it. I doubt if there have been any (at least any very good) long term scientific studies on cats' wellbeing before and after declawing. I can say that many declawed cats turn to biting (usually generally if they were people scratchers before being declawed).

 

[KiKi]

by the way we had a cat that was declawed and all of a sudden it decided it wanted to be indoor outdoor cat and the first time it got it came back all bloody from not being able to defend itself, so biting is not good enough when you dont have front claws to defend against another cat.the onlyreson it survived outside is because it became friends with a neighbors cat who protected it

 

[StinaKSU]

Pet cats shouldn't be allowed outdoors to begin with...not only is it dangerous for them (declawed or not), its dangerous for the local wildlife, and often for local children. There are a lot of zoonotic pathogenes/parasites that cats can pass on to children through things like sand boxes........ Also, cats are very likely to come back from a cat fight bloody whether they have claws or not....especially if they are not used to dealing with other cats or being outdoors. Out of curiousity...how did the neighbor's cat "protect" yours? Cats generally don't do anything for eachother (except in colonies where cats commonly nurse eachother's litters)....whether they get along or not.

 

[robin]

I don't know of any studies off hand...I imagine the only ones that may have been done would be short term physical pain, cortisol levels related directly to the surgery and healing time after it. I doubt if there have been any (at least any very good) long term scientific studies on cats' wellbeing before and after declawing. I can say that many declawed cats turn to biting (usually generally if they were people scratchers before being declawed).

i had five declawed cats and not a one of them bit

 

[robin]

by the way we had a cat that was declawed and all of a sudden it decided it wanted to be indoor outdoor cat and the first time it got it came back all bloody from not being able to defend itself, so biting is not good enough when you dont have front claws to defend against another cat.the onlyreson it survived outside is because it became friends with a neighbors cat who protected it

most declawed cats only have the front claws removed unless you ask otherwise. the front claws are not generally used to fight with. the rear claws are.

 

[StinaKSU]

i had five declawed cats and not a one of them bit

Wasn't saying all declawed cats bite.......I was saying that some become biters.

most declawed cats only have the front claws removed unless you ask otherwise. the front claws are not generally used to fight with. the rear claws are.

I forgot about that point...if a cat still has its hind claws it will generally be able to defend itself pretty much as well as an undeclawed cat as it is the back claws that are mainly used in defense. A cat that is truly fighting and being aggressive, is going to use its front claws...a cat defending itself will lay on its back and use its hind claws

 

[robin]

Pet cats shouldn't be allowed outdoors to begin with...not only is it dangerous for them (declawed or not), its dangerous for the local wildlife, and often for local children. There are a lot of zoonotic pathogenes/parasites that cats can pass on to children through things like sand boxes........ Also, cats are very likely to come back from a cat fight bloody whether they have claws or not....especially if they are not used to dealing with other cats or being outdoors. Out of curiousity...how did the neighbor's cat "protect" yours? Cats generally don't do anything for eachother (except in colonies where cats commonly nurse eachother's litters)....whether they get along or not.

are you saying no cats should be left outside? as far as zoonoses go the main carriers of what is out there is originally carried and contracted from birds and rodents. i hardly think that just because a cat CAN get those things you should deny it to go outside. the only reason why you shouldnt is for the safety of the cat. like living in a city etc.
i know about cat carried zoonoses very well and you are more likely to get pin worms from a sand box than many of the zoonoses like for instance toxoplasmosis. pin worms give you a nasty case of the butt itch.

 

[Double LY]

pin worms give you a nasty case of the butt itch.

I know this is a serious thread, but this line made me giggle out loud (glad this post was read at home and not work )

 

[StinaKSU]

are you saying no cats should be left outside?

I'm saying pet cats shouldn't be allowed outside...for ALL the reasons I listed....keeping the cat safe was one of the things I listed....and I wasn't saying to keep cats inside because they could get zoonotic diseases (although they could...and that's part of keeping the cat safe), I was saying passing zoonoses on to your neighbors kids is ONE reason to keep cats indoors.... I kinda doubt people would be happy with their kids getting a "nasty case of the butt itch" and such b/c of a neighbor's cat.

 

[robin]

I know this is a serious thread, but this line made me giggle out loud (glad this post was read at home and not work )

i am glad it made ya giggle hehe
but seriously it does make your butthole itch. now i do not know from experience but i had a friend who got pin worms when we were in school and all she did ya scratch her butt :main_laugh:

 

[robin]

I'm saying pet cats shouldn't be allowed outside...for ALL the reasons I listed....keeping the cat safe was one of the things I listed....and I wasn't saying to keep cats inside because they could get zoonotic diseases (although they could...and that's part of keeping the cat safe), I was saying passing zoonoses on to your neighbors kids is ONE reason to keep cats indoors.... I kinda doubt people would be happy with their kids getting a "nasty case of the butt itch" and such b/c of a neighbor's cat.

you can get pins from walking around barefooted as well. more kids than you know get pin worms, people just do not talk about it.
i was raised on a ranch we had outdoor cats, indoor / outdoor cats and one strictly indoor cat. of course you have to keep them vaccinated. but just because it may stay outdoors does not mean it is not safe.