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Our daughter bought a cat without our permission. Of course, we pay all of its expenses and vet bills. She plans to move into our house in late May with the cat. She has Mitchell Gold upholstered furniture and expensive linens that the cat quickly trashed with its claws. I am not allowing that to happen in my primary residence. That cat will be declawed before it enters my home. I don't care if it is inhumane. It is inhumane for us to have worked our tails off our entire lives and be expected to allow a cat to come in a tear up our home.
 

ItzKatzTime

Beach Fanatic
Apr 27, 2006
2,700
285
Santa Rosa Beach
I know this category is for human health and wellness but I hope this thread will be welcomed here. I have encountered alot of people who think that declawing a cat is no big deal. If you are considering this procedure that is outlawed in many countries, please read this:

DECLAWING: What You Need to Know

So glad you brought this to light sbartoldus. I have talked with many who had this done to their cats and wish they had known more about the procedure. There are so many horror stories and I can't bare to think about it!!!!

I've adopted two declawed and they were such unhappy and very scared cats. Always hid behind the couch or under a table. Many may say this is from perhaps bad home lives before the adoption, but I see it as a direct effect from being declawed. I'm not saying every declawed cat acts this way, but why take a chance. We all know how painful it is to cut your fingers or have a nail that is pulled off or ingrown. We can't imagine the pain of having claws and bone removed.
 

NoHall

hmmmm......can't remember
May 28, 2007
9,042
996
Northern Hall County, GA
The last 4 cats I've raised from kittens never needed declawing. If you teach a cat where to sharpen its claws, it will not destroy the furniture. If you raise it gently it will learn to "pull its punches." The BB cat is so gentle with us that I'm not even sure she has claws. The late, great Smudge was also notorious for slapping with a soft paw--he would smack at you like he was going to claw you, but you would only feel a velvety pat.

The FFF cat has scratched me a few times, but they're still very young--not quite a year--and he's playful. However, I've found that if he has his claws in me I can take my other hand and squeeze his paws gently and he will retract them. This was pretty much the same way I trained Smudge. I'm not sure why it works; it just does.

They use their claws to climb and protect themselves. If you don't have 20-foot high furniture (they'd rather jump on the couch than climb it) and don't threaten your cat, they forget they have claws.
 
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ItzKatzTime

Beach Fanatic
Apr 27, 2006
2,700
285
Santa Rosa Beach
Our daughter bought a cat without our permission. Of course, we pay all of its expenses and vet bills. She plans to move into our house in late May with the cat. She has Mitchell Gold upholstered furniture and expensive linens that the cat quickly trashed with its claws. I am not allowing that to happen in my primary residence. That cat will be declawed before it enters my home. I don't care if it is inhumane. It is inhumane for us to have worked our tails off our entire lives and be expected to allow a cat to come in a tear up our home.

Beach Runner I wouldn't know why you feel you are expected to allow a cat to come in and tear up your home. It would be much more humane to put this cat up for adoption. Since you did not give permission for your daughter to buy the cat why give permisiion for her to move in with the cat. I promise you , if this is the way you feel....you will be miserable with a cat declawed or not.

Please take this from someone who has raised cats and spent my whole life with them. There are a number of other things that may get to you by having the cat in the house. And, it's not fair to the cat to let them out with no protection and unable to climb a tree.

Just wanting to bring up another choice.
 

Mango

SoWal Insider
Apr 7, 2006
9,709
1,360
New York/ Santa Rosa Beach
I was very young when I got my first apartment and decided to get a cat from a shelter. I grew up with dogs, had no experience with cats and there wasn't any internet then to research these things. Being young, I just assumed they were removing the claws and had no idea the breadth of what I had done. It was hideous and I cried for a week watching my poor cat, with wrapped paws, hobble around the house. When they removed the bandages, his paws were covered with dried blood. I had to shred up newspaper for litter so not to aggravate the paws and so they wouldn't get infected. Fortunately, it didn't make my cat introverted, but I would NEVER do that again to an animal.

I have had several cats since Oreo passed away, and they have claws. I found that a cheap jute or sea straw carpet was sufficient for them since they never took to the scratching posts. It did not require training. They went right to it naturally. They need something to remove the sheath that grows on their nails and this works perfectly. I also have a big oak tree, amongst many, out front of my house and they come outside and hang with me. They use the tree as a scratching post also. It doesn't seem to damage the tree. Cats will also stretch their claws out when they are happy to knead like they did when they were suckling as kittens. A blanket or their beds work fine for this.
 

Rudyjohn

SoWal Insider
Feb 10, 2005
7,744
233
Chicago Area
I was very young when I got my first apartment and decided to get a cat from a shelter. I grew up with dogs, had no experience with cats and their was no internet then to research these things. Being young, I just assumed they were removing the claws and had no idea the breadth of what I had done. It was hideous and I cried for a week watching my poor cat, with wrapped paws, hobble around the house. When they removed the bandages, his paws were covered with dried blood. I had to shred up newspaper for litter so not to aggravate the paws and so they wouldn't get infected. Fortunately, it didn't make my cat introverted, but I would NEVER do that again to an animal.

I have had several cats since Oreo passed away, and they have claws. I found that a cheap jute or sea straw carpet was sufficient for them since they never took to the scratching posts. It did not require training. They went right to it naturally. They need something to remove the sheath that grows on their nails and this works perfectly. I also have a big oak tree, amongst many, out front of my house and they come outside and hang with me. They use the tree as a scratching post also. It doesn't seem to damage the tree. Cats will also stretch their claws out when they are happy to knead like they did when they were suckling as kittens. A blanket or their beds work fine for this.

same thing here. it is heartbreaking.
 
Our standard poodle Pepper is not a climber, so she would never leave the patio area to which she is confined for potty time. But a cat can jump/climb outside the walls of the patio. I don't want it to be an outdoor cat because I don't want it roaming and bringing fleas into my house.

That cat is destructive, as evidenced by how she has torn up daughter's residence. Tell me how to prevent that, and I won't declaw it. But even then, it will have to be crated whenever we are not at home, just as Pepper is crated when we are not at home.

How do you train a cat not to get on your kitchen counters? I don't want a cat who has just taken a dump to then jump on my dining table or kitchen counters. I'd have to be bacterializing 24/7.
 
I was very young when I got my first apartment and decided to get a cat from a shelter. I grew up with dogs, had no experience with cats and there wasn't any internet then to research these things. Being young, I just assumed they were removing the claws and had no idea the breadth of what I had done. It was hideous and I cried for a week watching my poor cat, with wrapped paws, hobble around the house. When they removed the bandages, his paws were covered with dried blood. I had to shred up newspaper for litter so not to aggravate the paws and so they wouldn't get infected. Fortunately, it didn't make my cat introverted, but I would NEVER do that again to an animal.

I have had several cats since Oreo passed away, and they have claws. I found that a cheap jute or sea straw carpet was sufficient for them since they never took to the scratching posts. It did not require training. They went right to it naturally. They need something to remove the sheath that grows on their nails and this works perfectly. I also have a big oak tree, amongst many, out front of my house and they come outside and hang with me. They use the tree as a scratching post also. It doesn't seem to damage the tree. Cats will also stretch their claws out when they are happy to knead like they did when they were suckling as kittens. A blanket or their beds work fine for this.
But what if your home is filled with Oriental rugs? I'm not willing to replace those investments with cheap jute rugs.
 
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