i know i'm going to get murdered for this one...

[kushmama89]

ok so unfortunately I think I may have hit my limit and I am considering declawing the cats. -runs for cover-

photo.JPG

• kushmama89
• Dec 19, 2012

They have torn down my curtains, blinds, and I can't have any windows open because they rip through my screens. Nothing effects them in terms of getting them not to scratch things. I can only get the nail caps on one of the cats and she will chew and chew and chew them. They could care less about oranges, the special spray from the pet store and I cant keep sticky tape on stuff because of my daughter. Spray bottles are useless, I can't even get them to stay off my counters and tables or out of my CABINETS...theyre break my dishes because they know how to open my cabinets and they go inside them and just walk around and push glasses out of them. They have NO boundaries. They play ALL day and they're sweet as pie to people...usually.

It was bad enough when they started playing so rough that they were giving each other scratches and yowling (my neighbors are complaining) but they're not fighting...they play but someone will paw another one and their nails will go out and they catch each other wrong because they play to rough and they hurt each other. But my dog is constantly covered in scratches and welts from them.

But the last straw was one of them swiping my daughter right in the face. For no reason. She was sitting on the couch watching Barney and the cats were upstairs fooling around and one of them came running down and jumped up on the couch where she was. Well the cat went to try and take her food off of her (which is another thing they do...no boundaries..they get up on her high chair and steal her food while she is eating or they will jump ON THE STOVE! while stuff is cooking! im just waiting for one of them to catch on fire) and she squeezed her piece of sandwhich in her hand so the cat couldn't take it and the cat swiped my daughter right in her face across her eye. She was bleeding good and I'm lucky she didn't actually get her eye.

I'm at my wits end. I love them...I do. Kush I raised, the other two I got from the pound and theyre loveable as can be usually. but its getting too much. I trim their nails (Fatman I cant...he bites if you bathe him/trim his nails anything...) and I've tried everything. like I said, I've always been against it but when it's the only option staring you in the face and youre husband is telling you to get rid of the cats because of the damage theyre doing to your home, your dog and your child when all those things came before the cats and he didn't want them in the first place...I don't see what other choice I have....

=( I can try and find other homes for them, humane society, or declaw. -sigh-

 

 

[aeevr]

why can't u clip their claws?

 

[kushmama89]

it doesn't do anything. the two females aren't TOO horrible when I clip their nails, but I have to wrap them up in towels and put my legs over them to do it. fatman...hes impossible. it took me and my husband to bathe him when we brought him home from the humane society (he was disgusting) and he was biting and thrashing and for a cat he has some crazy power! I cant control him at all by myself and no one will touch him for that kind of stuff. but even when their nails are trimmed they're still dragging at the mattress and attacking the dog and pulling down the curtains. and it still really hurts, especially for a child...the cat's nails WERE cut when she scratched my daughter's face. when they get in their 'moods' they use whatever force they can muster.

 

[missymotus]

There's no reason for a house to be torn up that way, cats need rules and boundaries like a toddler does. Lots of repetition, if they're clawing something say no, remove them and repeat if they go back.  Have multiple cat trees, scratch poles and pads for them to use for scratching, playing and climbing. You'll probably need a few different textured poles and trees, sissal, carpet and cardboard are popular.

Keep the nails clipped, if you can't do it then get the vets to. Most do it, or the vet techs will for a nominal fee.  

They also sound bored, a bored cat will find their own fun. 

 

[kushmama89]

oh believe me...I do! over and over and over. I feel like a broken record. I get after them more than my 20 month old daughter. It's sad. I take them off the table, I take them off the counters. I tell them no. I try showing them what they are allowed on. I try throwing one of their mice or their toys or their laser which they love. They don't care. They tore open the dog's food last night (shes on taste of the wild so it's that thick plastic bag) and had it everywhere...(their bowls were full) so I had to go out and buy a large container to store her food in. I've had to go out and buy special containers for some foods because even when they have food they will go in the pantry and rip open boxes of cereal and crackers. They want human food. (they were never fed human food...they STEAL food from my daughter when they jump up on her high chair and snatch it out of her hands and run off) i'm like a prisoner in my own home....literally. The cats are running it.

 

[kushmama89]

I don't know what else to do to give them entertainment. they have toys, play-mates, stuff to climb and play on and scratch on(that theyre actually supposed to...not the stuff that they are)....they get cuddles and belly rubs (fatman loves them) and love.

they're all fixed, they get blue buffalo food dry and wet, the only thing that they don't get that they all want is to go outside.

 

[dejolane]

Oh my goodness. That is your couch > I have a black leather couch and love seat and my cats have never tore them up. Maybe you cats just need meds to calm with down before you get rid of them take them to the vet. Good luck and let us know what happens.

dejolane

 

[ilovemia]

They have torn down my curtains, blinds, and I can't have any windows open because they rip through my screens. Nothing effects them in terms of getting them not to scratch things. I can only get the nail caps on one of the cats and she will chew and chew and chew them. They could care less about oranges, the special spray from the pet store and I cant keep sticky tape on stuff because of my daughter. Spray bottles are useless, I can't even get them to stay off my counters and tables or out of my CABINETS...theyre break my dishes because they know how to open my cabinets and they go inside them and just walk around and push glasses out of them. They have NO boundaries. They play ALL day and they're sweet as pie to people...usually.

It was bad enough when they started playing so rough that they were giving each other scratches and yowling (my neighbors are complaining) but they're not fighting...they play but someone will paw another one and their nails will go out and they catch each other wrong because they play to rough and they hurt each other. But my dog is constantly covered in scratches and welts from them.

But the last straw was one of them swiping my daughter right in the face. For no reason. She was sitting on the couch watching Barney and the cats were upstairs fooling around and one of them came running down and jumped up on the couch where she was. Well the cat went to try and take her food off of her (which is another thing they do...no boundaries..they get up on her high chair and steal her food while she is eating or they will jump ON THE STOVE! while stuff is cooking! im just waiting for one of them to catch on fire) and she squeezed her piece of sandwhich in her hand so the cat couldn't take it and the cat swiped my daughter right in her face across her eye. She was bleeding good and I'm lucky she didn't actually get her eye.

I'm at my wits end. I love them...I do. Kush I raised, the other two I got from the pound and theyre loveable as can be usually. but its getting too much. I trim their nails (Fatman I cant...he bites if you bathe him/trim his nails anything...) and I've tried everything. like I said, I've always been against it but when it's the only option staring you in the face and youre husband is telling you to get rid of the cats because of the damage theyre doing to your home, your dog and your child when all those things came before the cats and he didn't want them in the first place...I don't see what other choice I have....

=( I can try and find other homes for them, humane society, or declaw. -sigh-

 

Oh honey! Been ther done that. My ceasar (RIP) was a horror. Loved him dearly but he destroyed EVERYTHING! It got so bad that I did have him declawed. Frankly, I thought it was the best decision not only for my family and I but for him too. I'm sure that as destructable as he was, even if I had found a home for him he would have been taken to the pound not long after. I waited a desasterous year before I had it done. It never changed his personality, made him a biter, not use the litter box or any horror stories people tell. I have had 5 declawed cats `declawed over the years and no negative effects with them either. My present cats are Mia and Mac. Mia was declawed because my lease said she had to be. Mac on the other hand has not been (7 months old). He has not been destrustive to anthing so far except his cat tree. I have had to work really hard for that. Luckily I am home all day and have been able to work with him on that (still have to reming him once in awhile to use the tree by saying no, sharply, to the furniture and taking him to tree and helping him start to scratch. If he ever got as bad as ceasar was he will be declawed as I am disabbled and have no funds to buy more furniture, etc.. I was lucky enough to have someone give me the cat tree. In cases like yours my opinion is its not a bad thing as it needs done to keep them and make sure the have a forever home rather than going to the pound and the possible results. JMHO! I know I will get lashed for this post most likely but unless you have been there, done that , you dont really understand. Oh, I have used cat plastic claws (been chewed off) and I always trim nails weekly, it just never helped. Mac's a first so far. 

 

[otto]

Please, please, don't do this. Cats who are behaving out of control are not going to have their behavior corrected by cutting off their toes. What you have is a house full of out of control cats. What you need to do is learn how to train them. "De-clawing" is not going to solve the behavior issues.

Declawing is outlawed in more than 26 civilized countries around the world because it is considered in-humane. And 8 cities so far (all in California) in the USA.

Please educate yourself as to what declawing really is. It is amputations of the cat's toes. Ten amputations, which the cat will be expected to walk on for the rest of his or her life, not to mention, scratch in harsh litter. Bone, nerves, tendons, ligaments are also removed along with the claw.

The procedure is so painful, cats actually scream while it is being done, even deeply under anesthesia. Some vets like to consider themselves "more humane" and inject an additional local anesthesia into each toe, in addition to the general anesthesia. That should tell you how unbelievably painful this procedure is.

A cat who has been through these amputations can no longer walk properly or stretch properly. Ever. They likely have pain all their lives not just in their toes, but in their legs and in their backs, because their gait is permanently changed, making them, in reality, crippled.

Cats hide pain, so unless the pain is severe, they will not show how they are hurting. There also is a great likelihood your cats will bite and become 'destructive' in other ways. This will not correct their behavior.

Please, PLEASE learn how to train them, or find them new homes.

http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

 

[Willowy]

Kittens are super naughty. Maiming them for life is not the answer. . .it would be like having a young dog's teeth removed because he chews everything (ah, puppies are fun :tongue2. Or removing a child's fingers because she draws on the walls. Plus, it won't help the cabinet opening (I had to put baby locks on all the cabinets) or dog food bag opening (the one de-clawed cat I have is the worst offender on that, LOL). Or the box spring cloth ripping---the one de-clawed cat my mom has is the worst offender for THAT. Or counter jumping or food stealing or. . .well, anything except actual scratching, and even that's iffy (I heard of one de-clawed cat who shredded the couch using his little clawless stubs).

I think that's a major reason a lot of young de-clawed cats end up at shelters (well, around here anyway), because their owners think de-clawing will solve a lot more behavioral problems than it actually does. I knew one girl who had her kitten de-clawed because he CHEWED the leather couch. Oh gee, you're surprised that didn't fix it ? Plus, some de-clawed cats will have litterbox avoidance issues due to sore paws, I bet your husband wouldn't like that either. And some turn to biting humans, dangerous to small children---a cat bite is far more serious than a cat scratch.

They're young and naughty. They need training and supervision and time to mature. If you can, try making a kitten-safe room you can pop them into when they start making you crazy. This too shall pass, and you'll have all kinds of funny stories to tell :lol3:.

 

[orientalslave]

I don't know what else to do to give them entertainment. they have toys, play-mates, stuff to climb and play on and scratch on(that theyre actually supposed to...not the stuff that they are)....they get cuddles and belly rubs (fatman loves them) and love.

they're all fixed, they get blue buffalo food dry and wet, the only thing that they don't get that they all want is to go outside.

Play with them.  It's much, much more fun for a kitten or cat to play with someone than be left to entertain themselves.

 

[kushmama89]

I do play with them. When I'm saying lots of love I'm meaning attention (we play with their laser, their fish on a stick (ive had to replace it about 7 times because they go nuts over it and break it). I even make them little 'agility' courses and use their laser light to put them through it! (kush is the best at it and gets all excited, but shes been doing it since she started running the other two are just learning)...and with their behavior and me trying to curb it I pay more attention to them than my child and that's getting a bit ridiculous that they're worse than my baby. Theyre just BRATS!

And the info posted in that link is from studies done in 1994 and 1998. Practices have gotten a lot better. That's like taking a study of a human surgery from 1994 and saying it's horrible but not taking into consideration its almost 2013. They have laser surgery now for these types of procedures...

Like I said. I was always the one who said I would NEVER EVER get my cats declawed...but they're making my life a nightmare. None of Kush's littermates are acting like this. None of my friends kittens (about the same age) are acting like this (to this extent). So why is it that all three of my cats are being this way? And I'm going above and beyond anything they are. I'm feeding better food, I have more toys, more things to climb on, they have play mates, they get attention, play time from me...I just don't know.
 

 

[Willowy]

Whether it's done by laser method or not (and AVMA says laser surgery is riskier and makes no difference in pain levels,), it doesn't change the fact that they're disabled for life, may end up with crippling arthritis later in life, can't ever display normal cat stretching behaviors. . .all because they were naughty kittens.

Of course they're your cats to do with as you wish, and unfortunately it's legal in most places in the U.S. But do think about what you'll do if one or more stops using the litterbox, becomes a biter, or has complications. And whether de-clawing will actually change any of their problem behaviors.

 

[ilovemia]

A cat who has been through these amputations can no longer walk properly or stretch properly. Ever. They likely have pain all their lives not just in their toes, but in their legs and in their backs, because their gait is permanently changed, making them, in reality, crippled.
Cats hide pain, so unless the pain is severe, they will not show how they are hurting. There also is a great likelihood your cats will bite and become 'destructive' in other ways. This will not correct their behavior.
 

So not true. Have you ever had a declawed cat? Most people are only of this mindset because people who dont believe in it blow up stories and post them over and over just to try to get people to believe their way!.

 

[ilovemia]

I think that's a major reason a lot of young de-clawed cats end up at shelters (well, around here anyway), because their owners think de-clawing will solve a lot more behavioral problems than it actually does. I knew one girl who had her kitten de-clawed because he CHEWED the leather couch. Oh gee, you're surprised that didn't fix it ?

Plus, some de-clawed cats will have litterbox avoidance issues due to sore paws, I bet your husband wouldn't like that either. And some turn to biting humans, dangerous to small children---a cat bite is far more serious than a cat scratch.
 

All of these things happen with clawed cats too!

 

[Willowy]

So not true. Have you ever had a declawed cat? Most people are only of this mindset because people who dont believe in it blow up stories and post them over and over just to try to get people to believe their way!.

I have de-clawed cats (they came to me that way). How do you know that's not true? It's a fact that their gait is changed---unavoidable, as part of the foot is removed--and it's widely recognized that odd gaits can cause chronic pain. And it's also a fact that cats hide pain well. So how do you know whether your cats had chronic pain or not?

 

[ilovemia]

I have de-clawed cats (they came to me that way). How do you know that's not true? It's a fact that their gait is changed---unavoidable, as part of the foot is removed--and it's widely recognized that odd gaits can cause chronic pain. And it's also a fact that cats hide pain well. So how do you know whether your cats had chronic pain or not?

Thats just it, there are no DEFINATIVE  , for sure, studies either way. Everyone of them is biased. So you cant state what you say as fact.

 

[ritz]

Kush--have you tried Feliway or added Rescue Remedy (liquid) to their food?

 

[otto]

So not true. Have you ever had a declawed cat? Most people are only of this mindset because people who dont believe in it blow up stories and post them over and over just to try to get people to believe their way!.

Cats walk on their toes. You amputate part of the toe, their gait is no longer correct.

They can no longer walk the way they are supposed to walk. This puts pressure and strain on all other parts of the skeletal and muscular system. Strain the body was never meant to carry, which will cause pain. Cats, by their very nature, hide pain. So unless they are in agony, you will not know if your declawed cats suffer pain. But they surely do have backaches all the time.

In addition, cats use their claws, in part, to stretch those very muscles and joints. Without the claws, they can no longer do that properly.

As for the amputation sites. Well, the cat now has to walk on those stumps all his or her life. I bet it hurts.

I do not feel it is okay to subject a cat to a life time of pain, just because the cat isn't likely to show any suffering.

Regardless of method, what declawing does to a cat has not changed with the times. It is amputation of the third digit of their toes. Amputation, that will affect everything in their daily lives, forever.

Back to the topic:

The problem OP is having is not that these cats have claws. The problem is the cats' behaviors.
Declawing will not solve behavior problems, it is much more likely to make them even worse. Whatever is going on in the household has to be changed in positive ways, and retraining of the cats made a priority.

You'll get lots of help here.

 

[stealthkitty]

I second the idea of a kitten-safe room where you can put them when they're really acting up. Also, have you tried separating them from each other? Maybe they get each other all riled up or over-stimulated, like little kids sometimes do when they are playing together.