I am with most people, I think declawing a cat is horrible but my wife and I don't know what else to do and are hoping to get some advice.
We live in a tropical country and have two indoor cats, a Persian and an American short hair. The Persian is turning two years old this week and we are having a recurring problem with her nails. They keep getting really infected.
She has probably been to the vet 25 times in the last two years for this problem. It is incredibly painful for her to clean the infection out and to top it off, she is a complete drama queen when it comes to the vet on a good day. Let alone when her nails are hurting. It often takes three people to hold her down which is incredibly stressful on her and us. After a vet visit, she won't come near us for a few days. Moreover, it is costing us a fortune to continue with the antibiotics, sprays, visits etc.
The nails get this hard, crust around them. Today the crust was a green color. We bathe her regularly which helps a little but not much. We have tried half a dozen kitty litters and none have helped. We cut her nails every two to three weeks and we are told that this is not the problem.
All her shots are up to date and we do everything that the books tell us to do.
It seems to generally be the same three nails that get infected.
So we don't know what else to do but declaw the nails that do keep causing her so much grief. We love her to death and don't want to keep putting her through all this pain regularly.
I feel it is cruel to declaw but also cruel to make her live like this. Do you think declawing is the best option?
Moreover, she is an odd cat as far as cat-like behavior goes. She doesn't ever climb, use scratching posts or jump up high. Not once in two years have I seen her go on anything higher than a meter up. Despite having a few large kitty jungle gyms to exploit. She also never uses her paws when she is playing with the American short hair.
Thanks for any advice.
We live in a tropical country and have two indoor cats, a Persian and an American short hair. The Persian is turning two years old this week and we are having a recurring problem with her nails. They keep getting really infected.
She has probably been to the vet 25 times in the last two years for this problem. It is incredibly painful for her to clean the infection out and to top it off, she is a complete drama queen when it comes to the vet on a good day. Let alone when her nails are hurting. It often takes three people to hold her down which is incredibly stressful on her and us. After a vet visit, she won't come near us for a few days. Moreover, it is costing us a fortune to continue with the antibiotics, sprays, visits etc.
The nails get this hard, crust around them. Today the crust was a green color. We bathe her regularly which helps a little but not much. We have tried half a dozen kitty litters and none have helped. We cut her nails every two to three weeks and we are told that this is not the problem.
All her shots are up to date and we do everything that the books tell us to do.
It seems to generally be the same three nails that get infected.
So we don't know what else to do but declaw the nails that do keep causing her so much grief. We love her to death and don't want to keep putting her through all this pain regularly.
I feel it is cruel to declaw but also cruel to make her live like this. Do you think declawing is the best option?
Moreover, she is an odd cat as far as cat-like behavior goes. She doesn't ever climb, use scratching posts or jump up high. Not once in two years have I seen her go on anything higher than a meter up. Despite having a few large kitty jungle gyms to exploit. She also never uses her paws when she is playing with the American short hair.
Thanks for any advice.