DECLAWING

[camillel]

HELP. I had David read the article on declawing and told him I am so against it. He said fine but Salem has to stop clawing the furniture and curtains. She is only 13 weeks old so we are being patient. She has every toy available. We have the scratch tree and the cardboard scratch post. She doesn't scratch us when she plays so she is really good. Please I need some help with getting her to stop climbing the curtains and clawing the furniture. Our older cat Sam Adams (8yrs old) did a demolish job on the living room rug and David will not put up with that if Salem starts. We live in my inlaws house also.

 

[gesseppe]

hello, With my house I have a few gatos... 3 new 6 month girls.  Like as in the past this has worked for me.

I have sisal scratching posts with a mini padded ' seat atop.  24-30 inch tall.  Fun and easy to make if you go to your local hardware store... maybe the loving inlaw whose taking you all in, is handy or would help with building this FUN FAMILY PROJECT when he/she has the free time.  Quicker yet temporary solution is a water bottle set on mist/spray not stream and spray at them when they misbehave.  Sometimes just shaking a half full water with the sounds gets their attention.  NO yelling just talk to them as if they were children, since they are like little kids....

Now, you need scratching post... NOT CARPETED.... (me personally)... To start making your own tall, affordable scratching post... A half inch base of plywood or mdf or scrap wood, mine are 18 inched wide a post 4-8 inches thick... if you look around I,m sure you can find a log with or without bark... bark can be messy so you may want to remove bark and sand the log a little and wrap with sisal half way up.  Trying to tie the sisal can be challenging.  If you have or can find a hot glue gun and again this works great if your handy or know someone on the block who is..  You'ld be surprised how people in most neighborhoods when asked nicely will want to help... Especially when you have the supplies and the ambition.

Nail trimming should be done with great care and not all gatos like this personal time.. There are a few videos out their on u-tube etc... you'll have to decide... Aside from a vet visit... even though you'll have the scratching post(s) ... your babies need their nails trimmed regularly and watch the due claw..(that thumb like claw)  this one tends to curl in quicker and doesn't always get filed down when gato scratches the post.... Cat nip leaves... oh boy I bet you could find some in the yard... another cool tool to get kitty to bond with you....

Again, I apologize 74444444444\87/5999... ignore the numbers...one of my babies is letting me know its play time... AND this brings up another GOOD point, gatos need their play time.  A simple sisal string and some mousee toy attached..etc..  good luck, and let us know how life wheels for you...

Gesseppe

 

[camillel]

Thank you Great ideas I forgot about the spray bottle. The tree we have has twine and log bottoms and Salem does use both. Nail clipping I haven't tried yet. I do plaw with her paws so she does get used to me touching her. Thank you again Great ideas

 

[gesseppe]

one last thing... as for the curtain climbing and back of couch thing... I use non scented febreeze... My gatos pick up on it and will stay away... you know the heightened scent thing animals have.  Well anyways, toys like a child alone in a room... is no fun unless you have someone to play with... i don't think gatos have imaginery friends... but i have been wrong before.. GOOD luck!  

                                   

 

[Kat0121]

 
Thank you Great ideas I forgot about the spray bottle. The tree we have has twine and log bottoms and Salem does use both. Nail clipping I haven't tried yet. I do plaw with her paws so she does get used to me touching her. Thank you again Great ideas

Please don't use a spray bottle on a cat. The only thing this does is teach the cat to distrust you. 

it's good that you are getting her used to you touching her paws. You can put claw covers on her called soft paws. These are also available on Amazon.

http://www.softpaws.com/soft-paws-cats/

Cats respond better to positive reinforcement that they do punishment (the spray bottle). Praise her when she uses her scratching post instead of furniture or a wall. You can also do this with additional play time and with treats. You can also spray the scratching posts with catnip spray (available at Wal Mart and Amazon). This will help attract her to them. Putting a scratching post near the piece of furniture that she normally would go for will offer her an alternative. 

If you decide to go with the claw caps, the vet can help you put them on the first time if you need that. Most cats don't mid them after they get used to them. They make them in a lot of different colors. 

 

[dbljj]

my cat is delclawed in front only but the back ones still tear up stuff I try to clip every 2 weeks but he fights it like crazy and bites me. My tabby that recently died I also had to clip the back claws and it was a fight everytime.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Trimming the nails weekly should prevent almost all damage!

 

[dbljj]

i must have had a really good vet. I have never seen a cat or known anyone who had problems with their cats after the procedure was done. i have looked at some really awful photos, etc. Thank God mine have gotten along great afterwards, let us handle their paws, etc. we have much worse problems trying to clip their rear claws.

 

[talkingpeanut]

Many vets don't do the procedure anymore because it's a form of mutilation. It's not just a question of skill - some cats don't recover from the trauma.

 

[camillel]

Thank you all so uch I am going to pick up the catnip spray today instead of spray bottle Try positive reinforcment first. She is still a baby so we are trying to take it slow. Thanks again everyone. Please keep the ideas coming

 

[stephenq]

 
Thank you all so uch I am going to pick up the catnip spray today instead of spray bottle Try positive reinforcment first. She is still a baby so we are trying to take it slow. Thanks again everyone. Please keep the ideas coming

Double sided sticky tape (available in large strips at pet stores) placed on areas of the furniture that hes attracted to is a great deterrent that works 24 hours a day.

 

[camillel]

My vet does do the proceedure I asked already but Salem trusts us so much now I don't want to loose that. She is such a snuggle bum. I want to try to train her now She won't be fixed until March so I do have time. I just needed different ideas and everyone is being so great. THANK YOU ALL

 

[macha 143]

Macha scratched me, my furniture, curtains and etc 

Her vet trimmed her nails and Mia is going for her check up next month.

I will ask the vet to trim Mia's nails, so she won't scratch me and Macha.

Good luck...

 

[camillel]

Thanks Salem as I said really doesn't scratch us she is good that way Its the furniture and curtains. Believe me I am taking all post in and will go over them with David Thanks again

 

[donutte]

Almost every cat we've had has been declawed, and never had a problem with it. And we've had a LOT of cats. But, I decided with the kittens to stop that trend. And I have definitely noticed that the longer I let their nails grow, the more they want to scratch our new chairs. So those little talons (on the front anyway) got snip snipped last night. It's not easy, and Oliver acts like we're murdering him, but they survive. As do I

And yes, don't forget the dew claw. Those little suckers can hide very well and can be a bit more difficult to snip.

 

[jade14]

I would recommend clipping the nails regularly and you can use an emery board to file them down so they don't have sharp ends.  I clip Sawyer's probably about once a week and file them with a nail file, he is so used to it that as long as he isn't in crazy mode, he just sits and lets me do it.  

 

[Norachan]

At 13 weeks she is still a baby. She'll lose the urge to climb the curtains and claw the furniture as she gets older. You can get a spray called Scratch Not by Smart Kitty that stops cats from scratching. Spraying furniture with diluted lemon juice works too, they don't like the smell on their paws so stay away from it.

Actually, I think @catwoman707  had some tough plastic covers fitted to her furniture to stop the cats scratching, maybe she could show you the photos?

Thank you for not declawing your cat, it really is inhumane and it doesn't stop them scratching the furniture. . I cat-sat a declawed cat once. He still had his back claws and he used them a lot on the back of the chairs and sofa. He did more damage in a week than my own fully clawed cat did in her life.

 

[catwoman707]

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• catwoman707
• Dec 30, 2013

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• catwoman707
• Dec 30, 2013

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• catwoman707
• Apr 4, 2012

Hi, these are easy and completely effective!

All it is, is clear contact paper, cut a large rectangle and attach to the arms front and side with double sided sticky tape.

Problem solved and they pretty much blend right in as you can see

 

[furmummy]

Declawing is ILLEGAL in most countries as it is inhumane and detrimental to cats.

If you provide *PLENTY* of scratch posts for you cat(s) they won't ruin your furniture. Place the scratching opportunities all over your house,

close to where they sleep, close to any place they rest. Use card board or rope, not carpet.

I have 3 cats. They all have their claws and NONE have EVER clawed my couch or any other furniture. I don't have that many scratch places now, but at one point whe n

they were little, I counted and had 14 scratch posts/card board scratchers.
 

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure...  But in either case, declawing is painful, brutal and inhumane. There is a reason it is illegal in all countries in europe, Canada, Australia, New Zeeland etc...

 

[barbb]

 
My vet does do the proceedure I asked already but Salem trusts us so much now I don't want to loose that. She is such a snuggle bum. I want to try to train her now She won't be fixed until March so I do have time. I just needed different ideas and everyone is being so great. THANK YOU ALL

Even though a vet may do the procedure, just be aware that 40 percent of vets are not trained in the declaw procedure in veterinary school- and they do it anyhow. Don't take any chances mutilating your pet. I am in rescue and have seen all the discarded cats who have permanent post-surgical pain and who will not use the litter box and avoid it at all costs because it hurts their paws. Please explain to David that there is much higher risk of this happening as opposed to simply training kitties not to claw. 

There is a great product called sscat which you can place where you don't want your cat to claw. It has a sensor which will detect the cat's presence and then spray compressed air.  . There are also sscat mats for sale if there is furniture you do not want them to be on. These are amazing products and work like a charm- and I might add, you will want the sscat if you intend to put up a christmas tree, along with bitter apple (also sold in pet stores) to keep from chewing cords or ornaments. 

Other things that keep a kitty away are loose sheets of aluminum foil, plastic carpet upside down with the little spikes on the back side, and double sided sticky tape (pet stores sell this too). These are all things you can place temporarily in the areas you do not want your kitty. They will establish a routine of avoiding those areas. At some point you can take away those things and kitty will be in its routine and forget why they avoided those areas to begin with. 

It is extremely  important if you want kitty away from certain things, to put other things in areas where you DO want them to be. Absolutely buy those square cardboard scratchy boards and put catnip on them. Get your kitty a tall cat tree and get them running up and down it chasing a string on a stick. Create areas with fleece squares where you would like them to rest and to be "their" areas. Cats also like the back side of area rugs and you can get some inexpensive ones and leave them upside down in "their" play areas. Also cats love those sisal mats too. If you are proactive in taking charge and establishing a routine with your cat which involves set times for wakeup, feeding, play, and put to bed, just like a small child,  your kitty will not be left to its own devices to create its own rules with you becoming involved only in a reactive mode. Make a game plan and stick to it. 

Just as an aside, this is why many shelters only adopt young kittens in pairs, because they can be destructive if they are without a playmate and where their humans may not have time to invest in training and exercising them. Cats are much more like dogs than people realize and will adapt readily- they relish and stick to a routine far more than most creatures. I realize you love Salem very much, but it would be kinder to Salem to bring her back to the shelter if she is bored and destructive and if there is no time to train her and invest time in helping her to be a good little kitty- and instead get a cat that is older, lower energy, already trained, and is a better fit to the lifestyle of your home. It is not fair to remove Salem's claws - essentially altering her and punishing her in the worst possible way for being a normal kitten. It is also dangerous because she will still have that energy and may simply switch to biting. Carefully observe her and consider what you need to do in addition to simply stopping her from using her claws, and then get your plan going for her to be a happy kitten whether that means returning her, exercising her, giving her a routine or special toys, using products designed to curb her clawing (including nail caps). I know declawing is not what you want to do and am asking you to seriously not let that happen under any circumstances.

I should also add that waiting until March to do a declaw is even worse because the older and heavier a cat gets, the more accustomed to using her claws and the more pain she will endure from the weight on her feet. They are not removing just the claws, they are amputating the digits in which the claws are growing from. It does not matter whether laser or knife, it is still an amputation taking place and extremely painful and high risk.