Indoor Cat Missing Many Claws

[cataccount3443]

hi everyone, was out of the house for about 6 hours and came back to see my smaller female cat with bloody paws hiding on top of the sink counter, other cat (fat male) had squeezed through the screen door and was hiding on the balcony. he wouldn't let me near him though, hissing and making deep gutteral noises at me.

after inspecting the girls paws I saw that she was missing almost all of her claws on all paws. took her to a 24 hour vet where the vet then insinuated that I had tried to declaw her by myself. obviously I wouldn't do that and the vet then said that declawing would be the best course of action.

after getting home and looking around more I found claws under my bed, in the bathroom, and in the living room. blood on the bathroom walls, and the shower lining ripped on the bottom with blood in the bathtub (she normally likes sitting in the bathtub) along with what's most likely urine on the floor and on the carpet in different spots of the apartment.

both cats are indoor only except the balcony and I'm struggling with what to do with the male cat. I can't know for sure what happened but the tufts of her hair I found near some of the claws make me assume they fought a long with his attitude towards me which is unlike him as he's normally the type to lay in your lap.

both cats are around 2 and other than playfighting have never seemed to fight before. now that she's declawed I'm unsure I want to keep him since she's defenseless now.


TL;DR got home to see my cat missing many claws and other cat acting defensive and almost feral. unsure what to do regarding keeping the attacker as I had to have the other cat declawed per vet recommendation and she now is defenseless.

thanks in advance for opinions, help, and everything else

 

[MissClouseau]

If I were you, for the beginning I would keep them in separate rooms if you have to leave them alone. Then put a hidden camera. There are some very affordable baby cams. Or if there is another person in the house you can use their phone's cam. Be outside but not away and watch them when they think they are alone in the house.

I would also use claw caps on the male cat until you figure out what's going on between them.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I would not put the two cats back together again until you can do a bit more investigation to see if can find any clues as to what would have possibly gone on. Your girl should be secluded for some period of days anyway to allow her to heal from the declawing. And, given it would seem she took the brunt of whatever went on, get your male cat to settle down and get him to a vet for a thorough check up. One, to make sure he isn't hiding any injuries himself, and two, to see if there is a health issue behind all of this. Hopefully, the vet did a thorough health evaluation of your girl while she was there. Is your male acting more normally yet?

Do other people live with you? Was anything else in your home disturbed, as if you might have had an intruder? Do you have any neighbors that might have something against you or your cats? Are there other cats/animals in the area that could have provoked a situation? Is it possible that a creature/human got into your home while you were gone (through what I assume, based on your comments, to be a screen door left slightly open for them to have access to the balcony)?

If these cats have always gotten along before, there is something/someone that they were exposed to have caused such a horrible occurrence. I would set up cameras not just in the house, but outside as well. And, if your male got out onto the balcony because you leave a door open for them, I would keep it closed for now - especially when you are not there.

I hate to scare you, but you need to be on high alert until you can get some more answers as to what happened in your absence.

 

[Furballsmom]

make me assume they fought

regarding keeping the attacker

Hello - I wouldn't remotely make the assumption that they fought, not at all especially since you're describing him as a lap cat. Did you find her fur under his claws, or blood on him or his claws?

I personally agree that someone or something got in and also scared the daylights out of him such that he did everything he could possibly do to get as far away as possible. Your male cat is still scared to pieces. Please, please have compassion for him - he's as emotionally damaged as she is physically (and emotionally).

Are you doing anything for them to help them become more relaxed again? Have you tried calming products?

Have you contacted the police? Did you take photographs of the mess?

 

[cataccount3443]

hi everyone thanks for posting,

I live with my girlfriend and we were both out of the house when it happened, no signs of intrusion as the door seemed fine and no valuables were missing from the house, we live on the seventh floor of our apartment so shouldn't have been any wildlife around.

male cat has calmed down now and is almost back to normal.

unfortunately we already cleaned the mess but apart from a few torn plastic bags everything seems normal. if someone would have broken in they could've stolen computers tvs or more, but nothing seemed off except what the cats couldve touched.

girl cat even seemed somewhat fine until we had picked her up and seen the paws.

our running theory is maybe she got stuck in a plastic grocery bag, got scared and maybe got claws stuck in the carpet while running around but we aren't sure

 

[Furballsmom]

male cat has calmed down now and is almost back to normal.

oh, thank goodness

our running theory is maybe she got stuck in a plastic grocery bag, got scared and maybe got claws stuck in the carpet

You may have something here, there have been other members who's cats got stuck in plastic bags and had very bad reactions although I think your baby's was the worst, poor thing. I'm glad you were able to get her to a vet (and I'm sorry the vet gave you that reaction).

 

[cataccount3443]

this is the only picture we have

 

[Furballsmom]

holy schamoly !

 

[Kflowers]

I would still put cameras around the house. It isn't that hard for professionals to pick locks. I would at least change the locks for a
higher grade than the ones currently installed. I would be very careful about who you give the keys to == landlord ... maintenance. There are
some very bad people out there. If you have sliding door to the balcony put a bar - pvc pipe does well for this 1/4" is good, to keep someone from opening the door and slipping in. The locks on sliding doors are a joke. If nothing else several cameras hidden around the place could reassure you that you haven't had an intruder.

If nothing was taken don't expect much help from the police. After all the ER vet wasn't really very helpful in accusing you and offering no other possible solutions. At least they took care of kit.

 

[fionasmom]

Fur missing from your female is suspicious, but no blood or evidence on the male is also odd given how much blood you found at the scene. Anything else possible, even off the wall type things, like a police helicopter flying close to your building frightening both cats? I once had a very old sick cat climb into a low linen closet and get her claws stuck in a blanket but it was not to the extent that you describe your cat's injuries.

I agree that they need to stay separated until you assess the situation, and possibly need to stay separated any time you both leave the house.

ER vets see all kinds of things and often develop the habit of throwing people on the defensive. It doesn't even make sense that a cat would sit still while someone pulled out all the claws.

Just read and have to agree with K Kflowers about someone entering with a key like maintenance or even a friend who should not have been there.

 

[Sarthur2]

This is highly unusual, and it sounds like a HUGE fight to me. What caused it may be the million dollar question.

Is your male cat neutered? Is your female cat spayed? How long have you had both cats?

Did the vet give your female cat any pain meds? She really needs them under the circumstances, as having claws broken off and pulled out beyond the quick is extremely painful and now she’s fully declawed and needs to heal. Is she on antibiotics too?

Please separate these two cats when no one is going to be home for now until the female heals and you can determine what might be occurring. It may be that your male cat needs declawing too if you plan to keep him. Or he needs to go.

 

[CL56]

apart from a few torn plastic bags everything seems normal.

our running theory is maybe she got stuck in a plastic grocery bag, got scared and maybe got claws stuck in the carpet while running around but we aren't sure

I bet you have it right here.
I've seen a cat in a panic with the handle of a plastic bag around his neck. (he was flat terrified )

 

[cataccount3443]

both cats are fixed so it most likely wasn't anything to do with mating, weather was nice so they wouldn't have been scared by a storm, and the only people that have keys outside of us would be the building managers but as far as building managers go they've been great and we've never had any problems with them.

cats are also used to loud noises as we have lots of loud cars on our street, and aren't phased by fireworks/thunder.

vet did call back though saying how her paws are swollen and she damaged the tissue and some nerves. also still doesn't believe us about how we found her, still seemingly implying that one of us had tried to do it ourselves.

 

[Kflowers]

perhaps your own vet should see her and talk to the ER vet. You may need the ER vet in the future.

 

[FeebysOwner]

vet did call back though saying how her paws are swollen and she damaged the tissue and some nerves. also still doesn't believe us about how we found her, still seemingly implying that one of us had tried to do it ourselves.

Not at all saying I support the vet's assessment, but you surely can see why they are suspicious. I am telling you, this did NOT happen because of a plastic bag.

I hope you all stay safe and no more incidents of anything of this magnitude happen - or, any for that matter - and that you can get your cats past this extraordinary trauma - you too.

 

[cataccount3443]

I dont really think that would cause it either but I have no clue what else it could be, and I'd rather believe that than believe the thought of having someone breaking in with the sole intent to torture her.

 

[Kflowers]

IF you tell the landlord you are changing the locks because this happened - you don't need to accuse anyone - then either the person won't be able to get in, or if it is maintenance they will think twice before
going after the cats.

In my case the cats were unharmed, nothing was moved or taken, but small pyrimids of dirt were left here and there in the apartment. After I had the locks changed and gave the landlord the new key, it did not happen again. You may consider it chance if you like, I do not. Take care.

 

[cataccount3443]

IF you tell the landlord you are changing the locks because this happened - you don't need to accuse anyone - then either the person won't be able to get in, or if it is maintenance they will think twice before
going after the cats.

In my case the cats were unharmed, nothing was moved or taken, but small pyrimids of dirt were left here and there in the apartment. After I had the locks changed and gave the landlord the new key, it did not happen again. You may consider it chance if you like, I do not. Take care.

thanks for the advice ill probably look into doing this

 

[Sarthur2]

Is your cat on pain meds?

 

[cataccount3443]

Is your cat on pain meds?

shes still at the vet currently but I believe so, they had pain meds on our bill as well so I imagine we'll be getting some for when she's home