I've soooo had it with Kitty! I don't want to do this but...

[debilorrah]

The last cat I had declawed they did it with laser and there was no blood and he didn't even have bandages on when he came home that day. Never bothered him a bit. He was bouncing all over the place like nothing happened.

 

[babyblue2]

Quote:
Agreed, there are better ways of doing the procedure and better pain control options available now. I would choose the same option if it was de-claw or re-home.

 

[sourland]

Our last, and I do mean LAST in all ways, cat was declawed as a 3 yr old. All attempts to stop her from destroying the house failed, and it was euthanasia or declawing. She was 100% an indoor cat and after the initial pain of declawing had no problems. She still climbed, caught mice and beat up all of the house dogs that she outlived. She also was a feral kitten that my daughter saved. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[jtbrown]

Good luck. I had a bad experience with declawing my first cat that was mine when I left home.

She recovered, and lived to be 18 (my Penny), and I have also recovered from the experience but I swore I would never declaw a cat again. And I have not. However, if I was in your position, I would just research the best place to have it done and best technique and do it. We are just now buying "grown up" furniture (not hand me downs) and it is way too expensive to have it shredded. Also, I seem to be the only person I know who has had the kind of experience I had with Penny. Then again, not many cats take their own stitches out 2 days after their kitty hysterectomy and she did that too! Hope it goes well.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
When Keith got home from work last night and I showed him what she had done, he showed her a .22 cal round. I don't think he meant it was for her to bat around.

 

[Stacykins]

I hope after her paw mutilation she doesn't develop a behavioral problem, much more likely to occur in declawed cats then non. I bet you'd be thrilled if she turned into a biter. Or a house soiler.

Here are just a few research studies on the negative effects of declawing.

Bennett, M; Houpt, K.A.; Erb, H.N. Effects of declawing on feline behavior. Companion Animal Practice. 1988;2:7-12. -- Found that 16% of cats developed behavioral problems such as house-soiling (4%) or biting (12%) after declawing; more than twice as many declawed cats as intact cats were referred to the behavior service.

Borchelt, P.L. and Voith, V.L. Aggressive behavior in cats. Compendium on continuing education for the practicing veterinarian, Jan 1987. v. 9 (1), p. 49-57. -- Declawed cats were more likely to bite.

Benson, G.J.; Olson, W.A.; Davis, C.A.; Tranquilli, W.J.; Wheaton, L.G.; Thurmon, J.C. Postoperative catecholamine response to onychectomy in isoflurane-anesthetized cats: effect of analgesics. Veterinary surgery, May/June 1991. v. 20 (3), p. 222-225. -- Onychectomy was associated with increased postoperative plasma catecholamines that were decreased by morphine and xylazine but not saline. (Evidence of pain.) The conclusion was that pain is very hard to detect and quantify in cats, and that pain in animals is frequently treated inadequately.

Carroll, G.L.; Martinez, E.A.; Hartsfield, S.M.; Matthews, N.S.; Howe, L.B.; Slater, M.R.; Haughn, L. Evaluation of analgesia provided by postoperative administration of butorphanol to cats undergoing onychectomy. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, July 15, 1998. v. 213 (2), p. 246-250. -- Only half of cats being declawed at a teaching hospital received any pain medication at all.

Clancy, E.A.; Moore, A.S.; Bertone E.R. Evaluation of cat and owner characteristics and their relationships to outdoor access of owned cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2003 Jun 1;222(11):1541-5. -- Owners of declawed cats let them roam outdoors at the same rate as non-declawed cats, despite nearly universal recommendations not to.

Cooper, M.A.; Soiderer, E.E.; Laverty, P.H. Bilateral flexor tendon contracture following onychectomy in 2 cats. Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne, 2005 Mar., v. 46, no. 3, p. 244-246. -- Complications of declawed cats noted; two cats presented with bilateral flexor tendon contracture following onychectomy 3 - 6 months post-op, a complication which proved to be painful and debilitating and required further surgery to correct. The researchers conclude such cases were likely described merely as "lameness" following onychectomy in past cases.

Yeon, S.C.; Ayers, S.; Houpt, K.A.; Flanders, J.A.; Scarlett, J.M. Attitudes of owners regarding tendonectomy and onychectomy in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Jan 1, 2001. v. 218 (1), p. 43-47. -- 80% of cats had at least one medical complication following declawing surgery. 33% developed behavior problems after surgery (18% biting and 15% house-soiling).

Gaynor, J.S. Chronic pain syndrome feline onychectomy. NAVC Clinician’s Brief. April 2005. -- Chronic pain in declawed cats is acknowledged; the author suggests that it may not be noticed for long periods. Increased aggression may be one result.

Grier, K.C., Peterson, N. Chapter 3: Indoor cats, scratching, and the debate over declawing: when normal pet behavior becomes a problem. In State of the Animals III, 2005. Washington DC: Humane Society of the United States. -- The top two reasons for removing a cat from a household were house-soiling (33%) and biting (14%) -- not scratching of people or furniture.

Jankowski A.J.; Brown D.C.; Duval J.; Gregor T.P.; Strine L.E.; Ksiazek L.M.; Ott A.H. Comparison of effects of elective tenectomy or onychectomy in cats. Journal Of The American Veterinary Medical Association [J Am Vet Med Assoc] 1998 Aug 1; Vol. 213 (3), pp. 370-3. -- The study found high complication rate for both procedures and behavioral change.

Landsberg, G.M. Cat owners’ attitudes toward declawing. Anthrozoos 1991; Vol. 4, pp. 192-197. -- Only 4% of owners stated that they would have gotten rid of the cat if it wasn't declawed. 4% of declawed cats developed or had worsened behavior problems post-op (litterbox avoidance, biting).

Landsberg, G.M. Feline scratching and destruction and the effects of declawing. Veterinary clinics of North America: Small animal practice, Mar 1991. v. 21 (2), p. 265-279. -- While veterinarians estimate that 10-75% of clients would get rid of a cat if it weren’t declawed, only 4% of owners made that claim.

Morgan, M.; Houpt, K.A. Feline behavior problems: the influence of declawing. Anthrozoös, Vol 3(1), Sum, 1989. pp. 50-53. Declawed cats showed more jumping on tables than cats with intact paws, and more house soiling than intact cats.

Patronek, G.J. Assessment of claims of short- and long-term complications associated with onychectomy in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Oct 1, 2001. v. 219 (7), p. 932-937. -- Comment by Bozarth, R., “It seems unthinkable that an elective surgery performed on a quarter of owned cats could lack definitive evaluation, but that appears to be the case. The most that can be said about adverse behavioral sequelae to onychectomy is that they remain as hard to dismiss as they are to quantify.” It seems to me there is a distressing lack of large studies on this subject; there are potential risks and no one is talking about them. Reminds me of melaleuca.

Patronek, G.J.; McCabe, G.P.; Ecker, C.; Glickman, L.T.; Beck, A.M. Risk factors for relinquishment of cats to an animal shelter. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Aug 1, 1996. v. 209 (3), p. 582-588. -- Odds of being relinquished for declawed cats is almost double that of intact cats. Inappropriate elimination was almost twice as common in declawed cats as paws-intact cats.

Romans, C.W.; Gordon, W.J.; Robinson, D.A.; Evans, R.; Conzemius, M. Effect of postoperative analgesic protocol on limb function following onychectomy in cats. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association; July 1,2005, Vol. 227 Issue 1, pp. 89-93. -- Results show limb function following surgery is significantly improved in cats treated with fentanyl transdermally or butorphanol IM (painkillers) -- a definite sign the cats are in pain. Regardless of the painkiller regimen, limb function was still significantly reduced 12 days after surgery, showing that pain lasts weeks, not days, suggesting that long-term analgesic treatment is needed for cats undergoing onychectomy. This is not common practice.

Tobias, K.S. Feline Onychectomy at a Teaching Institution: A Retrospective Study of 163 Cases. Veterinary surgery, July/Aug 1994. v. 23 (4), p. 274-280. -- Short-term medical complications in post-operative declawed cats are as high as 50%, with 20% of cats suffering from long-term medical complications.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

We trim our cats' claws with fingernail trimmers used for humans. Could you try that?

 

[Nicole01]

I fully understand your frustration. When we first brought our Nala home, she destroyed all the bedroom's carpet at the doorway in all 3 rooms. We NEED to replace every single room. We were beyond angry. We never did have her declawed. I don't remember what stopped her, but we put vinegar, bitter apple, ect to stop her. I don't blame you for having her declawed.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yep, and get bit for it. Trimming her nails is a two person job, with my DH holding her wrapped tight with only the paw showing. As I have already listed we have tried everything.

 

[gritsar]

Stacykins, perhaps you'd like to give her a claws intact home? I'll gladly pay shipping and I'll even send the box with all the remedies we've tried so far with her. It's easy to be self righteous when it's not your problem.

We have two well behaved dogs and another rescued cat living in our home. Kitty is the only one that causes problems. As I've already stated I'm not happy about having her declawed. Having animals doesn't have to mean I can't have nice things at this stage in my life.