I'm uncertain.
My cat is strictly indoor. She still needs to be spayed too, and I was thinking when that time did come, I might declaw her.
if I do declaw her, I will let her on all the furniture.
I guess I just need to talk to my vet about it a little more before I make that choice to, and see how much it will cost as well.

My Elroy is an indoor cat, and does know there are limits in the house. I would never declaw him as IF somthing did happen and he got out or was somehow let out at least he would have some kind of defense for himself.

I'll take the opportunity here to say that I totally loathe cats. Really.

But I think they should keep their claws so that they can defend themselves if need be, and shred up your curtains and your favorite clothing if they want.

And then pee on it, because they are spiteful little balls of fury.

LMAO!!

I have two indoor cats that are declawed.

I'm completely for it if you're doing it for the right reasons. I didn't declaw mine because of curtains or furniture. I'll just leave it at that.

It's like taking off part of their toe. It is painful for them for weeks after. I would never do that.

I wouldn't do it. I have heard that it can back fire - instead of using their claws which is natural for them they use their mouths and turn into biters. I had a friend that had a cat like this, it was way worse than one that claws.

If you don't want to have to deal with training a cat not to use its claws - don't get one. Simple solution.

yea i have also heard that its soo painful for them! i dont think i could do it if i had a kitty!! even if its indoor.. i mean what if say one day maybe just maybe the kitty got outside.. and something happened and it has no way to stick up for itself!! i dont think i could do it!

Even if you cat is an inside cat...what happens if it gets out? it won't be able to catch food, or defend itself properly...(by climbing tree to get out of way, fighting back etc) i say keep the claws. I will never declaw mine.

I work at a vet clinic and declawing is the WORST SURGERY that we do!!! It is sooooooo painful and cruel to the cat! (It is the only surgery where we have to keep the animal for 2 days!) It is the equivalent of removing the last knuckle of each and every finger that you have. We WILL NOT DECLAW unless the animal is going to be euthanized- and it is always over them scratching the furniture. If you want a cat that doesn't scratch, get a dog. Or go to a shelter and find one that has already been declawed (aka mutilated). CAT'S SCRATCH- Don't own one if your furniture is more important. Agsin, please don't consider declawing a cat (even an indoor only cat). It is selfish, cruel, and ignorant. I can tell you now that many people have problems after doing it (such as the cat never using the litterbox again!). Petsugar, if you care about animal welfare you would not discuss declawing on your website and would instead educate against the cruelty that is declawing. Sorry this is so long, but as a long term employee of North Lake Veterinary Clinic (all the employees here are big popsugar fans) I have dealt with this a lot. I hate to see people discussing declaws like it's no big deal. It is a HUGE deal and again, is your furniture worth more than your cat? If the answer is yes, don't get a cat.... If anyone is considering declawing their cat please contact me first for tips on how to stop the scratching. Please! DON'T DECLAW!!!

I am not a cat person but I am against it. I've known a few declawed cats that turned into biters once declawed. They also were not comfortable for weeks after the de-claw.

Well my cat could NEVER get out seeing as I live on one of the top floors of a high-rise apartment haha. If she did jump the balcony, she would die...

Declawing would be like someone taking off the tips of your fingers, it's amputation through and through, and i find that disgusting. (unless there's a legitimate physical reason aside from "they scratch things")

i get nail caps for my cat, same effect, less needless mutilation of my baby.

Would you like someone to pull off all your
fingernails? Or cut the end of your fingers
and toes off? I have had cats all of my life
and I would NEVER EVER declaw a cat! I see no
reason to, keep them trimmed short and teach
them not to claw things you want to keep nice.
Get them a lot of things they can claw and
just be aware of what they are up to, kinda
like a kid!

Nail caps!!!!
Please tell me more!

A declaw is an AMPUTATION up to the first knuckle. It's extremely painful for the cat, and in come cases gets infected and doesn't heal properly so that the cat is in pain for the rest of it's life. There are many alternatives to declaw, such as providing scratching posts, keeping nails trimmed, and even getting caps for the front claws. Many cats who are declawed revert to biting as a means of defense, and are often a bad pair for young chidren. Several states are looking at legislation banning the declaw procedure. Most vets only do declaw procedures for the money it brings into their clinics but are opposed to it. At our shelter we won't deney someone who wants to do it (we can't legally) but encourage them to find a cat already declawed or council them on not having it done. Most times, when people find out what the procedure entails they change their mind.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754502&cp&kw=cat+na...

nail caps, lots, cheap, easy, no risk of being a horrible person for mutilating your pet.

i have one cat about 10 yrs old that is declawed and one that is about 4 that is not
and i really wanna declaw the other but its been so long i feel bad
its easier to play with them without coming out covered in cuts
and my oldest has no trouble defenting herself while playing or climbing things shes got some crazy back claws that can mess you up
my cats do not bite

if the cat is strictly indoor, and its future as an indoor cat is set in stone I don't see the problem... but if there is any chance of it ever going outside then definatly do not declaw

I agree with kiddy that the caps they make are a GREAT alternatice to declawing

I think it is mean to declaw cats if they are going to be roaming around outside, and if a cat is not strickly an indoor cat then they shouldn't be declawewd. However, if a cat is going to be inside all the time and only outside with it's owner then I think they should be declawed especially if there are going to be little children around.

Ha, my cat claws AND bites. He's pretty spiteful (well, spoiled), but when I got him, I signed an agreement with Cat Rescue that I would not declaw him. I don't like renigging on a contract whether they will ever find out or not.

wow, alisha_stiletto, that was incredibly hateful. if you loathe cats, then what difference does any of this make to you? this is actually an important and difficult issue to millions of cat owners, as opposed to what raincoat or spa services to buy for a dog.

i will never declaw my cat. it's the same as a cutting off a human being's fingertips--inhumane and painful. he's strictly indoor, but softpaws.com makes wonderful plastic nail caps that you glue on and that last for six weeks.

No, it sounds like torture for poor pets! Why not just regularly clip their claws?

Alisha_stiletto... I have two indoor cats that have claws and they have never done the things you are wishing on us cat lovers. They are pretty well behaved and good pets. I think you have some kitty stereotype issues

I had no idea this was so cruel. How could anybody voluntarily do this? Please if you are considering declawing look at some of the solutions listed above.

When I was younger, I had a kitty who was just plain mean — he would attack me in my sleep, and not for "play." I tried to squirt him with water when he did that, I praised him for good behavior, etc. but he was just incredibly aggressive. I didn't know what to do, so I had him declawed. I later came to deeply regret it, and I feel horrible for doing that. (By the way, Kitty did stop clawing... but he just started biting me really, really hard instead.)

It literally gives me chest pains to think about what I did to my poor kitty. Even though he was a naughty cat, I never meant to cause him harm—and I blame myself for not learning more about the surgery. Years later, I STILL feel terrible about it.

Now, Minou and Milo both have their claws. I've been massaging their paws since they were kittens, so they think claw-clipping time is snuggly time. And when Minou went through his rowdy phase, I simply put claw covers on him. I'll never declaw again!

Aw Bella...I'm glad to know that you still care so much. Most people just don't bat an eye about it. I'm sure Kitty forgives you now, especially knowing how badly you feel.

Geez. I feel horrible now. I had my kitty declawed. I wish I hadn't now. I didn't know the facts before I did it and I cried after he came back home. I wish I had known about the caps and I didn't. Please, don't be like me. Get the caps for your little baby. I wish I had. My cat is fine and I love him to death, but I feel horrible for having him declawed when there were other options. I wished my doctor would have told me there were other options.

It's ok Bella, You didn't know and it's not as if
you would harm an animal if you knew it was harming
them!

I used to volunteer at an animal shelter and the declawed cats were always more aggressive and scared than clawed cats. I've got an old declawed (pre-me of course) cat at home who is terrified of everything, and a younger fully-clawed cat who runs to the door to greet whoever's coming in. There are plenty of alternatives to cats scratching everything - I have put a scratching post in front of one sofa, I have a no-scratch spray for window screens & furniture, and I clip nails regularly. I have no problems!

All of my cats are declawed and they are the sweetest babies around. They always say hi to everyone who comes over and snuggle with anyone who will pet them. I also had 2 cats that were indoor/outdoor cats that were declawed and they owned the neighborhood. No dogs or other animals would come into our yard when my cats were outside. I am all for getting cats declawed.

both my kitties are declawed. they are both indoor cats and i would never declaw an outdoor kitty, nor would i declaw all four paws (what would they do if they had an itch?). i find they are much more fun to play with without the claws. and as for harm, it think some of it depends on the cat. we had our youngest cat fixed and declawed all at the same time (an at a very young age - i think about 4 months). the vet said he was just big enough to have both procedures done, and that the longer we wait, the more painful it would be for him. the vet only kept him overnight (and the full day...so he was there around 36 hours). they warned us that he might be in some pain, so they gave him a good pain reliever before we left and told us not to let him jump off and on things. when we got him home, we couldn't stop him from jumping around - he acted just as he did before we took him in. he didn't seem like he was in any pain at all. now he uses his little kitty fingers to grab onto things (fingers, toys, etc.), which makes me glad he doesn't have claws. he does bite, but it's play-biting...nothing that ever breaks the skin (or even hurts) unlike claws.

my other cat was declawed much later, and as a result he had more problems (nothing wrong with him now, though). bottom line, if it's an indoor kitty, he's (or she's) getting declawed as soon as he's big enough. if i choose to adopt an adult kitty, then i will use caps instead, because i would never declaw an adult cat (as it's much, much more painful than when done on a small kitten).

I have to say that 99.999% of the time I am completely against declawing. I have six cats of my own and ALL of them have and will always have their claws. I pass out literature all the time about the dangers of declawing and the ways is changes a cats personality. My parents declawed a cat they got after I left the house and that cat had so many problems recovering from surgery, he almost lost his front feet. AND he became a biter, having to find a new way to act out.

That being said, I have a close friend of mine that is just as passionate about animals and their care and she made a difficult decision to declaw her cat after owning her for several years. The cat was aggressive and used her claws unnecessarily and excessively. She tore up the other cat, almost caused their dog to lose an eye and was terrible to people. She developed the behavior at some point in her past before being rescued by them. They did the laser declaw after consulting several vets in their area. The cat is 100% different. Sweet, kind, and didn't develop the biting tendency that many do once they're declawed. The cat had a complete personality overhaul and is now a loving pet.

What about debarking? my dog has that (not my choice) and i feel kinda sorry for him. I also dont like his ears and tail sniped. but i LOVE him.

Awww poor non-barking dogs

this thread makes me think of my boyfriends cats, neither is declawed, one is the most docile, friendly, placid, will take whatever you throw at her cat, and the other while she was very people friendly as a kitten, (raised by the same family in the same manner as the other cat) is just the most independent thing, and will only tolorate being pet if she decides she wants to be or has deemed you deserving, and even then its never for long... even if she was declawed it wouldn't serve any purpose because it wouldn't make her enjoy being pet or picked up at all, she would just resort to other methods...

so I mean if you have a cat, and consider declawing because of they scratch, you should consider if thats just part of the cats personality, like people all cats are different, and just because your cat doesn't enjoy being coddled doesn't mean you should have them altered so it makes it easier for you to coddle them...

does that make sense?

My local animal shelter/animal humane society will not let you adopt a cat if you plan on declawing it. They also make it a lot harder to adopt if you've ever owned a cat that you voluntarily had declawed. Maybe I've just had it easy, but I've never had a problem keeping my cats from scratching the furniture. They get into tussles with each other every so often, but they understand that they are not to use their claws. They'll even play fight with me, but never extend their claws...just kind of bat their paws at me.

While I can understand why one might resort to declawing, I think there are a lot of other options to exhaust (clipping nails, caps, etc) before you make such a drastic decision.

Personally I think its really cruel. If you see your cat clawing your sofa, just spray them with a little bit of water. Now my cats doesn't attack our sofa, and carpet. Plus cats really don't like citrus, so spraying an all natural lime spray, it really helps them keep of the sofa, and curtains.

We my family found our cat in a parking lot when he was just barely old enough to be weaned off milk. He is the meanest cat I have ever seen. He will attack you and draw blood just for being in the room. When we took him to the vet, the special animal handler had to wear thick rubber gloves up to her elbows, and he still ended up escaping from her, and drawing blood before the appointment was over. He bites faces if he can. After much talk within the family, and a serious discussion with the vet, we decided to have him declawed, because it was that or take him to a shelter, and we were pretty sure that if we took him to a shelter, he would get put down, because no one wants a cat that mean (there aren't any no-kill shelters in our area). We couldn't just condemn him to death like that (despite his temper, he is as cute as sin), so when he went in to be fixed, we had him declawed.

It wasn't an easy decision. We still sometimes feel bad about it. I don't plan to declaw future cats, and I would never declaw a cat over something as petty as furniture. But we really didn't know what else to do. Over the years he has mellowed a bit, to the point that he usually doesn't spontaneously attack people anymore. Normally I do think it's better to not declaw, but I do think there are certain situations where it may be the best option for certain cats.

I am totally against it! There are alternatives available. I use Softpaws which I've seen in petstores, but I order them online cause you can get so many different colors! My black cat wears red caps, my other cat has white paws with pink caps. They look so cute.

I would totally front-declaw a cat. They CAN still climb trees and defend themselves with just their back claws.

I think people who keep their cats mostly in-doors and DON'T declaw at least their front paws are not very smart.

Gee thanks for calling us not very smart, that was really nice!
I have never had a cat declawed and I never will. Your comment was rude and hurtful.

I guess I have a different view of this because my boyfriend and I have always had cats, as pets, but they were also mousers... and a cat can't really catch mice if it lacks claws... and even if you live in an appt, or keep the cat in, mice can still get in...

now that I've really thought about it today, I don't think anyone should invest in a cat unless they are willing to accept the fact that cats have claws, and some cats scratch... like all animals they have their pro's and con's, personally I think its stupid for people to not try alternate solutions before potentially mutilating their animal...

I clip my cat's claws every 2 weeks- it's easy to do if you have a relatively docile cat. He needs his claws though, to protect himself when the dog pounces on him....

Thank you Leopardcc! Hmmm...I'm not smart for not wanting my cat to go through an unnecessary AMPUTATION? It's not about what they can still do, it's about the procedure to declaw them. They weren't born to be declawed.

ClassicsDiva - it sounds to me like your family found a FERAL cat, hence the behavior. The best thing to have done was a TNR (trap and release), and that way you wouldn't have to risk him being euthanized. Sounds to me like he is still somewhat feral, and that is where the behavior comes from.

esk4, before i moved out of my parents house, my oldest cat would slip out often and he was a supreme hunter, even without front claws. he was always catching birds, bunnies, and snakes...and i have no idea how he did it so often, without claws.

my older cat is front declawed but i didn't get my second cat declawed. he doesn't scratch the furniture or curtains. he does pull out some of the other cat's fur sometimes though. that's not nice. cat two is sort of stupid and doesn't really know how to use his claws since cat one didn't show him how.

100% against it. It's cruel. The people that I know who have done it are not responding to behavioral problems in their kittens-- rather an instinct to protect their precious furniture in the future. To me it's like cutting off your kid's fingers so he won't fingerpaint. I mean, it's a living creature, not a plant to be pruned!

I am completely against it and would NEVER EVER consider doing it to my cats. I feel that it's inhumane and nothing or no one will change my mind on that.

Word to the wise with those claw covers, make sure you check out which ones you're getting. My sister has seen many cats coming in with obstructions from pulling them off and swallowing them.