Kitten is getting declawed tomorrow. What should i expect?

Question

I already have taken away the food and water for the night. My sister who got her cat declawed told me i'll prolly have to pick up the special "yesterday's news" cat litter, and warned me that it has no odor absorption what so ever.

will my kitten adjust fairly quickly? is there any thing i have to do around the house to keep him safe and healing ok when i bring him home?

he's 16 weeks old, the vet i take him to does the "natural" healing and has him stay over night one night to watch that everything is going ok.

Answer 1

well she is probably going to be very calm and layed back

Answer 2

Basically anyone who says they are gonna get their cat declawed is gonna get flamed on here, truth be told. So it isn't just you they are gonna be getting mad at. It is the act of declawing the cat that people find so horrible.

It really is horrible and can be traumatizing to a cat to have them declawed. To take the nails off they have to cut at the knuckle, the bone essentially. I have four cats at my house and I refuse to have any of them declawed.

http://www.softpaws.com/

I like to use these as an alternative to declawing. I'm sure my cats do thank me for it.

Answer 3

Poor kitty! Does he really have to be declawed? I don't think it's recommened for kitties to be declawed.

Answer 4

What can you expect? Bad karma, that's what. I'm sorry if you think that's mean but de-clawing a kitten is worse than mean, it's horrible and it's mutilation. Are you aware that it's illegal in most of Europe? And Australia?

UPDATE - "You're doing it for the cat"?? Lady, you're deluding yourself. You're doing it because you're lazy and won't take the proper precautions to keep your cat inside. I've lived in apartments too, my cats have never fallen off any balcony. Why? Because I kept an eye on them rather than mutilating them and hoping for the best.

Why do you think this practice is illegal in so many places? Do you take that personally too? I'm sorry but people like you shouldn't have cats. So don't whinge that people aren't applauding your decision to mutilate your cat.

Answer 5

Here's what to expect:  He/she (Kitty) will have tape on their front claws, which they won't like.  Kitty will probably try to bite/l**k off the tape initially.  Expect Kitty to be just as affectionate as before.  Kitty will probably fall off the couch as they're running along since they have no claws for gripping until they adapt. Use shredded newspaper litter instead of sand-type litter for a while.  Your cat will probably use a scratching post as if he/she never had his claws removed.  Give Kitty time, in a few weeks he/she should be back to normal.

Answer 6

if you are doing it for the safety of your animals then declawing is not the answer.  cats use their claws for defense, so how is that safe?

Answer 7

When you have a kid are you going to have their genitals sewn up when they wet the bed? If you don't know how to properly care for an animal, please give it up.

Answer 8

Please find it in your heart to not declaw the cat.  Even if somehow someday it took a swat at the dog it probably would not hurt it at all and the dog would be a lot less likely to bother the cat again.  I hope you realized that cats that do not have claws bite at the first sign of trouble since they can't defend themselves anymore.

Edit:  The author here is either a "troll" and is trying to upset people with a fictious story of cat mutilation or is seroiusly distrubed.  Nobody in their right mind would equate declawing a cat with saving its life from falling off of a two story building.

Answer 9

I'll try and answer your question without prejudice.  Once your kitty gets home your best bet is to keep kitty confined to one room while he recovers.

His gait is going to be different so he needs time to acclimate.

It would be similar to you walking in high heels for the first time.  it takes getting use to.  But kitty will be fine as long as you keep him quiet and keep him confined to one *safe*  room for a few days.

Those that mistakenly think that de clawing is the same as amputating the the ends of a human  finger really do need a lesson in anatomy.

Good luck with your kitty

Answer 10

DO NOT have him declawed. People who declaw their cats are lazy and irresponsible and are not managing their natural instincts well. Get a scratching post, atleast 3-5 times larger than him full grown, and cover with catnip. Use positive reinforcement in training. Water bottle is ok, but make a sound when spraying; they will associate the sound with the water and soon you won't need the water to train. Sound does NOT have to be a loud one. And never raise your voice. I've trained many cats through voice commands and have never had furniture shredded by any cats.

I really hope you don't declaw; they remove a portion of the bone when declawing. I would manage it better instead of putting them through all that pain for your comfort and lack of training.

Declawing is just poor animal care.  And you wonder why people are being mean to you?  Get educated in animal care.

Answer 11

Please read this info and become fully informed. It's not too late to cancel, call the vet and say you've changed your mind.

http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing...

We had previous cats declawed and then they tend to bite and are less affection.

Our current cat is now 3 yrs. old and he went through the phases of clawing, but...now he loves the scratching posts, the cardboard scratchers (slanted and flat). Our cat prefers the cardboard scratchers and carpeted posts best (but cats vary in their likes & dislikes).  (BTW, our cat needed hip surgery since he still has his claws, he can now run and play and balance).

There are cat repellent sprays you can get to spray areas you don't want him clawing. The key is to train them young and offer those clawing posts and items.

As for the screen windows: go to Home Depot or Menards and get the largest piece of plexiglass they have. Lean that against the screens.  We did that to save our patio screens and it worked perfectly. He could still see out and yet the screen was protected. We no longer need the plexiglass since he prefers the scratchers & posts now.

Once I caught him in the act of starting to claw a screen and I squirted him with the water and he thought the screen did it. To this day, he never touches screens and our problem was solved entirely. We can leave him home alone all day with the screens available and he has not put even one hole in them. It's called training and starting early.

You can also get SoftPaws (caps for his nails) that are useful while in training period. After your kitty is trained to use scratching posts/scratchers, then you won't need SoftPaws any longer.

FYI: I will put up a link of cat behaviors which has tons of beneficial info.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Point...

Answer 12

Don't forget to de-tooth the dog too, so it can't bite the cat...

Answer 13

Without getting into the pros and cons of declawing (we have not declawed, but i will not judge...), my boyfriend (now husband) was given a declawed cat by a co-worker that could no longer care for the cat.

The cat didn't have claws to use for defending himself, so he started biting. It got to be pretty bad. Be prepared for this because this type of behavior might happen.  It really changed his personality as well.  

Answer 14

That is like cutting off the ends of your fingers , so what do you think ?