by rebel8 30 Replies latest social humour
She would not stop clawing everything, no matter what I tried. I'd like to avoid declawing if at all possible. I found these rubber tips online and glued them to her claws. It works!
(This is not a pic of my kitty's paws, just the one from the Soft Paws web site. My kitten has all purple tips and it looks really freaky!)
I assume it is an indoor cat. (If not then I would strongly suggest against using this product as you not only leave your cat defenseless but also in perilous danger of losing its footing if it tries to climb or escape anything)
Have you tried trimming your cat's claws? You need to get special clippers that should only be a couple dollars at a pet store. The reason for this is that it rounds the nail off, using regular clippers will make the nail flat at the end and cause it to split and peel. Youch! Cats generally scratch either to mark territory or to file down excess claw growth. Excess growth is particularly a problem with indoor cats since they do less climbing.
You did not mention the age of your cat either. It is possible to train cats to not claw important items with a little diligence. First you should provide an alternate item to scratch such as a stratching post or log, kitting condo, etc. Second you need to make sure you supervise the cat or lock it in a room when you are away where there is nothing that can be ruined (such as a bathroom). I found that children's squirt guns worked well as a discouragement. A few squirts with a firm no and you are well on your way to training your cat not to claw. If you do that and keep the nails trimmed quite likely your cat will stop scratching.
If you recently got a new animal or the cat is new to the house this might be causing him to try to scratch to mark his territory, it should also settle down in time with proper determent techniques. If your cat is not spayed this might also be something to consider in order to cut down on some of the territorial behavior.
She is an inside cat. She was born in approximately February and I got her in March. I have tried all of the above to no avail, in fact her scratching has gotten worse while her other kitten behavior problems have gotten better. I spend a lot of time with her and do a lot of behavioral modification but the scratching has gotten worse. She stops when I tell her "no" but starts up again a few mins. later.
The tips are doing nicely. She seems to be puzzled why she can't climb the walls anymore (yes she literally was climbing our insulation in the basement and did a lot of damage to it), but she just runs around and plays with her toys instead.
I hate to do anything "unnatural" but when you think about it, living with humans is unnatural in itself. There is also a limit to the amount of damage I will allow her to do to my home.
I don't understand the lack of willingness to get a cat declawed. It's surgery, like any other. One of my cats is declawed, the other is not.
risk of anesthesia, pain for the kitty, and cost
What a clever idea! Don't get the Brits started on the cruelty of declawing. I've heard it compared to removing the first joint on your fingertips.
Those look like a good thing to buy for my unclawed kitty.
Declawing is mutilation, plain and simple. It is, as jgnat said, taking snippers and clipping back the joint to the first knuckle. You are effectively making your cat a club-foot. Not only that, but it can in cases change the entire personality of the cat, making it more prone to not using the litterbox, being antisocial and aggressive (i'm not saying all cases...). Not to mentional the medical problems that can insue afterwards...infection (I had to have one of my cat's two 'fingers' amputated completely because of gangrene), arthritis, damaged pads.
I've heard good and bad about the caps...they're like fake nails so they grow out, which means you'll have to pull them off eventually and clip the nail back. I don't know how willing your cat's gonna be about that, but if it's docile then it's a decent solution. I personally just clip my cats' claws. And do a lot of yelling sometimes. But they love the cardboard scratching boards a lot...they're getting to be pretty faithful at using that...well that and the carpet on the stairs. I just wish they would alternate, cause one stair at a time is becoming obliterated. ;)
I don't understand the lack of willingness to get a cat declawed.
When I was deciding whether or not to dewclaw my two cats I read a website that likened it to cutting off the ends of your fingers at the last knuckle. I have no idea if this is anatomically true, but it sure creeped me out.
I urge you to get a COSMIC CATNIP ALPINE SCRATCHER -
Cats love this thing! The will 'forsakeall other' things they used to scratch on.
You will also need to buy a bunch of the refills because the cat, as an expresion of her appreciation, will tear the corrugated cardboard to shreds in short order.
You can get them locally or at http://www.cosmicpet.com/scratchers.htm
Declawing is painful unneccessary mutilation. Sometimes the pain never goes away. Before you have your cat declawed, have a doctor remove your fingernails so you can share the experience with your cat.
