Declawing: glad I took the time

From:

How difficult is it to trim a cat's nails?
Do they have blood vessels in them like a dog's?


Yes, they do have blood vessels like a dog, so you have to be careful not to
cut into the pink part. I just trim the very tips of their claws. Now as to
difficulty, of course if a person starts when the cat is a kitten it will be
much easier. However, I don't think it's an impossibility with an older cat.
What might be good is when kitty is sleepy, to gently massage her paws so she
gets used to them being handled. Of course your situation is different because
she's a feral. I'm sure those with more experience with ferals will offer
advice. I know Megan, one of our regular posters (who by the way has an
excellent website www.stopdeclaw.com - hope this is the right addy) has
experience in this regard.

Also, if worse comes to worse, you could always try one of those nylon bags
that you put the cat in and extend one paw at a time. I do know a couple of
people who've used it for ferals.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...d=3159&N=1+113
133&in_merch=1

I watch her scratch the corner posts of our deck, and I picture that
being the spindles of our stairs. Oy. Our whole house is custom
wood.

I think the trick here will be finding a nice scratching post that is more
enticing to her than your staircase. If you're handy, you can even build one
yourself. I know they also sell them that are made of wood. You could even
maybe try a log.

You will see on Megan's website that there are training methods.

Good luck and please keep us posted on your progress or if you have any other
questions. Kudos to you for caring enough about this kitty not to declaw her


Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

"Wendy" wrote in message
...
We have a local vet who is doing laser surgery to sever the tendon that
extends the claw. I've heard healing is much faster and is generally less
traumatic for the cat. Don't have enough information to know whether this
procedure is any better in the long run or not.

This is called a tendonectomy. This is also a cruel barbic procedure. What it
does in essence is makes it impossible for the cat to retract or extend her
claws. The claws will still need to be trimmed as they often can get caught in
carpeting. I had some great information about it but unfortunately have just
reformatted my hard drive so it's not available. A study published in 1998 in
the Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association reported that while
tendonectomy cats had lower post operative pain, both procedures showed an
equal frequency of post-operative bleeding, lameness, and infection.

Here's a bit more information on tendonectomy:

http://www.helpinganimals.com/h-mut-declaw.html

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

"Wendy" wrote in message
...
We have a local vet who is doing laser surgery to sever the tendon that
extends the claw. I've heard healing is much faster and is generally less
traumatic for the cat. Don't have enough information to know whether this
procedure is any better in the long run or not.

This is called a tendonectomy. This is also a cruel barbic procedure. What it
does in essence is makes it impossible for the cat to retract or extend her
claws. The claws will still need to be trimmed as they often can get caught in
carpeting. I had some great information about it but unfortunately have just
reformatted my hard drive so it's not available. A study published in 1998 in
the Journal of the Veterinary Medical Association reported that while
tendonectomy cats had lower post operative pain, both procedures showed an
equal frequency of post-operative bleeding, lameness, and infection.

Here's a bit more information on tendonectomy:

http://www.helpinganimals.com/h-mut-declaw.html

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

In article ,
enlightened us with...
HOLY COW!

No freaking way I'm doing that to her!


I thought she was just an animal.

Glad to hear you love her enough to not want to mutilate her. Welcome to
the club. *smile*

I have 3 cats with claws and no one hurts my furniture. It CAN be done.
hehe
You do have to be willing to have stuff for her to scratch. I have a
post in every room, a sisal pad in two rooms, and a BIG cat tree in the
living room.
If she goes outside at all, she will probably choose a nice tree. If she
likes to use trees, she may prefer a wooden post.

Purrs to your girl.

-------------------------------------------------
~kaeli~
Jesus saves, Allah protects, and Cthulhu
thinks you'd make a nice sandwich.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace
-------------------------------------------------

In article ,
enlightened us with...
HOLY COW!

No freaking way I'm doing that to her!


I thought she was just an animal.

Glad to hear you love her enough to not want to mutilate her. Welcome to
the club. *smile*

I have 3 cats with claws and no one hurts my furniture. It CAN be done.
hehe
You do have to be willing to have stuff for her to scratch. I have a
post in every room, a sisal pad in two rooms, and a BIG cat tree in the
living room.
If she goes outside at all, she will probably choose a nice tree. If she
likes to use trees, she may prefer a wooden post.

Purrs to your girl.

-------------------------------------------------
~kaeli~
Jesus saves, Allah protects, and Cthulhu
thinks you'd make a nice sandwich.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace
-------------------------------------------------

Yes, they do have blood vessels like a dog, so you have to be careful not to
cut into the pink part. I just trim the very tips of their claws.

That's what I do with Yoda. I just clip off the hooky part. That by itself
really prevents the claw from getting snagged or the cat really doing damage.
The others I don't clip at all. They just never need it. I don't know what
Yoda's deal is. His claws get so long sometimes you can see them even when they
are retracted, especially the back ones. Plus he has three that don't retract
at all, he is a poly. We had to have one deformed claw removed. That alone was
very traumatic ffor Yoda, and he favored that paw for a long time. I cannot
imagine a cat having all of them removed.

Sherry

Yes, they do have blood vessels like a dog, so you have to be careful not to
cut into the pink part. I just trim the very tips of their claws.

That's what I do with Yoda. I just clip off the hooky part. That by itself
really prevents the claw from getting snagged or the cat really doing damage.
The others I don't clip at all. They just never need it. I don't know what
Yoda's deal is. His claws get so long sometimes you can see them even when they
are retracted, especially the back ones. Plus he has three that don't retract
at all, he is a poly. We had to have one deformed claw removed. That alone was
very traumatic ffor Yoda, and he favored that paw for a long time. I cannot
imagine a cat having all of them removed.

Sherry

From: itty (Sherry )

I don't know what
Yoda's deal is. His claws get so long sometimes you can see them even when
they
are retracted, especially the back ones. Plus he has three that don't
retract
at all, he is a poly.

I've never had a poly before. So none of the extra claws retract? Do you know
if this is how all polys are?

lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: itty (Sherry )

I don't know what
Yoda's deal is. His claws get so long sometimes you can see them even when
they
are retracted, especially the back ones. Plus he has three that don't
retract
at all, he is a poly.

I've never had a poly before. So none of the extra claws retract? Do you know
if this is how all polys are?

lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

wrote in message
news
How difficult is it to trim a cat's nails?

Easy! The key is don't use too much restraint and don't make a big deal
about it - cats pick up your anxiety. The best time to trim claws is when
the cat just wakes up.

Do they have blood vessels in them like a dog's?

Here's an actual photo of a cat's claw and the quick, and where to cut/


http://www.maxshouse.com/anatomy/cla...im-quick-1.jpg


Here are detailed instructions:

http://www.maxshouse.com/Claw%20Trimming.htm