I need your sagely advice and wisdom again, people. Declaw or not declaw, that is my question.

Response from Grace :

Do not declaw. As many have said already---it is mutilation,
involving not just the nail but the toe as well. None of our vets
around here will even do it anymore. In the event that kittie turns
out to be a furniture or people scratcher, and it seems to be getting
out of hand, have your vet apply a set of soft tips.

Are those anything like these?

http://www.softclaws.com/

Thanks, Grace.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

I can't believe someone who works at an animal hospital would
recommend declawing. It's illegal in this country, considered to be
an act of animal cruelty, thank goodness.

Marcia

On 28 Sep, 06:10, "-Lost" wrote:
After talking with my friend at the animal hospital for the
thousandth time today, they started mentioning some other things that
I should have done before officially calling Gabby "good to go."

1. Get her spayed - of course, this is already planned.
2. "ridder of critters" they said. Done.
3. Tons more general how to take care of a cat tips. Done.
..
19. Maybe not 19th, but the last thing they said was, "And make sure
to get her declawed." Not so sure about...

Forgive my ignorance on this one, and cat lovers please don't bounce
something off of my head, but I thought as long as you were...

1. Not in fear of your life.
2. Your other animals got along fine with kitty.
3. Kitty uses her abundance of play things and scratching posts,
walls, climbs, and other assorted cat approved claw-holders.
4. Kitty eventually stops chasing you down and attacking you from
behind.

...that you did not have to get a cat declawed. My friend made it
out like it is a must along with spaying an animal.

What's the word cat people?

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

I've never clipped my cat's claws either, I wouldn't dare for a
start! He uses the old sofa (and the new sofa when I'm out), the tree
outside and anything else he fancies, he, after all, a cat....

I reckon if you can't handle everything in the house being
systematically moulted on, hairballed up on, licked, scratched etc -
don't live with a cat!

Marcia

On 28 Sep, 13:06, "-Lost" wrote:
Response from Meghan Noecker :

Your friend is an idiot. Declawing actually takes off the last
section of the toe, is painful, and also removes their ability to
do instinctual behaviors. All you need is a godo cat tree, some
patience, and some clippers.

Well, in their defense, I doubt they would recommend something that
the doctor themselves did not recommend.

I could be wrong though. And I am actually going to ask them today
to be sure. If they are giving me misinformation or suggestions the
doctor would not recommend then I will seriously reevaluate my
sources.

Now, for the rest of your response... um... you have to clip kitty
claws? Where in the world am I getting MY information?

I was told by many not to worry about cutting their nails. That in
fact a good scratching area (which I have provided three of) was
sufficient enough to help them shed their claws.

Assuming this is incorrect, I will explain "shed their claws" to
avoid further confusion. I was told that cats claws were similar to
dogs in that they eventually flake or grow like exoskeletons, whereby
the newer nail underneath pushes the older one off. Or in the case
of a scratching post, helps remove it.

Is that correct?

Thanks for the feedback, Meghan.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" wrote in
:

Do you have a recommendation for one? I was recently reading an
article about using a dremel on doggy toe nails, but I imagine that
Gabby's are too small to use a dremel on.

We've used this kind for about 25 years. Maybe there are better ones out
now, but this has always worked fine for us. I'm sure they're available
anywhere pet supplies are sold.

http://tinyurl.com/2493fw

Bobble

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
Well as promised I called today and talked to my friend. The doctor
does in fact recommend getting them declawed. Instead of piece it
together for you, I am going to clean up and copy and paste what I
was able to type out while we talked.

"Hey, Friend. How are you?"
Them: "Good -Lost, you?"

"Ah, so-so. I had a few more questions for you if you do not mind."
Them: "Shoot!"

"I was reading up on some different methods to stop kitty from
clawing everything in sight..."
Them: "Right, I remember..."

"Well, could you explain the entire declawing process and do you
recommend it or does the animal hospital recommend it?"
Them: "Well, first off... how old is kitty?"

"About 3 months give or take a month."
Them: "Well that is the best time to get kitty declawed. In fact, we
have a spay and front claw declawing program with a sterile scalpel
that runs $128. However, we HIGHLY recommend the laser which seals
nerve endings and cauterizes blood vessels. There is no bleeding, it
is less painful for kitty, they have a quicker recovery time and the
risk of infection is drastically reduced. That runs about $205, but
does not include pain management or vaccinations."

"Wow. So, do you recommend I do it? And what does the doctor feel
about it?"
Them: "Well, actually the administrator of both sites recommends it
as does the doctor. I recommend it too if kitty is being destructive
and you simply cannot break her from being destructive. Have you
tried shaking a piggy bank at her or squirting her with a spray
bottle full of water?"

"No. She is not destructive in my opinion."
Them: "Oh. Well, why do you want to get her declawed then?"

"I don't! I was asking if it was recommended."
Them: "Oh, well, yeah, we recommend it. Also, the sooner the better.
We have found that kitties respond much better when they have it done
early on rather than later in life."

"How so?"
Them: "How so what?"

"How do they become used to not having toes?"
Them: "No silly, it does not cut their toes off, only the tips of
them that contain the nail. A lot of people think it cruel in fact
to do it, but then you have some people who have nice things or
leather furniture and whatnot and they do not want their things
ruined. So, what were your other questions?"

"To be honest, I cannot remember what the others were."

At this point I just wanted to get off the phone.

Them: "Well if you are worried about kitty's health afterward we
provide lint-free, dust-free, shredded newspaper-like litter for you,
in fact we call it 'Yesterday's News', so she'll be covered there.
Do you want to set up an appointment?"

"I need to talk it over with my spouse first. I'll let you know."
Them: "OK, -Lost. If you have any other questions feel free and give
us a call."

"All right. Bu-bye."
Them: "Bye."

Also, when I first asked actually, they said "Well, we DO offer the
service." But it quickly went from me thinking, "Oh, maybe they do
not recommend it actually." to "They recommend the hell out of it."

They also mentioned that if she was to be an indoor kitty that I need
not worry about things like her being able to defend herself.

I am seriously disappointed in this animal hospital now.

Oh it's very beneficial - *FOR THE VET'S POCKETBOOK!!!* When I was looking
for a new vet, I would call and ask them if the did declawing. If they said
yes they got scratched off my list and I called the next one. Any vet who
can so seriously maim a healthy animal like this is, in my opinion,
seriously unethical.

Hugs,

CatNipped


--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

"-Lost" wrote in message
...
Response from "CatNipped" :

Please read this before making a decision:

http://www.maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm

Darn you, CatNipped. I already felt like crying...

Seriously though, thanks for that information. I have already now made
the decision that my kitty keeps her claws, but now I have the reason
why to show my family and my friend who have bad news about (I am going
to post a reply to the main thread about what they said).

Actually, you should thank Phil P. - it's his web site. He has the most
comprehensive information about cats that I've ever seen in one place. Go
to http://www.maxshouse.com/ for the main page and you'll get all the info
you need to care for you cat.

Hugs,

CatNipped


Thanks again, CatNipped.

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

In article ,
"-Lost" wrote:

After talking with my friend at the animal hospital for the
thousandth time today, they started mentioning some other things that
I should have done before officially calling Gabby "good to go."

1. Get her spayed - of course, this is already planned.
2. "ridder of critters" they said. Done.
3. Tons more general how to take care of a cat tips. Done.
..
19. Maybe not 19th, but the last thing they said was, "And make sure
to get her declawed." Not so sure about...

Forgive my ignorance on this one, and cat lovers please don't bounce
something off of my head, but I thought as long as you were...

1. Not in fear of your life.
2. Your other animals got along fine with kitty.
3. Kitty uses her abundance of play things and scratching posts,
walls, climbs, and other assorted cat approved claw-holders.
4. Kitty eventually stops chasing you down and attacking you from
behind.

...that you did not have to get a cat declawed. My friend made it
out like it is a must along with spaying an animal.

What's the word cat people?


NOT!!!!!!!!

--

8^)~ Sue (remove the x to email)
~~~~
I reserve the absolute right to be smarter today than I was
yesterday. -Adlai Stevenson

As seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/wacvet

http://www.suzanne-eckhardt.com/
http://www.intergnat.com/malebashing/
http://www.intergnat.com/pussygames/

Here is a picture of my collection of discarded claw sheaths.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/View...e=0&re s=high


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')

(---MIKE---) wrote in
:

Here is a picture of my collection of discarded claw sheaths.

http://albums.photo.epson.com/j/View...&p=73909198&Se
quence=0&res=high


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')



Proof there's a collector for everything on this planet!

Bobble

"Mashauk" wrote in message
ups.com...
I've never clipped my cat's claws either, I wouldn't dare for a
start! He uses the old sofa (and the new sofa when I'm out), the tree
outside and anything else he fancies, he, after all, a cat....

I reckon if you can't handle everything in the house being
systematically moulted on, hairballed up on, licked, scratched etc -
don't live with a cat!


That's not helpful, Marcia, for those who don't want to live in a
nasty place and have all their things wrecked. It is easy to trim
nails and get things that cats prefer to scratch.