Declawing - right or wrong in this situation?

I really feel for you here. You are between a rock and a hard place, which your mom's insistence on declaring is causing. What I don't understand at all, is that your mom seems to love cats as she wants to rescue these kittens from euthanasia but cannot get her head around how cruel declawing is for a cat.

Not only from the aspect of pain, and long term problems that can develop, ie biting, not using litter boxes, no protection should they get out, being able to use their muscles to stretch fully, developing arthritis later in life, and that the surgery is banned in 25 countries around the world, so it is very strange about her insistence on the surgery.

Has she told you why she is so determined? Have you been able to appeal to her love for cats? You are indeed in a huge bind here.

Such a choice is so painful to even consider. Perhaps you can find some friends who would adopt the "adopted" kittens who would not declaw them?

Otherwise you have little other choice. I feel for you, and I totally feel for the kittens. How sad! But I am optimistic that when you leave home and have your own place, that you won't be declawing your cats.

Troublesniffer

Owned by cats for over 40 years

Member Cat Writer's Association.

There is a product out there called soft claws. They are little soft pads that you place over the claw and the kittens won't scratch anything up. You can buy them online or call a vet to see where you can buy them online. My two cats never did scratch up anything. Maybe these kittens will be the same. There are also scratching posts and furniture protectors that you could get. I understand your mom has made up her mind but maybe you could let her read these answers and also see if she would do a little research on declawing first before she makes that decision. I am so glad that you and your mom have decided on saving these little innocent lives. God bless you.

I JUST READ YOUR GREAT NEWS - AND YAY! Thank you, god bless!

Have you ever heard of soft claw covers for cats? It has the same effect as declawing them. I seen a commercial for them a few weeks ago so I decided to ask my vet about them. I am the owner of two cats who love to rip and tear everything apart. We actually purchased a "cat house" made of carpet, and that's all they use to scratch now.

I have a few suggestions for you, but they are all depending on different cirumstances.

If your mother is wanting to declaw them for the sole reason so that they wont scratch her sofas and furniture, etc.. talk to her about nail covers, or maybe you can just try the cat house or scratching poll first.

If worse comes to worse, take that cats home and have them declawed. Just a hint of advice.. if you are going to declaw that cats,I suggest you keep them all as indoor cats, sicne if they are outside, they have nothing to use for defence. That is usually the largest issues with declawing.

Follow your heart and do the right thing.

I hope you give those kittens a loving home, which they more than likely deserve!

Look, I know you must have heard it a thousand times and I think you feel the same, that declawing is inhumane and very painful for animals,

Try your best to convince her about softpaws-- it wud be the same as them declawed, except its not painful! You can also train kittens to not scratch up surfaces and such...

But at the end, if she still doesnt change her mind, then I guess you'd have to agree... It still doesn't make it right though, but is better than taking the kittens' lives away.

I agree - I would try to convince her to give them a chance at home first. Perhaps keep them in one room or two so you can monitor their scratching. There are plenty of things you can get to stop them from scratching - I spray my cat with water to stop her.

Also, you can always learn to cut their nails at home or get them groomed. It really isn't that hard to do at home - especially with some of the tools out there now.

If you cannot convince her otherwise, then get them declawed as young as possible. The surgery will be easier on them and they will recover quicker. If you do declaw them, consider doing just the front claws - that way they can still defend themselves a little bit if they get in a fight. And I'm pretty sure they only stratch furniture with their front claws anyway.

And honestly, if it were me, I would declaw them if it meant saving their lives. If I had to give up all my nails to live - I would!

I have had several cats in my life which have been all indoor cats. They also have all been declawed. They have all been very happy cats and lived long healthy lives. I think it is fine that your Mom feels the need to have them declawed as long as they are not outside cats.

My current cat has no problems playing, jumping on the fridge, anything.... Save the kitties lives!

Well, i am completely against declawing as it is cruel if the owner has an excuse like "my furniture is getting scratched" type of thing, but of course if she is going to be saving lives then that is way more important. Just as long as she declaws them at a young age so that they dont know the difference and they can live in what their opinion is a normal life so they will be happy. I think its great that you're taking these kittens in and if you need any advise on aftercare, or generally looking after kittens/ cats just say in ur question and ill edit. xx

I say yay to your mom! Declawing them is way better than them losing their lives. As for cats being unhappy the rest of their lives and being miserable after being declawed? Bunch of garbage. I have 3 cats that are declawed, have adopted declawed ones from the shelters, and they were all as happy as they could be. (Inside cats of course) As long as they don't go outside, are fed properly, and have plenty of love, they're fine. Also, I've known a lot of cat lovers through the years that had declawed cats and they had no problems with them either.

I think your mom is doing a good thing by trying to save the kittens lives, but declawing is so wrong on so many levels. Here are some links that maybe you could show her to try to convince her not to declaw them.

Warning: some of these links are graphic

http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawpics.html

http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawstory.html

http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declaw1.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niMgBGfMgFc

There's nothing wrong with declawing a cat. Some people will insist that getting a cat declawed will reduce it's ability to hunt or to feel like a cat... that's completely false. I have an 8 month old male cat who is declawed and he's the happiest house cat I know. He's even a good mouser! Actually, last week he stalked and caught his 3rd mouse this month (we have a small mouse problem at the moment so he's been a great help). My mom used to have a cat named Melvin who was declawed and he loved to climb trees, in fact he was outdoors most of the time and when he wasn't climbing trees he was hunting and successfully catching birds. Again, a very happy cat. Declawing a cat often makes the cat a somewhat better pet (the exact words of my vet) because it keeps them from tearing up furniture. And whether the cat is indoors or outdoors, it has little effect on their activity levels.

Personally I think it's a fair trade. A few claws for a life, not a bad deal there. I don't believe you should remove a cat's rear claws though, in case they need to defend themselves in a fight or something. But, there's nothing wrong with removing the front ones.