Should i get my kitten declawed

If you live in or around Castle Rock, we welcome your call. Cat Care Considering Declawing a Cat? Five Questions Answered! Considering Declawing a Cat?

We want to help you make a good decision for your cat and family. Related article: How to keep your cat safe outdoors If you have an indoor cat , you can train your cat to scratch on a training post.

The best time to train is when your cat is a kitten. As soon as you get a new kitten, talk to our veterinarians about ways to avoid declawing. Related article: How to pet proof your house for a new dog or cat We understand there are times when your family may need to declaw your cat. We have families come to us because they: Have not been able to train their cat to scratch on a post Have a family member who has a compromised immune system This may be due to Chemotherapy, a disease, medications to suppress the immune system, or the person was just born that way.

If you see her scratching at your furniture, clap your hands loudly, say "No," and immediately do something to get her interested in going over to the scratching post. Praise her when she gets there and scratches at the post. If you choose great scratching products , use positive reinforcement, and show your kitten the proper scratching spots from the beginning, she isn't likely to ever scratching inappropriately, and you can avoid considering declaw surgery.

All prices are in USD. Sitemap Powered by BigCommerce. My Cat Still Scratches the Furniture! You Might Need a Cat if Site Information. Please wait The question of whether to declaw a cat is one of the most controversial topics in veterinary medicine. Some owners also choose to have their cat declawed if it is scratching members of the household, particularly children or older individuals who may have thin skin.

Before electing to have this procedure, I urge clients to exhaust all other options to prevent destructive or aggressive behavior.

Cats should have multiple and varied surfaces to scratch. It is recommended that cats have both carpeted and cardboard scratching posts with horizontal and vertical surfaces. If all of these measures have been tried without success and the only alternative is giving up or euthanizing the cat, then declawing can be considered.

The best candidates for declaw surgery are young months cats. Younger animals tend to heal better and typically weigh less than older cats which means less stress will be put on the paws after surgery. However, the drawback to declawing while it is young is that it might be unknown if a pet is going to be destructive or not as it grows up. Once a cat is declawed, it should be kept strictly indoors since the pet will no longer be able to defend itself or climb to escape a potential predator.

If a cat is intentionally scratching people or other pets in the household, owners should be advised that this cat, if declawed, may start biting instead of scratching.

Owners considering whether to declaw their cat should make an informed decision, and benefit from a basic understanding of what the procedure entails. Lead author Nicole Martell-Moran is a Texas veterinarian and a director at the Paw Project, an organization whose goal is to end cat declawing. We now have scientific evidence that declawing is more detrimental to our feline patients than we originally thought and I hope this study becomes one of many that will lead veterinarians to reconsider declawing cats.

Declawing is outlawed in many developed countries, but not the US and most of Canada. However, many American veterinary associations are opposed to declawing, except as a last resort. Before you resort to declawing your cat, try training it first.