Thread: declaw or not declaw?

Just wanted to say that it's important to give an indoor cat alternatives to scratching the furniture. It feels good to scratch, and they like to mark their scent through scratching. I've read that it's good to have a scratching post near where the cat sleeps, since they like to have a stretch and a scratch upon awakening. We have a couple scratching posts in the house, and haven't had any problems, thankfully. In the first few months, whenever Ollie started to claw the furniture, I'd tell him "no", then go and run my nails along the post, and he'd switch. Good luck!

Originally Posted by inexcelsis

Just wanted to say that it's important to give an indoor cat alternatives to scratching the furniture. It feels good to scratch, and they like to mark their scent through scratching. I've read that it's good to have a scratching post near where the cat sleeps, since they like to have a stretch and a scratch upon awakening. We have a couple scratching posts in the house, and haven't had any problems, thankfully. In the first few months, whenever Ollie started to claw the furniture, I'd tell him "no", then go and run my nails along the post, and he'd switch. Good luck!

Ginger has a 7 foot cat tower with plenty of scratching places, she loves to sleep in the nest on top. She is not scratching now but she is a baby and loves to scratch and bite me in play, although she never bites the hubby! I just trimmed her nails in the front, they are so tiny! Thank you for the advice, can not have too many scratching posts.

pff Neevie never uses the "official" ones - it doesn't make her feel naughty enough, you know, like in the Malteaser add - apparently, official scratching posts are only for scaredycats...

when she scratches the sofa she looks at me and could I swear I can hear her blow raspberries at me.... it's like "ner-ner-nerner-ner! I'm doing it and I ain't afraid of you and catch me if you can! Mouahahaha!" you know, tail up, triangle face, whiskers in front.... sigh...

on the bright side, those sofas are so old, and they were given to us when we got Neevie JUST for this kind of occurences... Doesn't even hurt! (but don't tell her that, it makes her too happy)

Hi donnad! Garry. Don't think I've read it here but just in case, it's really important for a cat to be able to grip with front paws. This helps in the stretching of the leg and back muscles. Pretty important for an animal. Hey...I was once a perfectionist, the demon is still around... but my boys and girls are more important than my perfect house.

Originally Posted by ManCoon

Hi donnad! Garry. Don't think I've read it here but just in case, it's really important for a cat to be able to grip with front paws. This helps in the stretching of the leg and back muscles. Pretty important for an animal. Hey...I was once a perfectionist, the demon is still around... but my boys and girls are more important than my perfect house.

Ginger went to the vet for shots yesterday and I told the vet I was not having her declawed after all and she gave me a hug and said I made the right decision for my baby. How sweet was that? Thank you for the input!

Originally Posted by donnad

Ginger went to the vet for shots yesterday and I told the vet I was not having her declawed after all and she gave me a hug and said I made the right decision for my baby. How sweet was that? Thank you for the input!

That was a sweet gesture. You made the best decision. Like everyone said, just make sure you have a lot of scratching posts. DH wasn't happy when I brought home 4 towers in different shapes & sizes. Plus I also have a few scratching pads that lay flat on the floor as Whiskey loves to have a good fully body stretch. He also uses the throw mats in front of our doors. We don't mind as their cheaper to replace then wall-to-wall carpet.

Who says a redhead can't rock pink? So far she is ok with them we had a few climbing mishaps, but she doesn't seem to mind them too much!