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New Cat
My husband and I are adopting a cat today from the Humane Society. The cat is 4 years old, and has not been declawed. I feel it would be inhumane to do declaw her, but I am worried about her scratching my furniture, and me as well. Does anyone have any alternitives to declawing, or how to prevent her from scratching the furniture.
And any other tips for a new cat owner would be appriciated.
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Don't let her get on the furniture when you first get her. your going to have to just tell her no. But giving her own cat bed of some sort my help.
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well u should het a cat scratcher they work and maybe a new coch
raiderhater121
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If you won't be letting it outside, you can get things that go over their claws. [[ [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) ]] .. I haven't tried them, as my cats are declawed in the front, and well, yeah, their back claws aren't any problem.
Just give her lots of <3 and make sure to play with her. Good luck =)
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Cat booties
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1st of all, declawing a cat is painful and tramatic for a cat, 2nd of all it wouldnt be able to defend itself, either an outdoor/indoor cat, its still needs to defend itself just incase it does get out! no matter how careful you are it still happens! to get it to not scratch the furniture, try spraying the cat with a spray bottle, or a water gun, and also get it a scratching post, and reward it with treats (tuna or some chicken)!! Hope i helped! if ya need anything else drop it in the inbox!!
*Melissa
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you could try a scrathching post, or i heard you can file a cats nail down or something.
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I don't think declawing is inhumane. They don't really need their claws to live, as long as you keep her inside. My cat has been declawed for 4 years and he's as happy as ever!
:-)
But if you still do not want to declaw the cat, you can get a spray bottle and every time the cat claws, spray its paw with water. They do not like that, but it's not cruel.
I still believe your best alternative is declawing. You'd never have to worry about her hurting anyone, and it does not hurt them for the rest of their life, just a day or 2. (Keep in mind many cats and dogs are spayed and neutered too, if vets do it, it can't be that cruel right?)
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Well, I'm the 14th person to answer, and I didn't check to see if everything that I'm going to say has been already said, but here goes.
Yes, it is pretty inhumane to get a cat declawed, I'm glad you feel that way. The humane society around here will absolutely not adopt a cat out if they know you are going to get it declawed. But to fix the scratching problem there are a couple things you can do.
First, just train the cat... despite popular belief, cats can be trainable. If you see her clawing the furniture, scold her by spraying her with a small water bottle, and have a scratching post that you can put her next to so that she will know "this is where I scratch, instead of the other place where I get water sprayed at me"
Another thing you could do is buy these sticky pads that go on your furniture. They are clear and will deter your cat away from putting her paws on it, or claws into it.
Something to make the scratching post more attractive to your cat is to put cat nip on it. Just rub it in and make it all smelly for her.
There are also things you can buy to put on her claws. Little rubber tips that will keep her from scratching. I've heard they're pretty hard to put on, but if they do happen to fall off, don't worry, she wont get hurt from swollowing one. I'm sorry I don't have the names of the sticky pads, or the rubber claw tips, but you could go to any cat specialty places, maybe there is a cat boarder around your house. I would also suggest a large store like petco or petsmart if there are no other alternatives. I don't enjoy suggesting them because I feel that they do not treat their animals right at all, so I don't like giving them business... but sometimes it's your only option. I do remember seeing a page online about how to put the claw tips on your cat, you could try searching on google for that when you find out what they're called.
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I remember in an episode of 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy' where a guy had a problem with his cats scratching his furniture they gave the cats rubber tips which went over their claws. They could still run and jump and live normally, but they didn't scratch the furniture. I tried scouring the recent tips on the website though, and I couldn't find it, so I can't give you a name of a product, but I'm sure if you talk to a vet they'll be able to recommend you a company who make them.
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Well, I recommend getting a scratching post so that way your cat can scratch on that. That's what we had to do for our cat and when you see her scratching on something that she shouldn't be then scold her and show her the correct thing to scratch. Also, it might help to just get her nails cut. Just get nail clippers at a local pet store. I hope this helps and good luck with your new kitty.
Crystal
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Hello, yes it is true that it does hurt a cat to declaw them, but your furniture is also important. The alternative is to get her nails trimmed every week or so. You can even do it yourself, just ask the people at the Society to show you how to do it. I clip my cats nails with a regular nail clipper. It's very thoughtful of you to be thinking this over and Im sure your kitty will appreciate it ! Alot of times kittens are the ones that scratch things up and get all hyper so the fact that the cat is four will help also. Also, be sure to purchase a scratching post so that your cat can get all its scratching out on that, they can be found at a pet store or I'm sure even Walmart has it in the pet section. If infact you do find your cat is scratching your furniture up despite everything you try, it might be a good idea to get her declawed.
hope you enjoy your new kitty!
:-D
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i once saw in a pet catalog caps that you can put on your cats claws so that when they claw it doesn't do any damage.
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just declaw it. it's just a little operation the kitty goes through n trust me you'll be happy you did, because it wont be able to scratch you or ur furniture up. before ne of this happens though take ur new cat home n see how it reacts to the house. since it's 4 years old it shouldn't be too hyperactive. so it shouldnt be all a/b scratchin up ur house or you *on purpose*
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this is a response to the feedback you gave me. it would be tramatic for any cat to get their claws taken out. n if you would have read a little more carefully i told you that you should take the cat home to see how it reacts to the place. that way you can see if it claws up ur furniture or not, so then you'll know if you have to find something to do about it if it was clawing it up! if it does scratch then get a scratch post for it. but im telling you, declawing it would be so much easier.
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you should declaw only his front paws and leave him his back claw I did it to my cat and he's able to do the same things as before...and he can still catch mice with or without his claws
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Get it a few scratching posts and set them up around the house where the kitten might wonder off to. If you catch it scratching at the furniture, lightly tap it's rear end and tell it no. Also, you only need to feed it maybe a couple of times a day. In the morning, give it some canned cat food (find it's favorite kinds), fresh water, and a little bit of dried kitten food. At night, refill it's dried food and give it more water if it needs it. Be sure to keep a litter box where it can get into it with cat litter in it. You may have to put it in the box a few times to let it know what it is for and to keep it from doing its business on the floor. Get it some toys like little kitten balls and strings. Make sure you pay a lot of attention to it, as well, to let it know early in life that you love it.
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go to the vet and get them cliped or got by a scratching toy you can find them at pet sores or petsmart
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well You can always buy her a scratching post, and toys to keep her busy. and if you catch her scratching the furniture scold her. Good luck with the new cat.
-holly-
hope i helped
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I know that for my dog my mom got these little tiny plastic caps that go over her nails, and she doesnt even notice them. You should find out if they have them for cats. Also a scratching post would help alittle im sure. Good luck with your new cat and your awesome for going to a Humane Society.
Check out this site for tips for new cat owners->
[Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
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