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Discussion Forums » General Discussion
Kitten Help
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17 May 2009, 02:37
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Ugh, it was hard :(. But it was the right thing to do... he was sick, always throwing up. And he stopped using the litter box, he literally forgot where it was. He wasn't eating or drinking much anymore. I don't know if it's possible for cats to get Alzheimer's, but it seemed like he had it. He would look at you, but sometimes it'd be a blank look. He'd get lost in the middle of the house and just sit down and cry out. It was hard, but it would've been harder to keep him like he was. The vets suspected he had cancer (he'd been hospitalized twice in the last month or so he was alive), but he wouldn't have survived an exploratory surgery to try to find out.
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17 May 2009, 03:08
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
aww what a shame =(
My kitty was also sick, she had a disease called mega colon, and although we tried to prolong her life with the medications and vet visits unfortunately as the year passed by they werent working anymore and she was still ending up constipated and in pain. Plus the time between was getting smaller and smaller, from 6 months, to 3 months and then 1 month. We decided it wasn't worth putting her through another vet visit just for a couple months of contentment only to end up in the same situation.
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17 May 2009, 18:57
Juniper ♥
Post Count: 69
Sorry you had to put your kitty down. :( That's never easy. Of the two cats I have now, the eldest is about 16 years now... and despite her kidney problems, she's still going. As long as we feed her a special kidney food from the vet, she'll still be around a while to terrorize my younger cat and chase after my dog. (And she does both without claws! ;) You can be scary without pointy things in your feet.)
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17 May 2009, 20:12
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Ooh, how funny! We had to give my 16 year old cat special kidney food from the vet as well! It was Science Diet and was called.. CD, I think. xD
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18 May 2009, 00:08
Juniper ♥
Post Count: 69
yep, she's on k/d. back in like 2002 or something she got really down in the dumps. wouldn't move around and when she did she was almost crawling and doing so very slowly. wouldn't let anyone touch her, nothing. the morning of her vet appointment... she let me pet her, she even jumped in my lap. go figure, right? she's been pretty fine ever since and the vet says she's good to go so long as we keep her on the k/d. *shrug*
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18 May 2009, 00:44
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Yeah, maybe that was it, KD! Science Diet has so many different kinds.. but K would make more sense for Kidney than C would, lol.
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17 May 2009, 01:29
prettylittlekitty
Post Count: 78
I just looked at those Soft Paws because that is what my boyfriend wants to do.... and I think they look really funny lol. Wouldn't they fall off? It can get lost and you have to spend more money to buy replacements.
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17 May 2009, 03:52
love♥nik
Post Count: 1010
Goodness, all this drama w/ declawing. I'm glad I can't have one (allergic). XD Although, what's this soft paws thing?
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17 May 2009, 03:53
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
lol.. i was giggling about this earlier thinking it was sad how my simply asking for ideas turned it into a you're so inhumane debate
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17 May 2009, 04:01
love♥nik
Post Count: 1010
xD I know we can declaw here; just didn't realize it was such a hot button since I've never had a cat and a lot of the cats that you can adopt from the ASPCA come declawed; I just thought it was the norm if it was going to be an indoor only cat. Apparently not....

Your kitty playing w/ the toilet roll was too cute!!!! Makes me wish I could have one but tbh I'd rather have a dog since I'm not allergic to them. XD
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17 May 2009, 04:03
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
yep same here, any cats here in a shelter are always declawed and fixed before they are sent out.
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17 May 2009, 04:30
.Blue Bella.
Post Count: 743
Wow! They don't do that in Australia! Well, they desex them... but they offer you advice and hints for scratching.
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17 May 2009, 16:41
starsmaycollide
Post Count: 408
Shelters don't do that here, as far as I know-I think Nikky may have seen a lot of declawed animals because animals that are given up are often declawed by their owners, or ran away and never made it home. My cat came from a shelter and was not declawed-she was an indoor only cat given up by her owner. They did not tell us anything about declawing , either- they microchipped her, and vaccinated her, and made sure she was spayed. That's all.

Part of their adoption info asks, "have you considered the potential for the animal to damage furniture or carpet?" before you decide to adopt an animal. If anything, I imagine people working in shelters are against the practice. Lily's info posted about her past, her personality, etc. also mentioned her scratching habits.
I definitely would never do that to her-she was 2 years old when we got her, an adult. It would be unnecessary.

(And I have found blankets draped on the corners of my new couch, and a scratching pad near by have down wonders! We've had it since February and she hasn't touched the new furniture:))
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17 May 2009, 04:59
love♥nik
Post Count: 1010
I dunno if they do that automatically here, but whenever I go into Petsmart and look at the kitties/cats, they're usually declawed. Although I do think that if they're going to be indoor and outdoor they should keep their claws so that they have some sort of protection if they get out. I don't really get why it'd be a bad thing if they're only inside though. *shrug*
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17 May 2009, 05:09
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
lol.. yeah, its just me in here and only thing happening to this cat is constantly being kissed to death.. LOL sometimes she bats at my lips but shes licked my nose.. sooo win win for us i guess.
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17 May 2009, 15:21
seasongster
Post Count: 58
where do you live? i've never heard of automatic declawing at shelters before - it's a fairly pricey sugery. 0.o they're always neutered before they're adopted out here but they're only declawed if they came in that way.

for those who think that it's ok to declaw indoor cats because they don't need to protect themselves, what happens if they ever get out of the house?
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17 May 2009, 15:23
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
halifax nova scotia.
As far as ive seen when i visit the sites the cats are fixed and declawed, and if not, you have to pay 130 dollars to do it through them before you can take them home.
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17 May 2009, 16:10
ೋMindy☆
Post Count: 58
We've had all of our cats declawed, front claws only incase they were to get out so they'd have a means of defense. It never once bothered any of them the first day they came home they slept the next they were up running around like normal. I don't see anything inhumane about it but I could also see where people think it is. Your call.. Also I had a kitten that did EXACTLY what your kitten is doing recently about 6 months ago, she literally attacked my toddler for no reason he never even bothered her she'd pin him in a corner and attack the crap out of him (she was 8 weeks old) so we had to give her up at 12 weeks after trying for 4 weeks straight to get her to stop clawing and scratching biteing and such at everyone we tried spraying her with water,and time outs away from everyone and nothing worked =( we were sad to see her go...good luck at getting your kitty to be nicer I hope you find a way!
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17 May 2009, 15:24
Transit
Post Count: 1096
They don't just remove the claw, the remove the toes to the knuckle, which is why they have to learn to walk differently, it can cause the pain of a phantom limb, they are more likely to have mobility problems when they are older and they can't itch themselves.
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17 May 2009, 19:11
Juniper ♥
Post Count: 69
When I discussed the surgery with our vet, she said they only remove the very tip of the toes. MAYBE 1/4 of an inch, if that. Both of my cats walk just fine... they didn't have to learn how to walk all over again. The cat that had been attacking me for nearly 3 years was still attacking me the DAY after the surgery. And when cats are declawed, it's only the front paws so they can still itch themselves. I don't think I've ever seen a cat itch itself with their front claws.
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17 May 2009, 20:14
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Actually, they don't declaw cats in that fashion anymore. At least not the vet I take my cats too. They go in and detach the claw from the ligaments/tendons (or whatever it is) holding it in and sew the tip back up. That way it declaws them and it is less invasive.
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17 May 2009, 20:19
« Krisstah »
Post Count: 127
cats itch themselves with the back claws.
we dont take those claws out.
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17 May 2009, 16:31
starsmaycollide
Post Count: 408
I would assume that if cats are coming from a shelter and being shown at Petsmart, they were already declawed by previous owners who gave them up.
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17 May 2009, 20:47
Beautiful Lies
Post Count: 402
Kittens do that type of thing. Mordecai was a jumpy scratchy little bastard when he was little! He did grow out of it though. I'm lucky that I didn't really even have to teach him not to scratch furniture and stuff. He does like to use the bottom of my wooden bed frame as a bit of a scratching post, but it doesn't hurt anything and he's not ruining it.

I would say try the water bottle thing. I've used that on mine so that he doesn't jump on top of my bookshelf and knock down all the stuff on my corkboards (which he thinks is FUN!). But I've had good results with the water bottle. It's gotten to the point where I don't even have to spray him. I just reach down grab it and he jumps off the counter :).

I know a lot of people are all 'declawing cats is inhumane' and all that and to each their own I guess. I will not declaw my cat, but as I've said he's not destructing anything. He did calm down a little bit after I got him neutered too. If you do want to try out the softpaws be careful. One of my coworkers used those and said that her cats nails grew around the damn base of the softpaw thing and it was a pain in the ass to get it off. If you don't want to declaw your cat I suggest keeping his/her nails trimmed. If you cut them as close as you can (without hurting them; you can cut off all the way until just before the pink part starts) and keep them trimmed it won't hurt. My cat HATES getting his nails trimmed so the vet does it when I take him for the yearly checkup (and I do the best I can in between...but I don't want to lose an eye...) and it's like heaven for a while. He tries to claw the carpet, but his nails are too short to do anything so he ends up doing this funky moonwalk dance across the carpet. hilarious.

In short, don't feel bad if you want to declaw your cats. Cats survive without front claws, and my parents three cats never had to learn how to walk all over again or anything like that. I do urge you to try alternative methods (such as the spray bottle and keeping the nails trimmed) before you declaw though. Really the choice is yours.
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18 May 2009, 00:45
Lauren.
Post Count: 885
Mordecai would totally destruct my face if I came near him. True story.
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