Anyone ever have the laser type surgery done on a kitten being declawed? Just curious if it's quite a lot more than the traditional way. Both sons have kittens from the same litter of 7 (a friend owns the parents). One son's choosing the laser procedure, other choosing the traditional. Wondering if you still have to use the shredded newspaper in litter boxes for a few days with the laser type or do they heal immediately?
Wish I had some photos of the little fellas to post here..my grandcats guess I could call them. LOL

Corky

NEITHER procedure is HUMANE>..

the lazer is a TENDONECTOMY ... ie it cuts the tendon needed to more the claw ...

traditional is more of a JOInT ectomy .lazer should heal a bit faster . It removes the nail and essetiantially the first joint of our fingers/./ BOTH can and OFTEN cause BEHAVIORAL issues and litterbox issues in cats

Naitl trimming and SOFT paws are FAR FAR better alternatives...

If you want I can post links of what REALLY is a DECLAW

Hi Corky.

I was always dead set against having cats declawed. I'm still not very encouraged by it.

However...when I bought new furniture 5 years ago (and it cost me a pretty penny), my newly adopted feral cat was ferocious with her claws. She immediately went for the furniture. Very much unlike my other cats who all like the scratch posts.

She was also vicious towards one of the other cats, snatching at the other with her claws at every turn. So, I made the decision to have her front paws declawed when I had her spayed.

I felt HORRIBLE afterwards. Her pitties looked awful and she acted like the felt awful.
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But, she did swiftly heal. She still paws at the furniture like she's scratching it. She does NOT like to have her front paws messed with at all. I miss being able to rub her littles toes like I do the other cats.

Now I have a new baby, born February 14, and she claws anything in sight. Big sigh. I just don't know if I have it in me again to do that.

But...Annie, my declawed cat, is loving and has fun and plays right along with the others, so she must be okay. I hate facing the decision, again, to declaw or not to declaw.

My understanding is that those claw covers don't stay on, at least not for very long, but I may check into that. There is NO WAY I want to go and look it up on the internet. I already know what they do to the cats and don't want to see it first hand.

Good luck with your decision.

arguments about declawing. So I don't want to get involved with that.

Personally I don't like it and think it is inhumane. All of our cats are intact,
and we trained them to not claw, even the furniture. We have 3 cat trees they tear up. I have a heavy duty puppet, of a Beaver...one of my son's old toys.
We call him Big Beaver. Our youngest cat likes to wrestle a bit, so I get him out for that game. (we have a road near us called Big Beaver --yep---funny isn't it? --so Big Beaver is easy for us to fall into name wise). So when my youngest is running around in the winter bored to death, I ask her where Big Beaver is...and she climbs to the top of her tree and waits for him to "come alive" LOL Hence she never claws US..

I will say, I have had many friends over the years who did declaw, and I saw most of them became biters.

BINGO! That's what happened with Annie. But she and my passed-on Sweetie Pie were rivals to the Nth degree. Sweetie Pie didn't attack Annie, but Annie attacked Sweetie Pie. Once Annie's claws were gone, she then became...THE BITER. Twice. Twice I had to take Sweetie Pie to the vet with abcesses, really bad ones where Annie had bitten her.

I have claw posts in every single room. It makes no matter to my little she-devil, Gracie. Scratch, scratch, scratch scratch scratch!!!! The stinker! Can you come visit, Mrs. D, and train my cat for me?
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Honestly, even most vets agree that declawing is cruel
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better to have cheap furniture and unmutilated kitties IMHO
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I also have scratch posts, stretch mats etc all around and have always had multiple cats......never had any damage to the furnishings etc

Before you have a kitten's claws (and by the way, it's just not the claws, they cut off part of their paws too), if there is a very valid reason you feel you need that safety, there are other avenues you can follow to obtain the same results.

You can purcase a product, soft paws, pretty paws, that are basically plastic false nails that are glued right over the cat's natural claws.

They are safe, humane, last a long time (just glue on new ones eventually) and with them a cat cannot harm anyone or do any damage since there is no sharp edge.

Please consider other alternatives. Declawing is very inhumane, it can affect a cat's personality, and then limits you to keeping the cat indoors, getting another undeclawed cat, and makes it harder to find it a home if that situation becomes necessary.

It was not my intention to start up such an argument in here over whether or not it's the right or wrong thing to do to have an indoor cat declawed. At the time I started this thread, my son was considering having his kitten declawed. There were some minor complications, but he is now the most loveable and huggy little black long hair cat you'd ever imagine. I apologize to all for starting this uproar.


Corky

Oh I do hope you'll reconsider and NOT have your fur kids declawed! It's truly like amputating a human's fingers! Years ago, I used to become rather irked with my fur kids destruction and I realized that I will always choose life with my beloved fur kids, therefore, I had to learn to live with less-than pristine furniture, (yeah, right, like I had pristine in the first place!) shredded spots, and attempt to resolve (somewhat) the scritchin' & scratchin'! (clipping their nails to curb scratching is futility! Those little caps are toast in 60 seconds flat, as my boys chew them right off! Lol!) I used positive reinforcement techniques and a squirty for attitude problems! Lol! I've got a squirter that has a kitty head & body, is hard plastic & looks much like my fur kids. They respect it...I named it "The Equalizer kitty" Lol! Most cats loathe being squirted and will generally make a mad dash for more arid climes. I now have only to show it to my boys and they split. On occasion, there is some major 'tude and one of them will stand his ground against the juicy onslaught, but as a rule, it's rather effective as well as harmless. Puhleeeease spare their li'l claws!!! =^..^=

hiya Corky
it's ok...I dont think it ever became an argument
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rather just feelings expressed as it is a very controversial procedure. But no one is angry and certainly not upset with you
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hehehe as a mod, let me tell ya....an argument on these boards is a whole 'nother ballgame
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I am glad your son's kitty is doing well
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Cheri