Someone was telling me there's a new procedure they do that doesn't involve removing to the first joint, it's more just removing the actual claws. I have no idea if that's even less invasive or not (losing your toe nails would probably hurt pretty darn bad) but it would be worth considering if this is your only option.

Hi Crystal,
What a tough situation! You have received some very good advice from women who clearly know and love cats.

All that being said, it is of course completely unacceptable that your cat is injuring your daughter repeatedly. Yikes! It seems like you have some hard decisions.

Inhumane is the kitty hurting your daughter. Kids should not have to deal with injuries from pets.
Inhumane is taking the kitty to a shelter where he will probably not be adopted but will probably be euthanized.

Other options would be trying to adjust the kitty's behavior, using the the little nail caps or clipping them, or trying to find the kitty a new loving home. But if that doesn't work, than it looks like declawing the kitty would be the next choice.

Twenty years ago I had a kitty and she was declawed and it didn't seem to pester her too much. I know, I know, "n of 1" and when we know better, we do better, but really declawing seems a better option than a shelter. And human kids come before furry kids.

Have you checked with your vet? He or she might have some behavioral modification ideas, know of another home if that is what is necessary, and offer you their medical opinion on declawing.

Does your step daughter tourment the cat? I have a cat that if I pick on him too much he'll claw at me viciously but thats because I bug him that way. Usually I have slippers on and he'll rip them apart with my feet in them. I wouldn't declaw the cat personally but I don't know it's completely up to you.

No way. She leaves him alone and just pets him. She's 10 and knows how to handle cats and other animals. She was minding her buisness and eating when he attacked her.

I think the caps might be the best idea too. I'm gonna print out some of this advice and show it to my husband and than contact our vet. He's due for his rabies shot so I need to take anyway.

I REALLY don't wanna declaw him and its a last resort. I couldn't hurt that sweet little face. Thats him in my profile pic.

Oh and if for some reason you have a feisty cat, swaddling is effective for nail trimming. We have a wannabe feral cat and for the first couple months of clipping her nails, we had to swaddle her.

And yes I've heard stories of cats getting declawed that actually turn to biting. If your cat is declawed, and then starts biting, what would be your option?

I also agree with a water bottle and plenty of scratching posts. You can also doing scratching posts rubbed with catnip.

Not me! I would rather see the cat re-homed with someone who would be willing to take the time to train it than be declawed. Declawing is an excuse so that we humans can be lazy. It's cruel, plain and simple. Dropping the cat off at a shelter and not trying to place the cat in a different home would also, in my opinion, be lazy.

Training options for the OP:

Have your step-daughter build a relationship with the cat. Have her feed him treats. Maybe teach him to do some simple tricks. Do some research on petting aggression. Since you said he was getting fiesty when you pet him also. My cats are all clicker trained. They all know very simple but helpful behaviors. The cat may also be bored and swiping at the step-daughter because he wants to play. Get some lure toys and play with him, get your step-daughter to play with him with lure toys.

http://www.amazon.com/Bird-Cat-Catch...6526206&sr=8-1

That toy is a favorite at my house.

http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Pryor-Ge...6526246&sr=1-1

Clicker training kit and book.

You can teach the cat with positive reinforcement not to scratch your child. It takes some effort, but it's well worth it.

If I had the choice between being killed and having every finger tip and toe tip taken off at the first joint, I'd take the maiming. I'd also hope to have narcotic pain meds available if I were to have all my toe and finger tips chopped off.

Heck if the choice were death and having any amputation, I'd choose the amputation, but that doesn't mean I think the decision should be taken lightly (even if it were only my earlobes - which is why I oppose tail and ear docking too).



Humane societies and SPCA's are generally not no-kill shelters, because the organizations realize that prolonged suffering is worse than death. It's the SPCA and the Humane Society that no-kill shelters are opposing. No shelter wants to put down animals, especially healthy or treatable/curable ones.

Most no-kill shelters just leave the dirty work for the humane societies. It's the humane societies that take in the sick, dying and behavior problem animals, and do the best they can with them.

Most no-kill shelters refuse to accept any animal that isn't young, healthy, and easily adopted. Often, if an animal in a no-kill shelter becomes gravely ill, the animal may be left to suffer, or the animal may be taken to the humane society or the shelther will "adopt" out the animals to a local veterenarian (who then euthanizes the animal). The no-kill shelter can then still claim a zero kill rate with a clear conscience.

Worse, some no-kill shelters are operated by "collectors," or other people with good intentions, who take in far more animals than they can care for properly. The animals get sick and suffer, sometimes for years before the SPCA or humane societies are able to confiscate the aminals. If it does come to the point of confiscation, in many cases, most of the animals will end up having to be euthanized.

This happened in my county. It was absolutely awful! They removed over 200 animals from a place only set up to house 50 or so.

This is very true. When it was time for us to expand the kitty family, we tried a no-kill shelter nearby. It was a reeking horror full of stressed-out, unhappy cats in miserable living conditions. The woman who ran the shelter insisted on holding up so many hoops for us to jump through before adopting from her--things like a visit to our home to make sure it was cat-friendly and all kinds of unnecessarily personal information about sleeping arrangements (ours, not the cats')--that we soon realized she had no intention of letting anyone adopt one of her cats.

That no-kill shelter was accredited, yet it was sanctioned animal collecting more than anything else.

We wound up adopting from the SPCA. They didn't ask us about our bed, how often we argue and if we ever raise our voices, how often we had visitors in our home, and so forth--they just had us fill out some reasonable paperwork and let us take our boy home.

To get back to the OP, I hope that trimming or SoftPaws works out for you. We trim our guys' claws down and they tolerate it remarkably well. Just about anything is better than returning a cat to a shelter, though. Anything you can do to ensure that both the cat and your family and friends can live together peaceably is better than that.