Declawing your kitty? Are you serious?

It always amazes me how everyone became so glued to their phone. Seriously, people? Can we rewind a bit there, and be able to walk your dog, do your grocery shopping, or take your kid to the park WITHOUT TALKING ON YOUR DARN PHONE?

Anyway, I was grocery shopping while I heard a woman telling someone on the phone as well as all the patrons of the store that she had to pick up her cat soon after he got declawed. She just mentioned it like it was something as casual as a manicure!

Declawing has nothing to do with a manicure. What if your cat was taking you to get a declawing? Let me explain to you what it is. If declawing was performed on a human, it would mean to CUT OFF EACH FINGER AT THE LAST KNUCKLE. Want to be casual about it?

They suffer, they freaking suffer on top of the fact that by removing their nails, you remove their defense if one day they escape. They will be at the mercy of any predator.

This is exactly why humans are really pissing me off more and more! Humans don’t want to adjust to the environment or to their pets. Environment or pets have to adjust to them. Did I miss something somewhere? Is it part of an amendment I have not been aware of written by our Founding Fathers?

I live in the country side around DC, meaning that yes I was privileged being able to watch nature around instead of people. It just changed not long ago since someone built a monster house next door to me. You know with 2 kids and a dog you need a bare minimum of 7,000 square feet! So anyway, I will be moving soon, but I witnessed so many people around here, moving from the city to the suburbs and complaining about the wild critters. Breaking news: they were there before you. I still remember that woman complaining that she spent over half a million of dollars in her yard with bushes and trees, and the deer ate the bushes! No kidding, lady! If you can spend $500,000 in bushes, why don’t you spend a few more bucks to get a fence high enough for Bambi not to jump over?

Declawing is the same thing. You want a cat, but at the same time, you want to make him fit your environment. We could call him the “Stepford cat”! There are solutions to keep your furniture safe without going through that barbaric surgery which will also alter your cat’s personality forever.

Nail Trimming

You have to trim their nails. Have you looked at them? Those things are dangerous! Seriously! On top of it, I have dogs, and even though my cats and dogs are getting along, you can never know what one of my kitties could do since he has a perverted sense of humor! He loves to hide and catch the dogs’ tails with his nails to give you an example.

So, get ready to trim those claws!
Step 1: Don’t go straight at your cat with nails clippers the first time. It takes some taming here! When Kitty goes to your lap, let him get accustomed little by little at having his feet handled. Doing this every day for a while will make it less stressful for your cat and for you!

Step 2: You should have someone with you to handle Kitty when Trimming Day is here! Cats have a very good memory, and if it becomes a fight the first time, it would be Hell in the future! Don’t expect your cat to stay still for 10 or 15 minutes. No one has that kind of tolerance!

Step 2: Do it on a regular basis, so you will become good at it. Trust me on that one! The only thing you have to clip anyway is the sharpest part at the very end of the nail. This is not like for dogs, just a tiny part has to be removed. If you hit a quick (blood and nerves which provide feeling to the nails), have “Quick Stop” to apply to stop the bleeding. Most likely you won’t need it since the sharpest part of the nail is at the very end, so only a tiny bit needs to be removed anyway.

Cats Do Scratch

Scratching is a normal feline behavior, and every cat should have at least one scratch post.
You are going to tell me that you have 5 scratching posts in hour house but that your cat prefers your leather sofa!

Maybe they are not at the right place. Try to monitor your cat to see when he feels the most like scratching. Is it after meal time? After a nap? When he is stressed by someone coming? You have to put the post on his path.

Your kitty scratches a specific spot of your carpet or your sofa? You can find at PetSmart something called “Smart Cat Sticky Paws sheet.” They are applied and removed easily from carpet or furniture once your cat acquires good manners and it will prevent any scratching since they absolutely dislike the texture of those sheets.

Fake Nails

If despite of the nails trimming and the posts, your cat is still trying to kill your carpet or your furniture, there are cool fake nails that you can glue to his or her own nails. It comes in cool colors if you kitty is into fashion but clear ones are available as well.

As always there are solutions far less drastic and barbaric than surgery. You can let your kitty be a kitty without fearing for your kids, other pets or furniture! I would love to hear from all the kitties’ parents now and share pictures! No “Stepford Cat” please!