Laser declawing a cat?

forget laser. Declawing a cat—bad, bad, bad.
The cat will revert to biting when its other defenses are destroyed, will never trust you, and will be helpless if ever outside. It will not be able to climb a tree, to defend itself, or do simple tasks where it uses the extended claws as fingers.
I am glad I am not your cat.

I pretty much agree with @anartist. The only time you should even think about de-clawing your cat is if it is exclusively an indoor cat. But even then, it’s not something I would suggest doing. Claws are beneficial for not only their mental well-being, but also their physical well-being. When cats stretch and scratch something like cat scratchers, for example, this greatly helps them stretch important muscles and keeps them nimble.

Declawing a cat is animal cruelty!
I very much agree with both @DrasticDreamer and @anartist .

Ok, could we for once discuss methods of declawing without it turning into a discussion about the pros and cons of declawing itself?

@papayalily When dealing with possible animal welfare? My short answer: No.

@DrasticDreamer How does telling them that they’re doing a horrible thing help at all? Do you really think it changes their mind? Or is it like all parenting threads, etiquette threads, abortion threads – instead of answering the question asked, you insist on highjacking it to namecall others because you’re under the impression that a few random people on the internet objecting will somehow change everything?

Just say no. If you have to declaw a cat to live with it, you shouldn’t live with that cat. Get a goldfish for a pet instead. Leave the cat to someone who can live with the nature of the animal.

Discuss it with your veterinarian, they would know what is best for the cat.

@papayalily Did I tell them they were doing something horrible? I don’t recall doing so. What I was doing was trying to inform them why it’s beneficial for a cat to keep their claws, and I can’t possibly know whether or not it will change their mind. I didn’t know that what was intended to be helpful information/education was somehow harmful. Where did I hijack the thread or call them a name? By all means, point it out to me. Was I trying to change everything? I wasn’t aware that I was trying to do that, either.

[mod says] Flame off, folks. No need to make this personal.

I have no experience with laser declawing personally, but from what I hear, it’s the way to go. It’s kinda like what laparoscopy is to open surgery.

Our office did only laser procedure for declawing. The laser cauterizes the blood vessels and nerve endings making it much easier for the cat to recover quickly. Usually the cat could spend one night in the hospital and go home walking and playing normally. The aftercare is fairly simple. You just can’t use clay or sharp edged litter for 10 days. Shredded paper or a special post-declaw litter works well.

We would always discuss declawing with the client to make sure that it was the right decision for the person and the cat and always discouraged 4-foot declawing just in case kitty got into a position where she had to climb or defend herself.

There are many legitimate reasons for wanting the procedure but the most common was when the cat belonged to an elderly person, particularly a person taking blood thinner prescriptions. Playful scratches can cause big problems for someone with tissue paper thin skin whose blood does not clot normally. Having a pet is very therapeutic for people who are lonely and/or in declining health. It is certainly not my place to deprive them of the companionship by lecturing them on cruelty.

@Blueroses Is corn litter sharp?
Here’s my problem with the idea that declawing is so horrible: Many, many people will give up cats because they can’t declaw them, and of those cats, a really high amount are then put down. Is declawing really so bad that it’s worse than putting a cat down? I’d rather a cat be declawed and have a loving home with tons of shelter and food and lovies than a clawed cat homeless on the streets or being euthanized.

@papayalily I agree. With the thousands of cats euthanized in shelters daily and the seemingly endless supply of new kittens entering the world (is spaying and neutering also cruel?) I’d rather see a cat have a chance at a loving home even without claws, than no chance at all. Many landlords will only accept declawed cats in leased properties, also many resident group homes are able to keep cats if damage can be reduced.

I’m not familiar with corn litter but I’ve had some clients use the corn starch based packing peanuts. Apparently they fly everywhere and make a delightful mess. The main thing is that surgical glue is used to seal the skin and because the laser does cauterize, it takes a little longer for the tissue to knit and you don’t want anything breaking that seal (eg sandy textured bits) that could lodge and cause infection.

@Blueroses Yeah, I don’t really get the idea that cutting off part of a toe is cruel, but cutting out their nuts or ovaries isn’t – or that’s it’s cruel to not cut out their nuts and ovaries. Plus, there’s a case to be made that by fixing them, you’re depriving them of their natural right to survive via offspring (not that any of this stopped me from getting my pets fixed). It’s the inconsistencies in the logic of the argument that gets me…

The one is use is this. It’s not because I’m green, but because it cuts down on the smell so much and isn’t dusty like clay. I wanted to go the pine route, but the pellets are too big for my LitterRobot. Plus, it’s freakishly cheap at WalMart!

Someday America will get it’s collective head out of it’s ass and ban this cruelty. If you can’t have a cat with claws then get Soft Paws or don’t have a cat.

All this bullshit about being cruel to animals for selfish reasons is just more proof of people’s total disregard for the welfare of living creatures simply because they want something is disgusting.

@anartist , @DrasticDreamer , @Deja_vu , @ETpro , and @psychocandy : Maybe a good topic for another Q?

@JilltheTooth Where are the mods when you need them?

Flag away.

@psychocandy ; Not flagging, just saying. This is something you feel strongly about, why not bring it into a Q for all to weigh in on?

It’s a domesticated animal.

It will not survive in “the wild”... and never goes outside.

I bring it food, bring it water, wake up when it yowls, comfort it when it’s scared, take it’s waste outside for it, treat it for pests and parasites, take care of it’s medical needs and make sure it never has to worry about anything other than finding the perfect spot to nap for the afternoon.

In exchange I ask that it doesn’t destroy my furniture or make me bleed.

Seems a fair trade.

@funkdaddy : But it isn’t… look at what @DrasticDreamer said in her first post. I suppose if its an exclusively indoor cat then its okay, but still, its super painful and why would you want your cat to go through that pain?

A few scratches is nowhere near to the trust that you would have to build up with your cat.

I live in the real world where millions of cats are euthanized because no one wants them. If there is a choice between living without front claws in a nice house with all the food they could want or dying with claws intact, I would vote for the former and I think most cats would too. There is so much REAL animal cruelty in this world, I wish those who are so vehemently opposed to this surgery performed in sterile conditions in a vet’s office while under anesthesia, would instead devote their passion to eliminating the real cruelty instead.

I boarded cats for years and never met a declawed cat who held any deep seated distrust towards humans.

@rooeytoo No shit. Why can’t we get this upset about people who light cats on fire or strangle them in an alcoholic rage (yup, real people…)?

@papayalily – or even those who breed them for profit in heinous conditions, or fatten them in feed lots before inhumanely slaughtering or debeak them so we can keep millions in one barn and the list goes on and on.

But no, instead we rant and rave about perceived cruelty, probably while eating supermarket beef or chicken for supper??????

@rooeytoo We debeak cats? What the hell is that procedure?

I was a little startled at the vehemence of some of the posters who had no idea why @TexasPride07 wants to declaw. There are so many possible, legitimate, reasons. For example, perhaps this cat survived a loved one and the OP can’t have a cat in an apartment unless it’s declawed? Perhaps the OP is immune system compromised and a playful scratch could be damgerous? I don’t, as a rule, approve of declawing cats, but my eyes were opened on this thread and I learned something. I hope the knee jerk “lalala I can’t hear you lalala” attacks don’t drive the user away from this site.

at this point id rather cut off the fingers of all the people typing hateful things. im sure it wouldn’t be as cruel as declawing a cat ;)

I still stand by the fact that I said nothing hateful, and truly didn’t intend to. If anyone sees it otherwise, that’s not my problem at this point.

@TexasPride07 – hang on, I’ll get my chain saw and help (with the finger cutting that is!)

Sometimes I think other people live in some kind, gentle, rarefied place, and I’m still stuck here on this real ole earth where sometimes decisions have to be made that apparently would never be called for in the other place!

@rooeytoo @TexasPride07 I’ll help as well!

Alright, the 3 mouseketeers!!!

My god, I am sorry I ever answered this Q. I had no idea it would turn so hateful.