love, muse wrote:Bob. wrote:So, there's nothing I can do. I have to either take away her toes, or surrender her to the pound again, where she might not last long. I feel like so much of a terrible owner for thinking about keeping her with me for the exchange of her claws. But I don't want her to die. I know declawing's inhumane and all that, but at this point, I have to. So, what can I do? Can I make the process any more comfortable at all? What specific litter will she need to use afterwords? And even more so.. how will she do in a completely different environment?I completely feel you here; my father was completely against letting me keep my cat and if I didn't get her declawed, she would have had to find a new home or he would've taken her back to the pound. I got her when she was around 6-weeks old, so she loved to scratch things. It got so bad that my father couldn't bear it anymore, so I had to make the choice for her and have her declawed. There is another way about it, that would work; they go in and sever the tendons attached to her claws so that she gets to keep them, she just can't use them. You may want to look into that. As for declawing, I only had her frontal claws taken out so that if she does happen to get outside she still has a way of surviving out there. Once your cat is declawed make sure you get her the "cylinder-shaped" newspaper litter, that way it doesn't get into the area where her claws used to be. I also recommend wrapping her paws for the first few days to keep anything out of them. Likewise; always keep an eye on her. She'll want to bite at them because they hurt. And let her eat whatever she wants. My cat began not eating anything right after surgery just because she was "protesting" what had happened (it was really strange, I know). So if she does that, make sure to let her eat whatever.
Most importantly, make sure you're okay with what happens. Imo losing claws is far better than possibly losing her forever. No cat should have to go through either, but one far outweighs the other in the "cons" column.
Lastly, it's your choice. Don't let anyone else make it for you. She's your cat and you know her best. I wish you luck~
I believe the surgery you're referring to is called "laser declaw" surgery. It's more expensive than traditional declawing, but it does have some benefits in that she gets to keep all of her toes. The drawback with that surgery, however, is that because she has no control over her claws anymore, they can become snagged in carpets and other things more easily, so if you went that route you would have to either buy her claw caps to cover them, or trim her claws every so often.