Dealing With Your Cat’s Claws
Claws are among the cat’s most distinctive features. She can extend them in a flash to slash out at an enemy or to climb to safety. But misdirected, her claws can be a source of annoyance to her owner. Here are some hints to help you channel your cat’s claws in the right direction.
Why Do Cats Claw?
To sharpen and condition the claws. A cat claws a rough surface to file her nails smooth.
To mark territory. A cat claws her territory to leave both a visible mark and a scent.
To exercise and have fun. By contracting their claws, cats feel pleasure and comfort, and exercise by stretching muscles in their back legs.
It is as normal for cats to scratch objects in their environment as it is for them to purr when they’re content. It is, therefore, unrealistic for owners to try to prevent their cats from scratching. Instead, the goal should be to redirect the behavior onto acceptable objects.
The Three Point Program
1. Trim Your Cat’s Nails Regularly:
Adult cats need their front claws clipped every month, their back claws less often. Kittens under four months of age may need to have their claws trimmed weekly.
You can ask your veterinarian to show you how to clip your cat’s claws. For best results, use nail trimmers made specifically for cats and available at pet supply shops.
2. Provide Scratching Posts For Your Cat:
Your Cat will claw something. It’s up to you to find places that are acceptable to you and appealing to your cat. You may need to try several alternatives before finding the ones most appropriate.
Look at what your cat is already scratching – perhaps the sofa. The sofa is nice and tall, sturdy, and covered with a nubby tweed. Try to duplicate in the scratching post what she is already clawing.
Another effective type of scratcher is the corrugated cardboard box which is laced with catnip and lies on the floor horizontally. The cat sits on one end and claws the other as she would on a tree root. When one side wears out, turn the pad over and let her use the other side. These are available at pet supply shops.
Other ideas include using a rough-barked log (either mounted on a platform or placed on its side), a wicker hamper, a board wrapped in sisal rope that hangs from a door knob or is placed on the floor, the jute backing of a carpet sample, and/or covering a door jamb or basement post with carpet.
Put one post or pad right in front of the place where your cat is currently clawing and put another near where she sleeps. Often the cat with stretch and claw just after awakening. Posts in many different areas of the house will encourage her to mark her territory in acceptable places.
3. Train Kitty to Claw Where She Should:
If your cat claws the scratching post or pad, pet and encourage her. If she claws where she shouldn’t, yell “NO!” and put her on her post. Try sprinkling dried catnip on the post to encourage her to use it.
If your cat is clawing your upholstered furniture, stick large patches of Contact paper directly on the furniture where your cat is clawing. Or use sheets of sandpaper, plastic carpet runners with the pointed side up, or cotton balls soaked in perfume or vinegar. These deterrents keep her from freshening up her scent and the visual marks she’s been making. Place one of her scratching posts nearby so that you can “wean” her off the furniture and onto the post.
Other people report good results with loud noises made while the cat is in the act of clawing. Any deterrent must be done consistently at first so that your cat always gets negative reinforcement when she claws where she shouldn’t.
Another important point: Never entice cats or kittens to use your hand as a toy or object of attack. Use something attached to a string to provide distance between your hand and kitty’s eager claws.
What If You Have a Kitten?
Young kittens cause problems with their claws because they are too small to jump up beside you so they climb up the front of the sofa instead. They may leap onto a dining room chair, overshoot their mark, and dig in to prevent falling off.
Basically, all you need to do is follow the three-point program already outlined above. But some kittens also climb drapes and furniture. If your kitten is a climber, it is important that you provide a tall post or climbing tree as soon as possible where she can channel these tendencies. To protect your drapes, make a “rug” of Contact paper placed sticky side up where the kitten would have to stand to start up the drapes. Or wrap the bottoms of the drapes in bags until you feel the kitten has forgotten about climbing them.
You should also temporarily cover your furniture. Drape your upholstered furniture with sheets or throws and tie them at the legs to be sure the kitten doesn’t crawl up underneath. Lay magazines or newspaper sections on wood chairs or tables where the kitten is likely to jump. These steps will protect your furniture until the kitten has matured. People with babies and even puppies must take steps to protect the house. Kittens go through a destructive childhood too, only it is not as well publicized or accepted.
We Don’t Recommend Declawing.
There are many misconceptions about declawing. Many people feel that declawing a cat makes it safer to be around babies or children. In reality, a declawed cat may become a biter and more neurotic. Also, people feel that if they have one declawed cat, any additional cat also must be declawed so it won’t take advantage of the declawed one. Actually, when cats fight with each other, they bite more than they claw. Once the cats know and accept each other, there will be very little fighting so the claws should not be a problem.
When a cat is declawed, the veterinarian anesthetizes the cat and amputates the last joint of each toe, including the bone so that the entire claw is removed. Convalescence takes one to two weeks, during which time the pain gradually diminishes. The cat may have altered feeling in the toes for quite some time. Sometimes, the healing process can be plagued with complications such as hemorrhage, bone chips which prevent healing, damage (either permanent or temporary) to the radial nerve, pain, and later, claws which may grow abnormally. The cat is not able to balance quite as well as she could, and she must be kept indoors because she can no longer adequately defend herself. Some veterinarians refuse to perform the surgery because they think it is cruel and inhumane. Most cat organizations prohibit declawed cats from being shown because they feel that declawing is unnatural.
There can be emotional complications form delcawing too. Nature gave the cat claws as a first line of defense and escape. If you tamper with such a vital survival mechanism, there will be emotional repercussions. Some veterinarians observe that declawed cats develop chronic bladder and skin problems soon after they have been declawed as a result of their insecurity. Very often declawed cats resort to biting whenever they feel threatened, which can be often when they know their claws are gone. Some become chronic wetters and urinate (and even defecate) outside their litter box when they become anxious. They can’t reassure themselves by clawing to mark their territory, so they resort to urinating.
People who have their cats declawed usually don’t understand how important, physically and emotionally, the claws are to the cat – and they don’t know how else to cope with the problem. Follow the steps recommended above and declawing your cat is not necessary. If your diligent efforts should somehow fail, your veterinarian may be able to suggest declawing alternatives.
Why do costly, unnecessary, painful and possibly hazardous surgery just to correct a training problem? Cats have claws for a reason! With a little work and commitment to your cat’s welfare, you’ll eliminate the reason to declaw – and make her a better pet as well. Furniture is expensive, but a cat’s well-being is priceless.
Did you know?
Declawing is illegal and considered animal cruelty in many nations.