Declawing a cat takes away their ‘catness’ and you almost always wind up with a psychologically messed up kitty. I’ve known way too many from friends, acquaintances, and perfect strangers, and it’s like each and every one had their own crazy, but a common one is they pee outside the box and end up being given away to a barn to live outside, which would be fine if they had claws so they could defend themselves.
Another common one is since they don’t have claws they use their teeth instead, which really, really hurts a lot when it’s used against you.
I have a coworker who declawed her two cats as a matter of course because she thought that was what responsible cat owners do, like neutering. One of them seems okay but the other one is completely messed up socially and has icky habits such as licking himself raw on parts of his body, which makes him very unattractive.
Please keep trying different ways to train him to scratch. One thing might be getting a really good quality catnip to put on his scratcher. That did finally turn the page for one of my kitties who was indifferent.
Don’t put your poor cat through the pain of taking off his toes unless you are also willing to lose yours. It’s a house. You’re considering taking off BODY PARTS of your cat so he doesn’t destroy your precious house- which can be replaced. His toes cannot. Plus, you’re opening up another huge can of worms with behavior problems- inappropriate urination, biting, etc.
You said he has a cat tree but is that all he has to scratch on? I have a variety of scratching surfaces in various places in the house. I have both sisal and carpet cat trees, cardboard floor scratchers and even a piece of log with the bark on it. My furniture and door trim aren’t pristine but it does help.
I think declawing is cruel and I’ve never seen a declawed cat that didn’t have behavior issues.
Any toy interest? If so, I’d try a taller cat tree (mine is a hideous 7 foot monstrosity that takes up a corner of a room) and use the toy to lure him up. None of mine had much interest in a short tree but the tall ones allow them to really stretch and climb.
Cats also need high places and low places to hang out. There are a number of cheap and almost free ideas available online for making kitty huts and other hiding spaces.
I grew up in some areas where declawing cats was not unusual. I knew many that did just fine with it–no behavior issues, no obvious signs of arthritis, etc.
However, I owned one declawed cat as well (and I’m not the one who declawed her, so put the torches down). There was always something that was physically not quite right about her. She wouldn’t jump on things. Something was not right in her hind legs–you could tell they bothered her, but we could never find anything to explain it in vet exams.
Her last year or two were very difficult. I was trying to judge quality of life against her level of discomfort to gauge when it was time. I always suspected it was related to her being declawed. Unfortunately, there are no real long-term pain control options for cats, so when they are affected, all you can do is offer supportive care.
Based on what I went through with her, just trying to keep her comfortable, I would never choose to declaw a cat. Even though I knew many who seemed to cope just fine with it.
But I especially wouldn’t opt for it with an older cat that already has behavioral issues. If you don’t know why the cat is destructive and you declaw on top of that, with all the behavioral and pain risks that come with it, I suspect that you’ll find that nothing really improves. He may change how he misbehaves, but he’s probably going to still have issues.
Watch a few episodes of “my cat from hell”. There are some pretty good tips in there to cure bad behavior. Usually it is more stimulation, playing, high shelves for them to climb on, and outdoor covered pens.
Reposting this to get it on page 2, because it’s one of the best How To Keep A Cat things I’ve read in a long time…
[QUOTE=MistyBlue;8599243]
The problem with many problem cats is that, to may people, getting/having a cat is an easy ‘extra.’
We’ll tailor or homes, schedules, lifestyles, etc around other pets…but not cats. We tend to consider them “add-ons” like options as opposed to very distinct animals with very distinct needs to be happy.
Definitely NOT saying we don’t care about or love our feline buddies, it’s just that unlike puppies they don’t really require training for behavior or being housebroken.
Except for adding a litterbox, few toys and a bed we don’t give them much in the way of habitat or enrichment. Heck, we even give gerbils, hamsters and birds more in the way of happy environments than we tend to do with cats. We’re not neglecting them on purpose, but it often ends up that way even when they’re well fed and healthy.
Cats have an instinctual need to climb and use those claws. They love being up high and even if they’re not acting skittish they’re often not happy being on the ground all the time. Then we give them heck for using our furniture and walls to claw or try to get up higher.
Cat trees are excellent and most good breeders won’t sell a kitten to a house without at least a cat tree. And not one of the low ones. They understand cats. 
You can alter your home for the cat as well as yourselves and still have it look great. Floating shelves staggered up a wall looks nice and gives cats climbing places and high spots to hang out and watch their little world go by below. Putting a cat bed on top of kitchen cabinets gives them a great high spot, too. Or on top of the fridge.
You can buy inexpensive but nicely colored/printed hall runner carpets and hang them vertically on a wall as a decoration like a tapestry for cats to climb. Add a narrow shelf bed to the top as a bonus.
You can fit a window with a cat cage for warmer days for your indoor kitty to enjoy the outdoors safely. Also hang a cat hammock to one or two windowsills so they have a spy-spot to outside. Hanging a bird feeder outside of those windows helps, LOL! 
Some low hidey-holes are a good idea, too. You can put a skirt around the bottom of a wing chair for a cat-cave underneath. Or a high plate rail around a room as a cat-walk.
And at least once every single day plan to play with your cat for 15 minutes. Just like dogs, they need both exercise and habitat enrichment. They need to chase, catch and tackle stuff. Despite being sedentary most of the time, they definitely require that short time to stalk and pounce and run every single day.
There are also food puzzles you can get for them to bat around and get treats out of or you can hide a few small tidbits around the house every single day.
One they can act like a cat, move like a cat and get up high and climb and claw and chase and pounce like a cat…they almost always stop destroying things you don’t want them to destroy. We can’t just drop a cat in the house with a toy and a litterbox and expect every single one to be happy and well adjusted. A cat-unfriendly house for an indoor cat is like keeping a horse stall bound 24/7. ;)[/QUOTE]
Thank you MistyBlue, and OP, you aren’t a “the last resort” yet, by a long chalk
I second putting that cat outside - he’s telling you he needs something he isn’t getting… If you’re worried about coyote bait, make an enclosure… You’re remodeling your home so, why not include that in the remodel? Doesn’t sound like it would be a huge expense…
[QUOTE=jetsmom;8599453]
Watch a few episodes of “my cat from hell”. There are some pretty good tips in there to cure bad behavior. Usually it is more stimulation, playing, high shelves for them to climb on, and outdoor covered pens.[/QUOTE]
I was going to suggest the same thing! I don’t have a cat but I can’t turn from this show. If I do end up with one I have ideas on how to correct the behavior that is undesirable.
I will say… a 3ft kitty post is not high enough. They really want to be up higher and maybe a window perch…
Here’s my cat paddock in the making. The most expensive thing was the mesh, which I got from kittyfence.com. It’s 7’ tall with 1 in squares so the birds can fly through it. The posts are 8 ft T posts, the toppers are the largest shelf brackets I could find, and they are held on w/ the snake-type pipe clamp. The mesh is zip tied to the posts. At the bottom there is sturdy wire mesh bent into an L to prevent under-fence escapes or incursions (I have a terrier who, despite missing one front leg, loves to dig under fences). I used a hog-ringer to attach the wire to the fence mesh, but zip ties would work too.
The whole thing cost me about $500 and 2 day’s work.
It’s absolutely priceless as far as kitty happiness goes!
You can see in the background the Purrfect Fence kit that I put up first. 1/2 the space for twice the price but it proved to me that this sort of fence works, and that the cats loved it. I’ve since taken down much of the old fence, I left it in place for a while to make sure that my redneck version was going to work.
I agree with the others. Talk to an animal behaviorist. If you still want to declaw after that, ask yourself if you could handle it if your cat started peeing outside of the litter box. This often happens with declawed cats because it hurts for them to cover up their spots in the litter box, they associate the box with pain, and then go outside of the box.
[QUOTE=Draftmare;8598745]
**Please no hate, this is a last resort.
I have a five year old cat that has always been on the destructive side. However, my house has been under a constant state of construction until recently, now we are starting to put things together, and the more we put together and the more we clean the more we see the levels of his destruction. Every room has at least one corner that he has shredded, one room the point where there is an actual hole in the dry wall. He has ripped down wall paper, torn up carpet, and made one roll of carpet that we had laying around partially unusable. Likely thousands of dollars of damage.
We have tried caps in the past and he obsessed over pulling them off. Would do nothing else for hours on end. We have tried sticky tape, tin foil, sprays that are suppose to make him not like an area, getting him to use a cat tree instead… If we could think of it, we have tried it.
I am at my wits end of what to do.
So, we are thinking about getting him declawed. I am wondering about recover time both mentally and physically for an older cat, and if all the horror stories you hear about arthritis down the road are true? Or any other suggestions to get my cat to stop destroying my house.[/QUOTE]
How’s it going with the distressed cat, Draftmare? You’ve had so many helpful suggestions here, surely it’s worth trying some out for your cat. His extreme scratching is a manifestation of abject misery and distress - how else is he supposed to express his angst? You’re probably lucky he’s not peeing all over the place as well by this point.
My guess is he’s been supremely distressed by the “constant state of construction”," as you described it, which drives the most sane of us batty, let alone a cat, who can’t rationalize that the noise, mess and disruption will be over soon! Unlike you, he’s unable to leave the house for a breather, even.
All he’s seeing is that his home has turned into a living hell from which he has no escape. He’s probably utterly miserable, poor soul.
My suggestion would be to talk to the vet, get some “happy pills” (often Valium, which works extremely well at mellowing-out a stressed cat), give it some time for him to recover after the renos are done, and if all else fails, maybe find him a quieter home with someone who can let him outdoors safely.
[QUOTE=Tornado Run Farm;8598847]
I have 3 cats now that will also be my last - 15 yo. They were formerly barn cats that I brought into my house as 1-year olds. At that time I had a new house, new furniture, and the young cats were totally destroying everything, so I casually, thoughtlessly just had them de-clawed. HORRIBLE DECISION! When I brought them home I cried because of the obvious pain they were in, and I have regretted.it.every.day.since. It took them weeks to recover, and it changed their personalities - the 2 females especially. As others have said, look for alternatives, but please - do not put your 5yo kitty through it. It’ll be too painful for both him AND you![/QUOTE]
Times a zillion.
I would never declaw unless for a veterinary reason. It might be best to rehome him to an inside/outside home with fewer predators
My parents declawed an older cat. I think she was 8 or so. When I left for college, she wasn’t getting her claws trimmed anymore and became destructive. Her paws were sore for a few days, but she was fine and lived to the ripe old age of 22 and had no physical or behavioral issues after the declawing. My parents were happy. The cat was happy that she didn’t lose her home.
I don’t get the better euthanized than declawed. Would you euthanize an pet instead of amputating a leg if it was necessary? Living as a house pet is a privledge, not a right. It’s not like it’s Grandma destroying the furnature.
Rehoming a destructive cat is easier said than done. Have you been to a shelter lately?
[QUOTE=jherold;8600196]
My parents declawed an older cat. I think she was 8 or so. When I left for college, she wasn’t getting her claws trimmed anymore and became destructive. Her paws were sore for a few days, but she was fine and lived to the ripe old age of 22 and had no physical or behavioral issues after the declawing. My parents were happy. The cat was happy that she didn’t lose her home.
I don’t get the better euthanized than declawed. Would you euthanize an pet instead of amputating a leg if it was necessary? Living as a house pet is a privledge, not a right. It’s not like it’s Grandma destroying the furnature.
Rehoming a destructive cat is easier said than done. Have you been to a shelter lately?[/QUOTE]
Have I been to a shelter lately?! Yes, to adopt my barn cat who failed as an indoor cat. She now has a home that fits her rather than one that tried to make her into something she’s not
[QUOTE=jherold;8600196]
My parents declawed an older cat. I think she was 8 or so. When I left for college, she wasn’t getting her claws trimmed anymore and became destructive. Her paws were sore for a few days, but she was fine and lived to the ripe old age of 22 and had no physical or behavioral issues after the declawing. My parents were happy. The cat was happy that she didn’t lose her home.
I don’t get the better euthanized than declawed. Would you euthanize an pet instead of amputating a leg if it was necessary? Living as a house pet is a privledge, not a right. It’s not like it’s Grandma destroying the furnature.
Rehoming a destructive cat is easier said than done. Have you been to a shelter lately?[/QUOTE]
Let’s chop the tips of all your fingers off and then we’ll rediscuss:mad:
If the alternative is to get killed by coyotes or live in a tiny cage in a shelter, I’m wiling if you are willing to let me live in the lap of luxury and never work another day in my life. Seriously, you’d rather be dead than disabled?
Have you read the thread? Amputation is necessary for the wellbeing of an injured animal. Declawing is for the human ONLY, not the cat.
Have you seen ALL the other options put out there? Also the fact that this has been a very busy and ever changing environment?
Yes some cats may adapt ok to this frankly barbaric practice. But what happens if this is one of the ones that doesn’t adapt well? What if his anxiety gets WORSE and he starts peeing in the house? Or being aggressive? Can’t put him out now 'cuz he has no claws. So he either gets put down anyway, or lives his life in the basement or bathroom.
So. Many. Other. Options. Than. Mutilation!
And how many other cats were left in the shelter. I get my barn cats from the shelter too and they beg me to take more. Is declawing ideal. No. But, in my opinion, the alternatives may be worse. Only the OP can make the decision. We can agree to disagree.
