Survey...Declaw the cat or take it back to the shelter?

We already did this. I don't know if you're just trying to justify declawing or what but the majority of people in here are against it and for good reason. I told you before the last time you asked.... I have two cats now that I adopted who were declawed by their previous owners. They are biters. They bite hard enough to draw blood. One has a problem with the litter box. This is a result of being declawed. Plain and simple. These answers don't go away. This is what happens to declawed cats. There are plenty of simple ways to train cats not to use their claws. I've been doing it for over 30 years and it's not that big a deal. I love my cats. They're part of my family. They're my responsibility. Even these declawed cats I took in who have problems that someone else caused I'm working with because they're my responsibility. I love them and I'll do everything I can to work with them now.

Pretty hilarious that you are posting this again. I guess you don't like it when people disagree with you, huh? I have yet to meet anyone who has truly "tried everything" and still has a significant problem with scratching, unless the cat was feral or has some kind of neurological problems. Plenty of people say they've tried everything but in reality have only tried a few options and haven't had the patience or commitment to stick with them. None of these solutions work overnight - depending on the cat, it can take anywhere from a few days to a few months to start seeing consistent results, but everyone I know who has stuck with it has eventually had success with methods that did not involve mutilating their cats. So I'm sorry, but it's kind of pointless to speculate on a hypothetical situation that I am not convinced even exists. If it's a choice between someone not having the time or patience to work with their cat on its issues and bringing it back to the shelter, I say bring it back to the shelter. At least in the shelter a cat has a chance at being adopted into a home where it is treated with respect, love and patience instead of a home where its owners chop off whatever body parts they find inconvenient. Just think about all the countries where declawing is illegal - you don't see everyone there dumping their cats in shelters because of scratching, do you? No, because they understand that cats are cats and that they have to TEACH them where it is and isn't appropriate to scratch. If they can manage without declawing, why can't Americans?

Train the cat and refuse any survey to the contrary that does not offer a viable solution. This survey imposes too many conditions to be regarded as relevant to the issue at hand and the choices are both repugnant to true cat owners. Not an opinion - FACT

I guess you didn't like the answers you got the first time you asked this. Why did you delete your first "survey"? Did you not get enough support from pro-declaw people to make you feel better about chopping off your cat's toes? It was very rude of you to delete that question. You wasted the time of all the people who made the effort to answer your question the first time around. I can provide PLENTY of documentation on incidents of the long term detriment of declawing. Where would you like me to send it? Would you even read it if I did? I doubt it.

To train a cat takes time and patience. I would not declaw my cat nor give it away. It is the same as if I had a child with Down Syndrom. You don't give your child away, you raise and love your child. So I would continue to keep doing everything to teach and train this cat. You need to find the root of its behavioral problems and why he or she is being so defyiant. There is always a reason and always a cure. Why would I give my cat with behavioral broblems to someone else and risk the fact he or she may become abused? Never. I would take the extra time and continue daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly to teach this cat and break him or her of their bad habbits. It can be done. It begins with quality time and love. This is my answer.

Why did you delete your other question this morning? You didn't like the answers you got? SEND IT BACK TO THE SHELTER! Anything's better than getting your cat mutilated! Hopefully someone will take the cat in and love it enough to train him not to scratch furniture! I have 4 cats and they do not scratch my furniture. They have full of scratch posts. Anyways, if they would scratch the furniture, my cats are way more important than stupid material! Why are you even bothering asking this question? You had your cat DE CLAWED 6 months ago! You are asking this because you still feel guilty and you should. It will haunt you for the rest of your life! http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AtwIWTvrhoRzoXO0EC9LJF_AFQx.;_ylv=3?qid=20090923121235AA7XDtZ&show=7#profile-info-OBwqjS8maa Edit":I'm going to get harsh reviews from this and, frankly, I don't care anymore. This is a growing plague on Yahoo Answers to attack and criticise people who want to declaw their cats. They do this with biased opinions and little facts to support their claims. I am tired of it" If you don't care anymore, why feel guilty 6 months LATER???

I 100% would say to return the cat. There are worse things than dying a humane death. The immediate and long term effects of declawing qualify it as one of them. Yes, the cat may be adopted by someone else who would declaw it anyway but that blood won't be on my hands. I have 9 cats. With that diversity I would expect to have at least one scratcher if all the methods were ineffective. Not one of mine claws inappropriately and my only strategy is providing training and several options for appropriate scratching. In my experience, the methods available do work and there is no excuse for declawing. Laziness and opting for a quick fix don't cut it.

I would never declaw my cat or anyone's cats for that matter, no matter how bad the situation gets. Honestly i probably would not even return it to the shelter. I had made a commitment to this animal that i will love it and care for it and provide it a good home. And i could care less if my furniture is ruined But, since declawing or bringing it back are my only options, i would bring it back to the shelter. Again, only if these are my only options!

this is actually illegal in the UK unless it is for medical reasons in the interest if the cat - i was shocked to find out that people even consider this in the US. declawing cant be seen as an option, and you cant just return him like a broken toaster - when you take a pet on you take him all on problems & all. In declawing your taking away your cats natural instinct away and you could never let him/her out into the big wide world, how would they defend themselves. You can easily buy clippers and ask your vet to teach you how to trim your cats claws, blunt claws don't do so much damage. Or you could invest in plastic covers - they last three weeks pop on your cats claws.... feliaway spray works, sticky patches on prone areas, feliaway plug in spray.