Cats/kittens and children

I have a two year old son and a 6 month old kitten. My son always likes to play with the cat but sometimes he gets scratched when the kitten get s a little too playful. Any ideas on ways to allow them to play without having to declaw the kitten?

(12-03-2013 06:06 AM)amy005 Wrote:  I have a two year old son and a 6 month old kitten. My son always likes to play with the cat but sometimes he gets scratched when the kitten get s a little too playful. Any ideas on ways to allow them to play without having to declaw the kitten?

I think that declawing would be your last resort. There are many things that you can try to do to discourage your kitty from clawing.

You must understand that that the kitten is playing and that while using the claws is not desirable, it is a just the natural way in which they play. They will simply use their claws.

You can practice some behavior modification. There are several methods online that you can try. There are too many top list here. Just do not opt for the ones that advise you to employ spanking, striking or water bottles when trying to train your kitten to refrain from scratching. Those methods are outdated and seem to create more problems that would have to be additionally addressed.

Other options are to either cap the cat nails or trim them. Nail caps can be purchased online, at pet stores and sometimes at your vets office. Trimming is simple and will obviously take that super sharp point off of the nail. It has to be done a few times a month in order to keep the nails short. Starting young is important so that your kitten gets used to a nail trim.

If all else fails and you feel that you need to have the kitten declawed, I advise you to get this done early and educate yourself on the procedure and aftercare. If you have not spayed or neutered your kitten, I would opt to have everything done at one time. I would also highly recommend that if you are going to declaw your kitten that you pay the extra for laser surgery. This is far less painful and the recovery time is much quicker. Your veterinarian will advise you on the aftercare. I always offer our clients "take-home" pain meds.

Below is a link to a website that may help you understand the procedure itself. It does not include aftercare, it only addresses the surgery.

In my opinion, when you adopt a cat, dog, horse, moose, rat, snake or whatever, you should have ALREADY decided that you are going to give this animal a forever home Having said this, I would MUCH rather see an owner do a front declaw and have a loving, forever home than for them to keep all of it's claws and to be thrown outside or to have a crappy home. Some people do not have the time or knowledge to train a kitty to stop scratching. Some cats are just plain stubborn and will not cooperate. In either case, a forever home is what I want to see.

Educate yourself and do what is best for you and your family and your kitten.

http://www.angelfire.com/hero/declawok/

You really do not need to declaw the kitten but at least trim down its nails so it won't hurt your son when it accidentally scratches him. Cats tend to do that when they feel so happy and excited while playing. They are very playful animals. When you see that their tails are totally erect, that means they are so eager to play. Therefore, do not let them start playing when you know the nails are really sharp and long.

One effective way to calm them down from time to time (when they start to become too hyper while playing) is also to give them treats in between. The time it takes them to much and then shallow the treat would give them time to slow down and avoid scratching your son.

It's worth keeping in mind that as the kitten grows older, it will learn how to manage its claws better and won't be so playful and inclined to scratch. Most people find declawing to be a cruel process, and I am inclined to agree.

One thing you could look into is Soft Paws. They're vinyl caps that glue over your cats paws, so they can't scratch the furniture (or your children!). They also come in lots of bright colours, so it's actually a bit amusing to look at. I think you have to replace them every month or so, which can be a little bit of a challenge, but if you do it while Kitty is sleeping it's a lot easier.