wordinista | A birthday wish and cat musings

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A birthday wish and cat musings

First off: Happy Birthday therhoda!! May you get everything you want -- and then some! *huggles*

I was poking about on LJ this morning (you know how it is -- someone says something intelligent in a comm, and you go out and check their LJ to see what they're like) and stumbled across the LJ of a cat-owner who, out of four cats, had two declawed. Now, I'm pretty neutral about declawing -- Bronte and Kisa aren't, but Pandora was, and I've never known a more affectionate kitty. The thing that caught my eye was the fact that this person said that people had unfriended her after she mentioned that two of her cats were declawed.

This made me scratch my head. I mean, yes, I know about the process, and it was only after I explained the process to Tora-kun did he sway from wanting them declawed as kittens to not declawing them at all. (Of course now he's making noises about having them declawed, and I have to explain to him it's a really bad idea to do that to an adult cat -- and they'll be two in May, so they're pretty much not kittens anymore.)

Now I've had my own trials and tribulations with the kitties and their claws. I've tried Softpaws, and didn't like them (they fell off Bronte's claws too easily, while they didn't seem to come off Kisa's at all -- and besides that, for some reason Bronte's claws were in really bad shape, dull and splitting, so I hated putting them on her -- though that's changed now). I've tried clipping their nails, too, but I've yet to find a nail-clipper that doesn't suck. The one I got most recently was -- supposedly -- the best they had at Petsmart, and it wouldn't make a clean cut on the nails (I want to say the brand was "Bamboo," or somesuch). Big problem with splitting, there. (Anyone care to make any recs on kitty nail trimmers?)

My question to y'all is this: Would you unfriend me if I got the kitties declawed? (Not planning on it -- I'd like to find a pair of trimmers that actually works, though.)

Not completely unrelated, the girls have apparently lost interest in their scratching posts. I'm wondering if it might be time to get them a better, bigger post. You know the kind -- the tall ones with wild hidey-holes and such. They used to be uge fans of their "clubhouses," but more and more often we've had to yell at them for clawing the carpet. I've also seen scratching "discs" made out of heavy cardboard, with catnip hidden inside. That might not be a bad idea, either.

A definite plus is that neither of them have made any attempt to climb the Christmas tree (which is more than I could say for Pandora). However, Kisa was sniffing intently at one of the candy canes hanging on the tree. It was pretty cute, actually. She got up in her meerkat stance and started sniffing at the candy cane like, "Hullo, what's this?" Meerkat!Kisa never fails to amuse me. :)

Bronte... well, Bronte's amusing in her own way. Her preferred hiding spot lately is under the comforter on the bed in the spare room-- ever since the hurricane, at least. She's also getting really big. We used to be worried about Kisa's weight because she was so thin and fragile, and now (after having her spayed), she's filled out a lot, and no longer feels like a bag of bones. Bronte has also filled out, but she was less in need of it. I picked her up the other day, and my girl is quite the armful. I've got to make appointments for them to get their rabies booster (with a new vet NOT a half hour away, kthx), and when I take them, I'll be interested to find out what they weigh now.

Something else strange that Bronte's doing lately -- she's been trying very hard to sneak into the bedroom with me when I turn in for the night. Like, trying really hard. Trying-to-slip-her-increasingly-wider-butt-past-me-while-I-put-up-the-baby-gate hard. (We put a baby gate up in our door at night because Bronte will stick her paw under the bedroom door and jiggle it in the frame. She'll also get up on her hind legs, place both front paws on the door, and run her claws up and down the door -- but not hard enough to scratch; just hard enough to sound damned annoying.) We've tried bringing them in there at night, but it's always the worst night's sleep EVAR, because they still think nighttime is playtime.

Something's bound to change when we get Darwin, because until he can sleep through the night, we're probably going to be taking him outside periodically through the night. And I don't think a sleepy Bunneh is any match for a determined Bronte at 3 in the morning. I know that if I wake them up while they're napping during the day, they're more apt to sleep the night through, and I'll probably start doing that, to tell you the truth. If we can get them to sleep through the night, they're more than welcome in the bedroom. It's this whole "OMG WHAT'S MOVING UNDER THE BLANKETS?!" game at four in the morning that's got to stop. Oh, and Bronte thinking my head is an appropriate stepping-stone. That's got to stop too.

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Get the vet to clip their claws, I would suggest. Ours does the job very well for my cat. It's a lot better than trying to do it yourself. And have you tried catnip on the scratching post?

I've thought of that, but I only wonder how long it lasts. Do you take yours to the vet specifically for claw-clipping, or is it lumped in with regular check-ups?

Getting them to sit still isn't the hard part (I started clipping their claws when they were wee kitties), I only wish I could find a clipper that does a good job. I don't mind clipping their claws -- although Bronte does mew like I'm beating her (because she doesn't like being held at all by anyone under any circumstances unless it's under her terms, and then she'll crawl all over you in a very demanding sort of way), and she's got this pathetic, plaintive mew into the bargain (which is rather funny-sounding, coming out of this enormous black cat).

We used to take them twice a year - one of my cats was very long-haired so she'd get her claws clipped at the same time as the vet removed any bad clumps of hair. They went outside a lot too...

Ah, these girls are strictly indoor cats. We live just off a very busy street, so we really prefer not to let the girls outside if we can help it. I will ask the vet about clipping their nails the next time I take them in (which should be next month or thereabouts, I think...).

Would you unfriend me if I got the kitties declawed?

I'm more likely to unfriend someone for buying cats in the first place. :-p

;-P

Lucky thing I didn't buy them, eh?

*shrugs*

Given the number of social events I have to decline because I can't enter the house, I don't feel unreasonable in my opinions. I have few enough friends and the inability to spend time with the ones I do have gets frustrating.

Well thanks your for the wonderful wishes.

As for kitty high jinx, we have found that things like really thick carpet that they are allowed to scratch and then the hanging scratching posts put up all over really help with the scratch thing. As for the whole nail clipper thing. I use really good heavy duty human toe nail clippers on our monsters. it works the best I have found. If you do find something to help with the brittle nail thing I want to know. I sometimes swears One of my kitties nails are made of fiberglass and shatter appropriately. As for the use your head as a steping stone, isn't that like what cats do? Of course we have the 3 am cat races here complete with thuds of them landing on us.

Ooh, I might try the heavy-duty nail clippers. Hmmm.

As for Bronte's nails, I'm afraid they just improved on their own. It was like one week I looked at them and they were all split and ugly, and a couple weeks later she was in my lap, kneading, and I saw they were in much better shape. I wish I knew what did it!

Um, I don't own a cat and my family hasn't had one since I was about 7, so keep in mind, I don't know what I'm talking about here. However, I have three great danes and know tons of dog people (breeders, show-ers, and pet-people). Instead of clipping the dogs' nails, which can split them or hit the quick, we use a dremel tool(it can be one of the ones made specifically for human manicures or just a regular, shop one) and grind them. It's far faster, it keeps them smooth, and you have more control over how much you take off (and thus can avoid the quick). But dogs, in my experience, tend to be a lot more tolerant than cats, so I don't know if your cats would let you anywhere near them with a dremel. Also, because cats have much smaller nails, I honestly don't know if it would work with them. But still, it's something that you might want to talk to your vet or groomer about and if it is ok for cats, it'll give you another alternative.

Well, cat nails are a lot different from dog nails in that there's a "hook" in them, and you're meant to clip off the hooked part of the nail, so it's a bit easier to judge. So, really, figuring out where to clip isn't the problem -- it's that I haven't found a clipper that's strong enough to clip the nail without shredding it a little.

And, OMG, there's no way in hell either cat would let me get near it with a dremel. I'm laughing just trying to picture it! Heeheehee!

lol That's what I thought. Like I said, I've got no real experience with cats. From the few times I've had to "cat-sit" for a friend, I kind of figured the cat won't really be to appreciative of the idea. Good luck finding clippers. ^.^

Yeah. Let's put it this way: Kisa's afraid of crinkly plastic bags, the vacuum cleaner, and her own shadow. I'm pretty sure a dremel would scar her for life. Bronte wouldn't like it, but I think she'd tolerate it better than Kisa.

BTW: The Twinings Vanilla Tea? OMGSOGOOD!!!!! *hugs you again!*

Glad you liked thee tea.

Actually, Kisa sounds like the Sugar Baby, the youngest of my dogs. If she hears foil (sounds like the advantage package opening), she runs and hides under a coffee table. When she sees the dremel, she runs up and slams her paws down in front of me, but the second I move it towards her, she takes off. She's a nut, but she's cute.

No, I wouldn't unfriend you for declawing the kitties, though I wouldn't be the happiest Squeaky for a while about it. Still, since it's a very far-ff possibility, I highly doubt it'll ever come between our friendship. :P

I'm sad that SoftPaws didn't work for the kitties, though. I guess kitty nails, like kitties themselves, come in all shapes and sizes. I'm also surprised about Pandora. Pandora? When did you get Pandora? Did I totally just lose consciousness whenever you mentioned Pandora previously? How on earth did I never know of a third cat?! *Headdesk*

Oh, yes. Cats walking on you while you're sleeping is never fun, but the worst for me was having all 8 pounds of cat focused upon one little paw on your stomach. XD

*Headdesk again*

I can't believe I almost forgot! Happy Birthday,

theroda!!! I hope it's a great one!

Ahh -- I've never mentioned Pandora (or I mention her very infrequently) because she passed away in 2002 at the ripe old age of fifteen. I had her since I was twelve, and she was the Best Cat Ever. She looked a lot like Kisa does now, except that she was a bit fluffier, whereas Kisa is very sleek. She was also a very small-boned cat (I think she was the runt in the litter). I remember I took her to the vet's once when she was, oh, about eight or so, and one of the women in the waiting-room asked me how old my kitten was. ;) (She looked, I'd say, like she was just under a year old. Very petite. But a darling, with the sweetest temperament ever.)

No, I wouldn't unfriend you because the two Bittyboos are declawed. Kirara isn't declawed. The Bittyboos were fine after they were declawed. My mother had talked me into doing them because she was the one who paid for it. By the time I got Kirara, I decided I didn't want her declawed and now she's more...aggressive than the boys. She's lost interest in her scratching post and likes to go after the walls. O.O

It seemed like an odd thing to make someone say, "OMG I'M NOT YOUR FRIEND ANYMORE!" I mean, I realize some people have strong feelings about it, but come on. To be completely honest, I had naturally figured the girls were going to be declawed eventually (when they were kittens), and I'd also assumed that George knew what the process entailed. When I explained it to him, his eyes went big and gooby and he was like, "I couldn't do that to them!" (I think he was probably holding Kisa at the time, too.)

Of course now that they're older and more mischivous, we're scolding them more often. By and large they leave the furniture alone, except when they use the ottoman as a launch pad, ~~which I think is damned funny even though it annoys George to shreds.~~

While I wouldn't defriend you for declawing your cats, I wouldn't recommend it for the same reasons you recommend to George. Besides, a person who defriends you over something like that isn't worth having as a friend in the first place - I mean, I don't like fur, but I'm not about to run at you with a jar of red paint if I find you wearing mink...
aaaaaanyways - I find that the best nail-clipping apparati are regular ol' human toenail clippers. Kiko's nails are much daintier than Wendy's, so while we get the pet clippers out for the pooch, we use our toenail clippers on the kitty. I usually clip her nails going from the side rather than clipping straight from top-to-bottom on her nails - I think that lessens the splintering.
Kiko has *never* been interested in her scratching post. I want more than anything to build her a kitty palace, but don't have the means nor the funds to do so right now. Maybe using spray cat-nip on it?

Well then, I'll be sure to wear my all-mink jumpsuit with matching ermine booties the next time we get together. ;P

I cut the same way -- from the side -- with the kitty nail clippers, but they just didn't work very well. But that's something like the third vote for toenail clippers, so I think I might try those next when I'm feeling brave enough to clip them. Actually I used to wait until they were napping to do it, they'd be all relaxed and dopey. And since they sleep something like 20 out of 24 hours in a day, I should have ample opportunity. :D

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A birthday wish and cat musings

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