My vet recommended I declawed some of my cats toes but I’ve heard this is very painful for them?
So my cat has 10 extra toes, and one grows too long and becomes ingrown if I don’t trim it regularly. I usually bring him to the vet as he doesn’t let me do it at home but car rides are stressful for him. This last time I waited too long and it got infected and the vet recommended a partial declaw of that toe and any other with potential to become ingrown. But I’m worried he’ll have a lot of pain and lose his big feet. Would you guys do the surgery (he’d have to stay overnight) or just keep trimming the nail?
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It would be more painful for him to live a life with constant foot problems. Even if you're vigilant, it's still gonna suck for the cat...
I would just declaw them. It's not cruel if it's fixing a chronic health problem.
Poor choice for a "best" answer! If its a chronic problem, then surgical removal of the toe or claw can be done. But a full declawing is NOT the answer and can cause a lot more psychological and physical problems in your cat.
Declaring is extremely painful and causes many behavioural problems like refusal to use the litter box. No ethical vet would ever recommend this, and I do not believe that it has 10 extra claws. Infact, a cats claw only becomes overgrown when it isn't given the correct surfaces to walk on or scratch.
Can you learn to clip his nails at home? Maybe you could do it if you had someone to help you? I would try to figure out how to do it at home before anything else. If that fails then I would declaw since ingrown nails are painful and car rides are stressful. Its not like it would be a full declaw either so I don't think he would develop some of the long term issues declawing can cause.
I would take the vet's advice, otherwise it will be an ongoing and very expensive problem.
Do you take him to the vet in a carrier or loose in the car? Some cats travel better if allowed loose in the car. If you think you can get him to the vet, see if you can keep up with this more routinely.
If not, it might be better to not have the cat suffer infections and ingrown claws. That must hurt a lot for the claw to imbed into the skin. Some of the people may not be fully reading your post, not realizing the true issue.
We have had to have a claw removed in an unusual circumstance, and the cat was fine.
I would consider declawing the affected toes.
Declawing is painful post op, but Im sure ingrown toenails are also painful.. But outweigh risks vs benefits. Have the affected toes declawed and no longer have the issue (and pain) of ingrown toenails, risk of infections, or stress of car rides to get nail trims.
He shouldnt have the issues associated with walking improperly/developing arthritis if he keeps his "normal" toenails.
Getting an infection is painful too, declawing one or two toes is not going to maim him or anything.
Declawing a cat is a barbaric process that has little place in modern society. The process means taking the first knuckle, yes the bone, out of the cats paw. Now since cats walk on thier toes this fundamentally changes the way they walk and can cause them prolonged pain throughout thier lives.
I would suggest working on getting your cat comfortable with you handling its paws for several weeks and then attempting to clip its claws. You can also wrap your cat in a blanket or towel and allow the paw you're trying to clip poke out to avoid your cat clawing you or panicking and running away. But you should get them used to having its paws handled and create a pssitive asdociation with having its claws trimmed. A high value treat such as canned chicken in water can be used to help. You could start by touching its paws and giving a treat and gradually handle them longer, press on the pads and touch the claw itself before actually trimming the claw.