A reason to keep your cats' claws clipped

[ginnyinWI]

I have three females and they get along okay most of the time, but sometimes there is a bit of a dust-up and the little one ends up getting chased.

Then one day a bump appeared on her forehead. It turned out to be an abscess: two visits to the vet and one $30 prescription for an antibiotic later, she's on the mend. I have to apply a warm wet cloth to the wound daily to help it drain.They tell me that it was most likely caused by a claw from one of the other cats. All you need is a puncture wound and a bit of bacteria and an abscess can happen.

So keep the claws clipped and save the trouble and expense of what happened to me.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. Been there. I agree with you.

But I will say that it doesn't take long for them to sharpen them right up again. Days. It is not easy to keep them blunt enough to stop problems.

Poor kitty!

[nadine_mn]

2. They make those little claw covers

Soft paws I think...I have never tried them, our cat is doesn't mind having his nails trimmed, so it's easy for us.

I swear I hear him sharpening them right after a trim tho

[Curmudgeoness]

3. I did try the claw covers

and found that they did not stay on long. It could be that I was not adept at it, and my cats did not sit still for it so it was a challenge to get them on. After those kitties passed away, I adopted two cats whose mom had died and they were declawed, which made life easier for me. I lost them both within six months (the last one a year ago May) and I decided to look specifically for another declawed cat in need of a home....and that is how I got Sammy, my little furbaby. I know that this is controversial, but I am much happier this way...and he was already "mutilated" when I got him.

[ginnyinWI]

5. I work with cats at a local animal shelter, and

I find that the declawed cats tend to be more "bitey"--in other words, much quicker to try to use their teeth to defend themselves against being picked up or whatever. So to me that is just one other reason not to do it. Of course your mileage may vary: cats have a wide range of temperaments.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. My current cat is an example of that.

The two prior cats that I adopted never bit. But I have to watch how I play with Sammy---I can never get near his belly and if he rolls over, play time is over. So my only experience shows that one bites, two didn't. Sammy also has stomatitis and I don't know if that causes the biting---I have thought that it was possible that his teeth/gums irritate him. He already has lost his molars and we are trying to preserve the rest. I wasn't sure if this caused it.

[agent46]

4. Abscesses

They can be a problem because cats heal so much faster than we human people do. A lot of times, a puncture wound from a claw or bite, after being injected with bacteria, will close up within a day or so allowing the bacteria to flourish under the sealed wound.

Our boy Jack (rip) was a feral rescue and we had a very hard time keeping him in and finally gave up until he was much older. Jack had his share of run-ins with other neighborhood cats over the years. If he came home with cuts he learned to show us and we would clean him all over with alcohol.

Sometimes we'd miss a cut and he'd get an infection. Once we didn't know and it developed into a systemic infection. We almost lost him, but thanks to our wonderful vet we got the fever down and the abscess drained and gave him huge doses of antibiotics and pain meds. The amazing thing about cats is how rapidly they can bounce back.

We finally had to keep him inside as he got older and it seemed he was getting beat up more and more from the new cats on the block. He never got over not being able to go out anymore. He was a good boy. We miss him.

[ginnyinWI]

6. The antibiotics are done, but

the wound is still draining. Every day I soak off a dried crust of the stuff. Is that normal? The lump isn't getting bigger--is mostly gone--so I think it must be okay. She's also washing it by herself.

When I hold her and apply the warm wet washcloth, she just loves it--gets a dreamy expression as I wipe her eyes and forehead. Must be just like Momma used to do. She's nine years old but still a baby at heart. (She is the middle cat, the tabby in my signature pic.)

[agent46]

7. Sounds like things are going well. :-)

Glad to hear it.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. If it is draining, that is good.

It means that the infection is getting out. Poor baby. Just watch to make sure it doesn't start to close up with the lump still there. I also use Panalog ointment on these sort of wounds.

[MadrasT]

10. This is really good advice.

And good to know about.

I have a cat that lost an eye because it got scratched by a claw. The wound let bacteria into his eyeball, and the whole thing turned tragic within 36 hours.