cat declaw issues

[Soundguy]

i have a couple questions for other pet owners or vet staff that may be lurking here.

We have a bunch of indoor cats, and have had the front claws removed, as we get the cats.

Our collection of cats and dogs are virtually all rescues and unwanted throw-away animals left to starve.. etc.. but they now have a cushy job and lifestyle.

Recently we had 2 dropp-off kittens at the school where my wife works.. someone dumped them in a box and left them by a door during a pta meeting one night.. young guys.. eyes not open, and one with a skin infection... ( I can't believe people do this... ).. anyway.. we gre them into health juvenile cats, and took them in for their declaw...

Before i go further, let me expalain a few things... I don't want this discussion to become a debate about declawing vs not declawing.. me , personally.. I wouldn't do it, and I certaintly wouldl'nt do it just to protect furniture, however my wife has paper tissue thin skin... doesn't take anything to get her bleeding real good. Vet agreed with her that a front declaw would be appropriate given that reason.. so now here's the issue;

All of our other cats were fine after the 10-14 day period following the declaw. These 2 new guys ( born feb/march 06 ) just finished the 14 day convalescent period following the declaw.. in this time, as all our other cats did, they were kept in a room that was empty.. nothing to climb on or jump on. ( had them altered too.. so no jumping allowed.. etc.. ). They were given their meds on time, and the toes never got infected... paper litter was used.. etc.. etc.

Now.. the cats are walking a tad 'funny'. One cat has more of a problem with it than the other. They are walking with.. uh.. a real flat foot.. like way back on the pad, and almost to the dew claw area.. I.E. they are not walking on the very front of their feet like the rest of our cats.. but are using 1.5" - 2" of foot to walk on.. giveing them a clown shoe kind of look. The more muscular of the pair is walking a bit better.

If you manipulate their foot.. they are not 'limp' they fan apply pressure back against your finger if you press on their 'pad'.. though obviously not enough to walk correctly.. either on purpose ( tender / feels funny to them? ) or because they are not strong enough???

We noticed this yesterday, as we let them out of the room (where they mostly just lounged around for the last couple weeks), and back in with the rest of the 'inmates'.. I took them to the vet. He looke dthem over, took them back to see the other vets their. They all decided that they had never seen a reaction like this in their practice ( 28 ys ). Their opinion was that the tendons had 'stretched' or were otherwise 'weak'. They said to observe them for 2 weeks and then bring in for a re-evaluation. They said they were not aware of any standard surgical procedure that would correct this, though would research it if the need arose... Thet reiterated the fact that the declaw did not cut the tendon, but rather removes the first digit with the claw, and so they were unsure why this happened.

In any case.. my wife is upset about it.. so we are anxiously waiting the 2 weeks to see how they do.

Any opinion.. insight.. etc?

So far.. the cats do not try to jump as far as they did. They used to be able to jmp right up to a countertop.. but now take detours.. like jumpint to a chair, then to a stool, then to the counter.

They can jump up on the bed.. though when jumping down, the make a bit of noise as they land funny...

I'm looking for ideas here.... vet has no idea.. and wife is aggravated..

Soundguy

 

[randy41]

my wife is studying to be a vet tech but she aint home right now. I'll try to remember to show this to her later. She has many years experience working for vets and works at the VA Tech animal hospital now.

 

[MossRoad]

We have two cats that were declawed at about 9 months of age. They walked like you described for a lot longer than we expected as compared to our first cat that we had declawed 17 years earlier. It went on for about 5-6 weeks before they started to walk normally. We did notice that the wounds did not heal as fast as they should have, either. We kept them in a large, two dog cage that we took the divider out of and turned into a horizontal shelf for them to climb on. Kept the cage sanitized, nice and clean and used the paper litter, etc... and took them back to the vet every week until they stopped bleeding. Also monitored for infection. They are now 16 months old. One walks perfectly normal. The other one still seems to favor one of his front paws, although it seems to be more of a habit, than anything else. If you squeeze his paws, nothing seems out of the ordinary and he doesn't react with any indication of pain or discomfort. Still jumps, plays and runs like normal. Just seems to favor that one paw when walking slowly. Kind of walks on the back rather than the front pads. We inspect his pads for abnormal wear. They go back next week for their shots and inspection. I'll let you know if they find anything that may interest you.

 

[MossRoad]

I forgot to mention that our first cat was declawed at one year of age and recovered in a few days. Our two new boys were done at 9 months at the Vet's suggestion. This was a different Vet than we had used in the past. Same practice, just different doctor. I took her word for it. In the future, I would probably wait till they were one year. I think they may need a bit more time to get developed before they have their claws removed. We had them nuetered at the same time. I thought that was a bit late. I thought the general rule of thumb was neuter the boys at 6 months and declaw at one year. I think they may have been pushing to get it all done in one visit rather than two visits. Wether that is a habit developed by the Vet to appease her clients or they only want to knock the cat out one time, I do not know. On the one hand, some folks seem to not want to make multiple visits to the Vets. On the other hand, it is always dangerours to knock out an animal (people, too). I should have just asked them rather than speculate.

I am not a Vet and didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn last night. These are just my opinions.

 

[Soundguy]

Thanks for the info. Our vet sugested the declaw and the neuter at the same time so they wouldn't have to put the cat out so much.. seemed like a reasonable answer. Also.. most of our other cats were done like your early one.. I.E. they were older.. and also recovered more quickly.

i can tell you.. we will be waiting on our next cat till she is 1 yr old.

Randy, I'll be looking forward to hear what your SO has to say.

thanks

Soundguy

 

[Phils]

Guess I'm the minority here: we will only declaw when they are kittens, getting them fixed at the same time. Since it's akin to taking off your fingernails at the first knuckle, we've always felt it to be harder on the animal the longer the wait.

Recently we lost another of our indoor cats and were down to one (from three). I stopped by the animal shelter on the way back to the office JUST to check their hours and make sure they had kittens "in stock". I wanted to have DW go by and get a new friend for our last cat.

I returned to our office with a 2 - 3 year old 1/2 Siamese male. They say the animals pick you, and I was chosen. He didn't belong in the pound and despite all the noise and smell, relaxed in my arms and started purring something to the effect of "... get me the h*** out of here!!". He was declawed and neutered or I would not have taken him, because I won't have a grown cat declawed as I explained. He was only the third declawed cat the animal control person had ever seen at the shelter.

In all of our cats we have NEVER had one act as yours are. That MossRoad has had cats with the same symptoms I would consider a good thing. His and our situations are similar, and we provide a good home to otherwise abandoned cats. But they must be declawed and neutered.

The remaining cat I mentioned ALMOST was buried with her littermates after the feral nest was attacked by some animal (we have a coyote problem but it could have been a neighbor's dog). This one was wet and cold and not showing any signs of life but wiggled one little paw while in the shovel on the way to the hole. That was 8 years ago.

In a recent Cats magazine there was an article about a new better way to declaw but I haven't yet had a chance to investigate further. We may soon need to know. Does anybody here know anything about it? The article mentioned that special equipment was needed, sorry I can't remember the name.

Phil

 

[Soundguy]

Our cats were at the minum age that our vet would declaw them... so i couldn't have gotten them done any sooner.. still.. I'm hoping they get better...

Soundguy

 

[randy41]

FAQs on Cat Declawing, Declaw Surgery and Feline Scratching Behavior
Read the part that is titled "Arthritis"; I believe it address what you are describing.
this is what my wife provided. she says she never heard of what you describe (but she can never say that again). she also said that this is done using a laser where she works and probably the same is true at other university teaching hospitals where there is no limit on buying and using the latest technology.
if you have any more questions Soundguy after reading the linked site then ask away and i'll ask her. i'm sure she works with some of the top vets in the world.

 

[shvl73]

We have 5 cats. My original two were declawed when my roomate (brother) complained of some scratch damage. They seemed to recover quickly without the behavior you experienced. At the time they were young kittens. I'm not a fan of declawing but if thats what it takes to bring them into a happy, safe home, then I like it better than them not getting a home. Our 5th cat just came home with us this past weekend, she's about 10 weeks old and adorable. She appears to be completely deaf. Our vet got her from someone who found her in their barn. She was very sick but, has recovered nicely. I'll ask when Nancy gets home, if she has any input.
Enjoy the new additions to the family!

 

[roxynoodle]

I've never had a cat behave the way you are describing either. I find it interesting that they are siblings. I wonder if there is something to their build that is contributing. Certainly people and horses inherit certain issues with tendons. I don't see any reason other animals wouldn't. Continue to take them to the vet regularly and hopefully over time, their tendons will tighten/loosen (whichever they need to do) and they will walk and jump normally. I had a colt born with a crooked knee. Over time there wasn't any improvement and a friend sent a racehorse vet over who traveled around the country. I am not sure what shot he gave my colt but the next day his leg was straight. The first 24 hours he was pretty clumsy and then it straightened right out and he was perfectly normal. If I knew what it was, I'd let you know to check with your vet on relevance. I wish you and your cats the best.