Dilemma, what do I do?
 

So a couple days ago Scampers got attacked by my cat Skittles. His eye was in real bad shape as a result. I took him to the vet and he had to get medicine and I have to put medicated eye drops in his eye every 6 hours. The cat really got him good. Poor boy doesn't want to open his eye and screams everytime you touch the side of his face.:( He is getting better but I have strict orders to keep a watch on his eye and I take him back tomorrow for a check up and pray that he is better because if he is not it is bad news.
So now I don't know what do about Skittles. I love her death but I can't have her keep doing this. This isn't the first time she has attacked one of the smaller dogs. She is 10 pounds so she is bigger than most of the dogs here. I shudder to think what would have happened if it was Brownie or Destiny that was attacked since they are quite a bit smaller than Scamp.
I don't know what to do. I can't keep her with the possibility of her doing it again. I am just torn.
She is the sweetest most affectionate cat you will ever meet. She loves people. She will lay on your lap all day and will even lick your face like a dog does. She gets along great with the two bigger dogs but is just horrible with the smaller dogs.
I have two other cats, one that is bigger than Skittles and one that is very small compared to the two. Now these two cats love the dogs, they will play with them and when they get tired of playing with them they just run up to their cat tree. They are really great with the dogs.

I just don't know what to do. I feel that if I keep her, I am putting the dogs at risk. I don't know of anyone who wants a cat and I could look for a home for her but the longer she stays here the more I feel like I putting the others at risk. And at the same time, she is being treated for a urinary infection.
If this was just a one time thing I would think differently but as I said before, this isn't the first time this has happened, it has just gotten worse.

Would it be horrible of me to take her to the humane society? I feel awful for even thinking of it but I don't know what to do. Would they be able to keep up with her meds? If I keep she would have to be locked up and that isn't much of a life for a cat. I love her to death, she really is such a sweet cat, just doesn't get along with small dogs. She would be great for a cat lover as long as they don't have smaller dogs.

Please help, I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions. I am just at lost what to do. Please don't be harsh, this is really hard on me.:(

Why dont you get her declawed?

I, also, would look at the option of declawing her since a cat's claws are the weapons they do most harm with. Hope you can find a solution that works for you.

Good Idea!

Also, I wouldnt bring her anywhere til her meds are done. I would just lock her up in your bedroom or somewhere until her meds are finished at least, that way you won't have to worry about her getting the proper treatment there.

Ask people on here to ask people they know if they want a cat... maybe someone will take her.

good luck!!

That's what I was thinking. I know a lot of people think that it is horrible to do, but if it's between that and having to get rid of the cat, I think declawing is a better solution. I hope things work out for you.:)

Does the cat bite and scratch? Or just scratch? You can clip her claws or put soft paws on her that cover her claws so she can't scratch anything. Or get her declawed. I personally don't believe in it but if you want to keep her and it's the only solution I would do it. I have a lot of cats and all of them don't like my dogs. I keep their nails clipped. I worry about them scratching their eyes too. My cocker only has one eye as it is, so I really worry about him.

If you take her to a shelter with her urinary tract infection she won't have a very good chance at getting adopted. And the shelter might not even put her up for adoption because they have so many healthy cats. Not that a uri is a big deal but to some people it is. You could try a no kill rescue but this time of year most are full. If you can bring her to Berryville Va I will put her up for adoption in the shelter I work at. And I promise she won't be put to sleep. Let me know if I can help.

OK please don't get mad anyone but PLEASE DO NOT DECLAW YOUR CAT!!!!!! This is very painful they actually cut off the first knuckle of your cats:( And if it was to ever get outside the chances of survival are slim because they can't defend themselves or climb away from danger. I have 2 cats one who is ok and will play with the dogs but i also have one like yours very affectionate to humans but vindictive to the dogs. He will wait for Peeka to fall asleep somewhere and sneak up behind him and attack him. There are a few options..... Get a water bottle keep it with you at all times when you see the cat coming at them or anywhere near them in a threatning way squirt it trust me he won't like it and it will deter him it might take awhile but it can be done. Also keep the nails trimmed and they do have plastic caps that you can cover theri nails with i have never tried them but i would assume a safer and less painful wasy then to declaw them. My husband had a cat before i met him and it was the sweetest loving cat ever and they had it declawed not only was it very painful for the cat but it changed it's personality the cat turned into the devil cat from H*LL. Talk to your vet as well they have some great ideas as well as places like petsmart. we had a real problem with our cats scratiching our banister i was ready to get rid of them i had tried everything but i went to petsmart and talked to a guy there who suggested double sidded tape and it worked like a charm!! Please try other methods before declawing and giving him to the shelter. good luck i know it's hard.

:thumbup: :thumbup:

I did it once, back 20+ years ago and I can tell you------NEVER would I put an animal through that again.

first of all - DO NOT declaw your cat. I believe it is one of the most inhumane things ever. Imagine if someone took off all of your nails and your first knuckle. that is what is done, and it HURTS them. It's horrendous.

Personally, I would try to find a no-kill shelter, because cats are usually given less time than dogs, and unfortunatly the sad truth is most people don't go into a shelter looking for a grown cat. They want kittens. You could also google foster families in your area.

I'm sorry you have to do this. I'm sure it's hard. Good luck!

i would try And rehome her not a shelter there are lots of people looking for cats try that first before anything else

Here's another suggestion. Go to Catster.com same thing as Dogster but for cat lovers. :) There is a section there where you can post cats that need homes.

First I'd keep her in a room by herself until her UTI is better, then I'd take her to a no kill shelter, so you'd know she will find a home, and not put to sleep.

Well, if you cant deal with the problem - than you might have to explore those other options. Im not sure, but if your cats a house cat anway - have you ever considered getting her de"clawed"... I mean, if shes that vicious with her claws - it might not be a bad idea. I would consider that, before the shelter....Hope this helps....

I think the cat would prefer declawing over death at a shelter. I had my cat declawed and she was fine

The cat doesn't HAVE to go to a shelter. I'm saying if it were my cat, I would give it to a foster family before I would get it declawed.

Oh Tracey, I am SO sorry to hear about Scampers. My heart goes out to him. :getwell: I would HIGHLY suggest having your cat declawed. The only set back to the procedure is that cats that are declawed tend to resort to bitting since their defense has been taken away. I hope all goes well at the follow up visit to the Veterinarian.

I would get her declawed. My daughter had her two cats declawed and that was years ago, they both did fine and are very happy cats.

it is hard to say a cat is fine after having been mutilated ... declawing is against the law in many countries b/c it is cruelty to animals.

You are cutting off the toenails and up to and including the first knuckle of the poor animal's foot ... Do NOT declaw ... and never assume your cat is fine.

I am certain the cat was in excruciating pain for quite a while.

Tracey, I am so sorry you are going through this, but please do not declaw your baby... If he ever gets out he has no way to protect himself.. Is there a cat rescue group near you? the ones here are wonderful! It would be best
to find him a new home.. if you werent so far and he could be inside/outside, I would take him...
I feel so bad for you.... If I could help in any way, give me a holler!
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I know I shouldn't but I have to weigh in. I would do whatever it takes to make the cat happy. If going to another home or a shelter would be ok with her then fine. Otherwise let her stay home and have her declawed. My neighbor has had up to 63 cats at one time and in order to keep them all injury free she had them all declawed. Every single one of them recovered just fine and walked perfectly. These are not hands we are talking about. If you love her and she loves you in the long run it would be best.

You are never going to get us all to agree so you need to figure it out for yourself. Just know that no matter what you do you will have critics so do what you think is best for you and her.

good luck.

It looks like about a 50/50 split on de-clawing or not....I hope it helped in your decision....;)

I'm not a fan of declawing either....just because it's done doesn't make it humane or right...it's just come to be excepted by some cat owners and tolerated by the cat, as if he had a vote in the first place :rolleyes: ....if your looking at this from the cats point of view I'm not so sure he would vote to have his knuckles lopped off...a new home might look better to him...

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

My granddaughter's cat was destroying the furniture and carpet, and no amount of intervention got her to stop. So, my daughter had her declawed. It was EXTREMELY traumatic, the recovery took a long time, and my daughter said she would NEVER do that again.

Yes, the cat recovered, BUT she stopped using the litter box for several weeks while healing. Then, she would pee in the box, but poo on the carpet. Now, the cat lives with me because I have concrete and wood floors, and she will use the litter box in my house.

I think the declawing caused LOTS of trauma and we wish it had never been done. On the other hand, without declawing, my daughter would have had to rehome the cat - but she ended up rehoming her with me anyway! :eek:

I wonder.. are there cat behaviorists? If not, I would keep your kitty in a room by itself at least until it is over it's uti. It may not be the best solution, but staying in a room in a familiar home is IMO a better plan than taking it to a shelter where it's world will be turned upside down.

There are also plastic nail covers that keep the nails of the cat from being able to scratch. I'm deathly allergic to cats so I'm not sure how well they work, but it may be what would work for you guys!

Poor Scampers! Hope his eye is OK! I think I might try keeping them in seperate rooms before I'd look for a new home or have declawed done. You said this wasn't the first time. Did she attack Scampers before or one of the other dogs? Perhaps her condition may have had something to do with the attack. Is she spayed? If not, it may be hormones. Just a thought. I know what a hard decision it is.............I still have Sassy, she now lives in the kitchen, away from the other females. Hey, guess what........I'm off this coming Saturday.

Cats when getting declawed are not suppose to have litter in the box for a few weeks only tore up news paper, that might be why she quit useing the box, its to painfull to dig the litter.

Thanks everyone for the replies and suggestions, I really do appreciate them.

As for the declawing, I myself am not a fan of it. I had a cat declawed once and I will forever regret. He was constantly in pain and I would often find him bleeding from the knuckles.

But the clawing isn't much of the issue. Skittles hardly ever uses her claws. She has never clawed anyone before, she prefers not to use her claws. She will knead you with her paws and she does it so gently that you can't feel her nails at all. The thing I am worried about is her strength and the impact from a hit. Yes her claw caught on Scamp's eye, but that wasn't the only damage done. She also hurt his face pretty bad just from smacking him. I am lucky more damage wasn't done.
I guess you have to realize that she isn't a small weak little kitty. She is a big strong cat. She is 3 times Brownie's size and the sheer impact of her paw if she ever got him could do some serious damage.
So even if I did get her declawed, that would only solve half of the problem.

She really is the sweetest cat you will ever meet, just doesn't get along with small dogs. She is even great with big dogs just hates the small ones for some reason.:confused:

There is a rescue group in the next county over. I think I will call them and see what they say or suggest or if they have any ideas. They are a no kill sanctuary and the animals are put in foster homes instead of a shelter. But I am still going to explore all possibilities before I decide on anything.

Scamp goes in tomorrow for his checkup. His eye looks alot better, the only thing I am concerned about is the bubble that is still in his eye. The vet said to keep an eye on it and the meds should have healed it up but it is still there. But hopefully it is enough of an improvement.

Again thanks everyone for your support and help!!

declawing does not mean means cutting off the ends of the cat's toes
 

I would like to accurately explain what actually happens when a cat is declawed and why it is NOT inhumane.

Reason 1: The toes and pads are NOT amputated.

This a concept that is the most curcial for people to understand, yet easiest to misinterpret. I will try to explain it better. Many people will tell you that declawing means cutting off the ends of the cat's toes. This is just not true. the bones in a cat's finger (or toe as the case may be). In fact, they are the same two bones as in a human finger, . Cats have a unique third part of their finger, a bone called the distal phalanx. This bone, and connecting tendons, allows cats to retract their claws, a unique characteristic to this animal. Cats do NOT use this bone to walk or for balance. They walk on their four paws just like we walk on our two feet, using the toes in the exact same way.

Anyway, this third bone is all that is amputated. NOT the toes, NOT the pads. The front paws' pads become no more callused than the back ones, because the claws weren't doing anything the help them walk in the first place. Look at your cat's paws right now. The claws are nestled snuggly out of the way, ABOVE the pads! Some people will tell you that declawing is just like cutting off the first bones in a humans fingers. This is totally misguided! Cats don't use their last bone to walk! yes their going to be sore after words just like any operation or surgery.

(I'm sure getting your pets fixed didn't feel too good either, right? or neighter does getting tails docked or dewclaws cut.)
I would not declaw any cat that is going to be out on its own, it needs those claws to protect its self, But I cant say the same for an indoor cat. If it came down to getting the cat declawed or getting rid of the animal I love, sending it to a shelter and not knowing where it would end up. yes id declaw it. and keep the cat. and they can now have it done by lazer.

That's what they used, was the paper litter for declawed cats - but she still wouldn't use the box.