From: judy@valinor.mythical.com (Judy Labovitz)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: rubber bands and milk rings
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 09:57:07 CST
Distribution: world
Organization: (What? Organized??) - Mythical Computer Systems

collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce) writes:

> So, my question is -- is there anyone out there who has (or knows of)
> a declawed cat which still plays with things like rubberbands and milk
> jug rings?    These are Tamora's favorite toys and I want to know if she
> will still be able to play with them after being declawed (if that 
> becomes necessary).  I suspect not, but am hoping she could.   

My youngest cat, Buster (3yr, spayed tortie female), is declawed in the
front.  She still plays enthusiastically with everything that she played
with before.  Which means that, after chasing a single piece of her dry
food to make sure it's dead, she picks it up in one paw and eats it out of
her "hand."  After close observation, I've determined that she does this
by spreading out her toes and gripping the piece of food with her pads as
she pulls her toes together.  With the exception of destroying the couch
and the rugs, I've yet to find anything she can't do without her claws.
She picks up bugs with her paws, fishes wads of paper out from under the
dressers, and picks up the hard styrofoam cubes she adores with her
paws.  She even climbs some of the trees in the backyard; she gets a good
running start (usually chasing a squirrel) and leaps up the tree and uses
her back legs to push upward with and the front legs to keep her from
falling backwards by wrapping them around the tree.  Rough bark helps :-).
Note that she only goes outside when I'm out there with her.  She is an
indoor cat with outside priviledges.

> Perhaps it would depend on the procedure used?   My vet will use 
> whichever procedure I request.    What do you think?   Will she be able 
> to play with them in any manner (now she picks them up with her mouth and 
> slaps them with her hands and then chases them; repeat)?  Do you know 
> another kitty who does?

Buster doesn't chase milk jug rings so I can't speak to them
specifically.  From your description, it sounds like your cat doesn't
really use her claws when she plays.  If she wanted to pick them after
without claws, she would learn how - tip it sideways and slide a paw in,
or grip it with her pads, or tuck a bit between her toes.

Buster was declawed by removing the claw and claw sheath.  She had no
problems with surgery and was disgusted by having newspaper in the
litterbox for a few days.  She always entered the one with the papers
(the one that she usually used), turned around and came out, then went
into the other box that had regular litter in it (the other cat usually
used this one) and performed her business there.  After seeing this a few
times, we replaced her paper with litter and she was a happy camper.
Contrary to what others have reported, she had no personlaity shift and
has not become a biter.  Neither has the other cat (the parents had her
declawed when I was 15) who is now 16 1/2 and "claws" by scratching along
the spiral-bound notebooks in the bookcases.

> (Please no flames about declawing.  They will have no effect on my decision
> and are a waste of bandwidth.  I just don't have any "anti" values about it.)

Ditto.  Flame wars never change opinions, they just get people upset.

Judy
   Judith A Labovitz               judy@valinor.mythical.com
                                   uunet!valinor!judy
            I bark, therefore I am.    ---- Rene Descarte's dog.        
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats