# My poor Keely cat...... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256 "2005-10-21T14:35:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Desperate\_Welfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Desperate\_Welfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desperate_Welfie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/1 "2005-10-21T14:35:03Z")
So I went and picked up my kitten from the vet yesterday. She’d stayed over night after her spay and declaw operation. I spent last night with her on the bathroom floor so she would try and sleep. Everytime I would try to get up and go back to my bed, she would start crying. I feel so bad when I look at her little face. I know the operation was necessary, but I don’t know how to help her now. The vet did give me pain medicine for her, but it doesn’t seem to help for long. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/2 "2005-10-21T15:21:46Z")
When I had my pair of monsters done I was heartbroken spending the night in the house alone. When they came home they slept almost nonstop for two days. After that they were wonderful bouncing mischevious purry monsters again. She’ll be fine. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/3 "2005-10-21T17:11:23Z")
> [@Desperate Welfie](#): > > So I went and picked up my kitten from the vet yesterday. She’d stayed over night after her spay and declaw operation. I spent last night with her on the bathroom floor so she would try and sleep. Everytime I would try to get up and go back to my bed, she would start crying. > I feel so bad when I look at her little face. I know the operation was necessary, but I don’t know how to help her now. The vet did give me pain medicine for her, but it doesn’t seem to help for long. ☹ Out of curiosity, did you absolutely have to get them de-clawed? Did you look into the procedure that severs the tendon, leaving the claws un-extractable but intact? ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/4 "2005-10-21T17:58:44Z")
When I had my first kitten spayed, the vet said “Keep her calm for a while and give it a chance to heal.” Yeah, right. It’s a kitten. She got home, climbed on to the couch and leapt three feet to the mantel to see if I’d added anything that could be knocked off while she was gone. I was impressed – I’m pretty sure I couldn’t jump several times my body length after undergoing abdominal surgery. When I adopted an older male and had him neutered, he was actually pretty miserable for a day or so, possibly because I kept him in a crate to keep him from hurting himself. After a while, I felt so sorry for him that I let him out and he seemed happier. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/5 "2005-10-21T18:04:56Z")
I just had my cat,Geoffy, de-clawed last month. The first day he was sad and I could tell he was a little sore too. The next day he was back to the usual antics of terrorizing his sisters and biting the shit out of my feet in the middle of the night. Just give her tons of kitty lovin’ and she’ll back to normal in no time. ---
**Author:** ![Desperate\_Welfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Desperate\_Welfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desperate_Welfie)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/6 "2005-10-21T19:25:49Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > Out of curiosity, did you absolutely have to get them de-clawed? Did you look into the procedure that severs the tendon, leaving the claws un-extractable but intact? She’s a polydactyl(I don’t think I’ve spelled that correctly), she couldn’t wear down the extra claws, and they started to turn into her paw. We tried trimming them every week, but they were getting so painful she’d claw at the walls to try and wear them down. The vet said that she normally suggests declaw in that situation. Thanks guys for the support. I know she’ll feel better soon, but it’s hard to see her in pain. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/7 "2005-10-21T19:30:26Z")
**Desperate Welfie** , cuddling and brushing are the best medicines - worked for Smokey (altho I didn’t have her declawed) **Daithi Lacha** , I’ve never heard of that procedure - does it keep the claws from growing? how new is it? do you have a link? ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/8 "2005-10-21T19:40:43Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > **Daithi Lacha** , I’ve never heard of that procedure - does it keep the claws from growing? how new is it? do you have a link? [Link](http://www.cfainc.org/health/declawing.html) The procedure dates from 1988, apparently; it doesn’t stop the claw from growing, and it has other side effects; seem like a real “YMMV” proposition. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/9 "2005-10-21T19:47:45Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > [Link](http://www.cfainc.org/health/declawing.html) > The procedure dates from 1988, apparently; it doesn’t stop the claw from growing, and it has other side effects; seem like a real “YMMV” proposition. TYVM ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/10 "2005-10-21T19:56:14Z")
> [@Desperate Welfie](#): > > She’s a polydactyl(I don’t think I’ve spelled that correctly), she couldn’t wear down the extra claws, and they started to turn into her paw. We tried trimming them every week, but they were getting so painful she’d claw at the walls to try and wear them down. The vet said that she normally suggests declaw in that situation. > > Thanks guys for the support. I know she’ll feel better soon, but it’s hard to see her in pain. I think that is the first argument I’ve ever heard where a de-claw decision actually made sense. I don’t know about the de-clawing, but I know my Feather was up and around quite quickly after her spaying. She was pretty sucky the first night, too, but she was also in a strange house with a strange, almost-adult male cat on the other side of the door, so it’s hard to to say how much was surgery discomfort and how much was the new environment. I recall that she was like a cling-on, though - she had to be on me all the time. ---
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/11 "2005-10-21T20:17:40Z")
> [@Desperate Welfie](#): > > She’s a polydactyl(I don’t think I’ve spelled that correctly), she couldn’t wear down the extra claws, and they started to turn into her paw. We tried trimming them every week, but they were getting so painful she’d claw at the walls to try and wear them down. The vet said that she normally suggests declaw in that situation. > > Thanks guys for the support. I know she’ll feel better soon, but it’s hard to see her in pain. Yeah, our extra-toed kitties all had the extra toes declawed to prevent problems. We left the other toes intact. Keely will feel fine soon and be back to using her “thumbs” to pick things up in no time! Enjoy your brief respite. ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/12 "2005-10-21T20:18:53Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > TYVM 😕 I’m stumped! ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/13 "2005-10-21T20:19:29Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > 😕 I’m stumped! Thank You Very Much ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/14 "2005-10-21T20:24:59Z")
> [@anyrose](#): > > Thank > You > Very > Much :smack: Gah! You’re welcome :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-poor-keely-cat/327256/15 "2005-10-22T01:19:25Z")
She should be all right soon. We got our Maggie spayed just last month and she mostly wandered around for the first few days, crying and wanting lots and lots of attention. The pain meds DO help, I think. They made her a lot sleepier.