And I thought I'd had a bad week or two

[cjsmith]

Lately I've been noticing Duchess, the largest of my cats, clicking when she walked. Time to clip her claws. She doesn't love it, but she permits it. I started in on her a half hour ago.

I was way, way too late.

Ever seen an ingrown claw? A badly ingrown claw? On a forepaw, which the cat uses to dig in the sandbox?

I just doctored one.

She is the sweetest, most patient cat in the universe. I am not speedy with this type of thing. I am positive that it hurt, probably badly, at more than one stage in the "treatment". But she didn't do more than twitch and make a little vocal complaint.

Poor Duchess! She's been walking on that thing for ages like this. And she just had it pulled out, by an amateur, with (forgive me here, folks, it's the best thing I had for the job at hand) a pair of pliers. I can only imagine how much it's been hurting. I am such a bad kittymom, letting it go that long :-( :-(. At least it's out now.

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Aw, poor Duchess indeed. She'll feel better after a while now, I should think. You're not a bad kittymom. :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Good kittymom for fixing it, bad for not noticing earlier. Maybe I come out neutral. :-)

[valcat.livejournal.com]

I do not think you are a bad kittymom, Jackie's human. You did not know Duchess's paw was hurting. You fixed it for her, that is the important thing. You obviously did a good job because she did not get upset with you.

I can tell you that it would not have been so easy to do that to me! I do not like for anyone to handle my feet, and I certainly do not let humans touch them. I am very attentive to my feet and give myself frequent pedicures. Duchess sounds lazy to me. She should take better care of her feet. If I could get there I would show Duchess how to do a proper pedicure for herself, and then she would not need to have a human do it.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I know if it had been jackiecat I would have had to take her to (shh! don't tell her) the VET. She doesn't like for me to handle her feet either.

[sunnydale47.livejournal.com]

Hehe, don't listen to Val! He only has back claws, or he'd need his nails clipped periodically too. He was just wedded to using the upholstered furniture in the living room as his favorite sharpening spot, and no matter what else we gave him or what we did, he simply Would. Not. Stop.

Finally something had to go: the furniture, the cat, or the claws. That was my good furniture and I wasn't about to get rid of it, nor could I let Val just continue to destroy it; and we really loved that silly cat and wanted to keep him; so, reluctantly, we had him declawed.

Despite all the PETA literature about declawing, it's never bothered him. For 14 years he's never appeared to have any pain in that area, and he certainly uses his paws a lot. He's also extraordinarily dexterous with them. He can catch anything any other cat can catch -- he even killed two mice that apparently got into the house somehow six or seven years ago. We couldn't figure out how he managed to catch and kill them without claws, but he did. He actually uses the toes on his front paws like fingers to grab onto things. When we play Catch-the-Ribbon he siezes it and hangs onto it with his "fingers," and I can't pull it away. All he lacks is an opposable thumb!

And it's a good thing I don't have to clip his claws, because he does hate having his feet touched. Friday doesn't mind at all, I can stroke Friday's paws and hold them, and he doesn't care. But I can't even touch Val's -- he yanks them away if a hand even reaches for them! His back claws don't need attention -- he really does give himself very careful pedicures back there!

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

My brother-in-law is a vet and his cats are declawed. I don't think he would do something that was detrimental to the cat so PTTHHHBT on the people who say mean things. Plus, you cat (who is very cute btw) probably batted the sense out of those mice and then just chomped on them, so no claws needed. My cat doesn't use her front claws for anything killing wise. Sadly she has NO TOLERANCE to me touching her feet so clipping claws is no fun for me. I tend to bleed after, but I will check for ingrown claws now. Each and every time she professes her love by kneading into me I will look and see if all of the implements of scratchy doom are fine.

*MEOW FFFFT FFFFT*

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*grin* Yeah, some of 'em tolerate claw-clipping just fine and some really fight, don't they? Jackie is a freakin' terror, but Duchess and Little Girl are both very calm about it. Thank goodness. Two out of three isn't bad.

[eeyore-grrl.livejournal.com]

when maxling was a kitten i started touching his paws all the time to get him used to it. so claw clipping time is a breeze with him now. i am *SO* glad i did that!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yes indeed, well done! There are advantages to having a cat from kittenhood! :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I rarely even look at my cats' back claws. Those somehow seem to take care of themselves very well. The front ones, well, my cats do seem to want to shred furniture unless I clip 'em. (Incidence of this went WAY down when we redid the couch in leather. Heh!)

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

I don't think you are being a bad kitten mommy. These things happen....

(By the way, is Duchess a BE76? Does she have twin purring motors?)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

She's named after a BE76. We (well, Attitude Aviation) found her on Livermore airport, in the grassy area between the runways. She needed an airport name. Because she is large, somewhat pretty, and slow, well... :-)

[gdmusumeci.livejournal.com]

That is really a lovely story. I hope she feels better soon! :)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Pilots tend to like that story! :-) She isn't -- and wasn't -- even limping, so I'm thinking maybe she's high on catnip or something. Found the secret stash, I betcha.

[answercat.livejournal.com]

I think you did fine. Duchess was a lot braver than I would've been.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I was impressed with how brave and patient she was!

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

I'm very impressed with you and your kitty. I couldn't have done what you did, and Gizmo wouldn't have stood for it anyway...

Sounds like a better kittymom than most!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I sure was nervous doing what I did, and if it'd been Jackie I never would have tried, but (*phew*!) it worked! And man, the SIZE of the PIECE I got out. Holy moly. My poor kitty.

Bad kittymom for not noticing for that long, good for fixing it -- maybe I come out neutral. That wouldn't be so bad. :-)

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

Way more than neutral...

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I can hope! Duchess is at least still willing to come near me!

[wooddragon.livejournal.com]

C'mon, you pulled the thorn out of the lion's paw. She owes you now...

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

I've never seen and ingrown claw. Did it just curve too far?

And Duchess loves you coz you fixed it like a good kittimom!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's exactly it. Once it curves too far she can't keep it trimmed down by scratching on things, so it gets longer and wider and thicker until (basically) humans intervene. The tip was embedded in her toe pad. I was stunned at how big the piece was when I got it out of there. Poor thing! That must have hurt! My poor poor kitty!

She wasn't even limping. I wonder if she is on some really good drugs I don't know about. :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Oh, then I shouldn't have to worry too much because Spike sharpens her claws daily. Over the last 17 years of her life she has clawed about 4 inches thru a 6 inch thick bit of wood. It was from a deck project and it was extra, so we used it as a border in the garden. Little furryweaselcat uses it as her own personal scratching post. And she also uses my rug in the living room. It's a cheapy, so I don't mind. And I can't really stop her. Since she is a cat. And it's her house.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Spike's probably safe enough! Duchess doesn't scratch as much as the others. Some, but not as much. This is the second ingrown claw she has had (the first one I got the vet to fix).

I can't really stop her. Since she is a cat. And it's her house.

That sure is the way of things, isn't it? :-)

[dizzdvl.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're merely here to provide lots of pets, food and the scooping of poop. Oh and we're warm things to attach too in winter when it is cold.

[rampling.livejournal.com]

Cats are all about hiding the discomfort and pain. DON'T SHOW WEAKNESS!!! So don't consider yourself a bad kittymom -- it's Duchess who was hiding, hiding, hiding the problem!

I'm glad you were able to deal with it yourself, and that she let you deal with it so patiently and meekly. Phew!! Glad it's over and done. Good for you and her!

I assume you'll want to keep a careful close eye on it, to be sure it doesn't get infected and heals properly. Poor Duchess.

=^..^=

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It amazes me that she wasn't, and isn't now, even limping. I figure I'm a bad kittymom for not *looking*, 'cause I should be clipping those claws more regularly. But then maybe I'm a good kittymom for fixing it. So could be I'm even.

I'm very relieved she was so patient about it. PHEW!

As for keeping an eye on it, it turns out she's going to the vet soon for unrelated reasons, so I'll have him take a good look at it too. Another phew!

[platypus]

My mom's cat Misty had an ingrown claw once. I had to clip and extract it. Misty's claws tended to grow thick, and she didn't sharpen them a lot. It's really a pretty unusual cat whose claws WILL curl around and grow in. If the cat does any sharpening at all, they just get really wicked and catch in the blankets a lot. You're not a bad mom for failing to look! She may need a set regimen for future clippings, though.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I feel bad 'cause she HAD a set regimen for clippings and I just let it slide. What with the trip to Boston and the job search upheaval I just had other stuff on my mind. But Duchess doesn't scratch much, so she's more "at risk" for this sort of thing. She has even had an ingrown claw before.

This one was way deep. Poor girl. Blood and all... and such a BIG piece to pull out. She's walking without a trace of a limp, which amazes me.

Now I know I can't let this slide!

oh no!

[maxling.livejournal.com]

poor duchess. (and she was the nicer, and therefor smarter of your two cats when i stayed with you. she didn't attempt to defy my rulership of the world...)

cj-human, you aren't a bad cat mommy. you learned and won't do it again and duchess, it sounds, is all good. tell her i'm sorry for her ouch, and heal quickly.

'member, you are a good human. and *i* don't lie.

Re: oh no!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Duchess says "Don't let maxling see me like this! I have a HORRID FLOPPY THING on my foot!"

Poor girl. It's open and bleeding, thus she really needs to keep kitty litter out of it (or it out of kitty litter, whichever). What she's going to the vet for tomorrow is... wait for it, see the wonder that is Murphy's Law... a UTI. You can imagine how often she's in the litterbox. So she's got a bandage!

The cat-shaped thing that lives under my bed . . .

[adderyn.livejournal.com]

(aka:"Sushi")
Whom I inherited from my mom had two of them the other day.
(And a third one that was down by the toe, but hadn't gone in yet.)
In my defense, she's very skittish and doesn't hang around out in the open where I can check her very often.
She also doesn't seem to scratch on things much, or groom herself much at all from what I can tell.
For my tools, I use a set of toe-nail clippers that were made for use by humans. I've found they are faster to use on her than the little scissors types, and as such I can get more nails clipped before I have to do the "chase, tackle, and pin down" method.

Re: The cat-shaped thing that lives under my bed . . .

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I use human clippers too. They're just as accurate and quick to use, and they're a lot cheaper. :-)

I'm glad Duchess grooms herself pretty well, but like Sushi she really doesn't take care of her toesies!

[firecat]

She knew you were making her feel better.

My cat Angus is front-declawed (he came into the shelter that way) and seems to be fine with it, but a disproportionate number of the declawed cats that come into the animal shelter are very frightened and anti-social, so it does seem to affect some of them poorly; I don't know what combination of factors causes that.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

She must have. I don't think either of my other two would have caught on!

Due to my general silliness I now feel the need to state, for the benefit of non-cat-persons who may read this, that the only portion of Duchess I "declawed" with pliers was the pad of her toe. ;-)

How traumatic for you both!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Muadib hates me to touch her feet--but luckily she tends to 'bite her nails' and keep them from getting terrible. It takes three people to actually clip her claws.

Re: How traumatic for you both!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh MY. Jackie's pretty bad too, although I am guessing we could do it with two. (We can, just barely, snip out a hair tangle with two people and a towel.) Good thing Muadib keeps her toesies tidy by herself!

Re: How traumatic for you both!

[ladycelia.livejournal.com]

Muadib was raised in the cat hospital--and was quite a sick kitten. She assumes that if you're messing with her that you're going to do something awful to her. So she goes for your eyes. Her chart at the vet's says 'BAD CAT' in big red letters.

Re: How traumatic for you both!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

*burst of laughter*! Jackie has notes in her chart too, although I don't think she's ever earned 'BAD CAT' in red letters! Poor Muadib. If I were her I'd assume exactly as she does.