Ari shows his love for the "keys" (Ari's word for kitty) by lying on top of them and kissing them. I try to monitor his affections toward his feline uncles (they are his family after all) because he can overwhelm the "keys."This is evidenced by the multiple scratches Ari has on his hands and feet. I don't see the scratches occur, but I do notice them after the fact.
This whole situation has got me thinking about de-clawing. Gasp! I am a shameless animal lover and would have never considered this option before. I, Sarah Fader, have saved countless cats and dogs from the streets of New York City, cat and dog sat in the metropolitan area for over five years, and worked in a veterinary office for two years of my life.
My understanding is that de-clawing your cats is similar to if you removed the nails from a human as well as a 1/4 inch of a human finger. Naturally, given this understanding, I am extremely reluctant to pursue this option.
But I have tried clipping my cats nails, told my son to be "gentle" and all that positive parenting language. None of this seems to solve the problem that my cats are repeatedly scratching my son.
Readers: Any thoughts?
This is a tough one... Even my 'good' cat would get frustrated and swipe, especially at this age when they do what they want. I keep trimming the nails since that does help, but you have to do it sooo often. :P Keep up with the positive words and if the kids hurt the kitty, take them away so they know they lose out on kitty-company if they behave that way. It takes time and even Z doesn't get it yet, she still lays on the cat! :(
ReplyDeleteI guess I have to keep up with the nail trimmings, as if I don't have 80 million other things to do! ;)
ReplyDeleteBut yes, thank you! I guess it's a toddler activity to lay on the cats!
Aw! When I was growing up my mom had this really mean cat named Snoozy. We'd try to play with her and she would shank us. Eventually we just learned to stay away and leave her be. I guess it's just a matter of time before Ari and his Uncles figure out their boundaries.
ReplyDeleteI guess that's true. I mean, you and Snoozy worked it out!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting worried how my dogs will act with T when she gets older. They're really patient though...and cats are moody lol. Still they play really hard and I think they'd accidentally trample her. She already grabs their necks and pulls on their ears and they just sit there or cry LOL!
ReplyDeleteAwww! What kind of dogs are they? I feel like dogs are a little more adaptable than cats with kids. But it depends on their personalities of course. My cats have been great thus far! And then all of a sudden they just had enough!
ReplyDeleteCan you just keep the nails really short?
ReplyDeleteI guess, but they still scratch! There are these things called soft paws (they are like Lee Press on Nails for cats) that I am considering.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.softpaws.com/
I'm against declawing, but also it didn't help at all with scratching (except the furniture). My parents had our cat declawed and she learned to scratch people even harder with her back claws. I still have scars 15 years later. The cat also decided to pee all over the house instead of in her litter box. I think your cats will figure out how to scratch Ari if he is bugging them, or else like Donna said, he'll learn to leave them alone.
ReplyDeleteI am also morally against de-clawing. What do you think about soft paws?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remember my childhood cat Cuddles was declawed and she was never the same. I wonder why I even remotely considered this option! Desperation?