Can you please help me find a vet to declaw my cat for a reasonable price? Everyone I have called charges $200 or more. I am a single parent on a budget. I really want to keep the cat but not at the expense of my furniture.

My daughter is afraid of him because he likes to creep, then pounce on her feet, scratching her ankles and lower legs. I think if we have him declawed she will love him as I do.

Please help!

Sherri

Sherri -

This is a terribly distressing email - declawing a cat is one of the most cruel things people can do to their cat - chopping off the tip of her delicate toes with what look like garden pruning shears.

Many people think declawing is some small painless no-big-deal event, but it is just the opposite.

I can only say that I am so happy you were not able to afford to cripple your cat - NO VET should be willing to perform this barbaric surgery at any price. The organization which licenses vets now is opposed to the procedure - the physical and emotional consequences of having the whole first joint of your toe lopped off are just too severe to think about.

As for the clawing there are a number of ways to handle this. First, you can teach your daughter how to help you trim the cat's nails, by using a human toenail clipper to nip off just the clear rounded tip of the nails. It doesn't hurt the cat and once he gets used to it he should hold still for it. This will eliminate the sharpest scratches.

And for the foot-attacks against your daughter, the best way to handle it is to give your daughter a fishing line type of toy that she can dangle on the ground at a distance from her feet and distract him from "hunting" her feet. She can also keep a few small cat balls - ping pong type balls or fluffy ones - that she can toss out in front of her as she goes down the hallway ( a favorite pounce-adn-attack area for cats).

Any more questions, PLEASE come to me before you do something permanent which may not be necessary.

Good luck!

Tracie Hotchner