Here at Luxury Savannahs we want to provide a summery of information about our stance on Declawing.
We do not ever suggest to anyone to declaw their cat. If you want to declaw your Savannah, then please rethink owning one.
Cats scratch for many reasons. They scratch to remove the dead outer layer of their claws, to mark their territory by leaving both a scent (from scent glands in their paws) and a visual mark, to help itch underneath thick layers of fur, and to stretch their body and flex their feet and claws. Some of these reasons can be therapeutic for a cat, and it is a natural instinct. We have heard many negative stories about declawing so please do your research!
We do suggest to clip (trim) your kittens nails if necessary.
We clip the claws of our Savannah Cats starting at a very young age. We start touching a kitten's paws and massage their fingers and toes, so they are use to humans touching them and handling them without hesitation. This way we can easily clip the tips of the nails and continue to clip them as they become older.
Please be careful when clipping a kitten or cat's nails, they are very sensitive and only need the very tips of the claws trimmed.
We trim kitten's claws about every 2 weeks until they go to new homes and continue to clip nails of the cats that stay here with us well until adulthood. You do not need to do it every 2 weeks after he or she arrives at your home. We do this often so the kitten gets use to it. Then when the kitten comes home to you, you can continue to do it every 2-4 weeks as necessary. We like to call this our "kitty mani pedi time".
If you need to, you can always take your kitten to the vet to have their nails trimmed. Vets have experienced nail trimmers that can handle the difficult task if needed.
A lot of cat trees and cat toys are made specifically with cat scratching in mind! Many cats will use these toys instead of you and your furniture. You may need to have several different items and places for your cat/kitten to scratch around the house so they do not get bored and start using your favorite sofa. Cardboard boxes are great for this as well.
We have noticed, most Savannahs, as adults, rarely use their claws at all. Some cats will not feel the need to use their nails often especially if you keep them clipped. They will use them for maintenance and to climb, but will rarely if ever use them on their humans during play.
To get a kitten to learn to not use their claws during play you can always use the 'yelp' method. When a kitten plays sometimes they can get a little over excited and start using nails to grab onto you or jump onto/or off of you. You can always stop playing and make a yelp sound as if to show that you were hurt from their claws. Most cats (especially Savannahs) will understand that sound because they learned it from playing too roughly with their siblings or mom, and they will finally realize that playing with their claws means they are hurting their human and do not get play time.