3 year old cat with skin condition

Question
Hi, We have a 3 year old cat called sox. He has had problems since the day we bought him home from eye infections to  possible auto immune disease, thankfully after many tests our vet ruled out the auto immune disease and we out it down to a food allergy. He is now on prescription food called zd. The question i am trying to ask is can you declaw a cat on medical terms? Whenever he gets ill he has to have injections and a buster collar on which makes him rather depressed and not the cat we know and love to pieces. He already has a steroid tablet daily which we knew could cause diabetes, which he is now being tested for. we are awaited results. When ever he gets ill he claws his face to the stage where is bleeding constantly. As he gets older and the more times he does it the worse it gets and each tie it takes longer for him to recover, he has had his buster collar on no for 3 weeks and it is distressing to us all.

Also we have been told by our vet to get a more padded collar for him and the buster collar he has is irritating the wound on his neck, but the ones i have found don't cover the face and he claws both his face and neck and will scratch until he is so sore.

I am at the end of my tether and don't know what to do. He is the most sweetest loving cat ever and him scared him not looking after him well enough and want to make him as comfortable as possible. i know this is a lot to take in and believe me there is more to it. Any info you can give me would be much appreciated.

Thank you for you time, i look forward to hearing from you.

Thankfully

Vicki

Answer
HI
i am totally against declawing as i have spoken to  a vet who says that it is like having yout fingers amputated from the knuckle. It can be painful for the cat, plus will affect their ability to defend themselves and their climbing skills.

I understand your problem though, I assume the buster collar you refer to is the cone shaped collar to protect the head. The other option is soft claws, these are little plastic covers which are glued onto the claw see them on my page here /scratching-post.html.

I hope your vet finds a solution for your cats condtion soon and that you can find a way to help your cat without declawing.

Best wishes
Kate