Ok, this may seem ironic. Many of the regulars here know that my wife
and I had our three kittens declawed last summer. They are now fine and
in great health and show none of the terrible side effects I was told
to expect. But none of this is the reason for this post.

My wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Her first biopsy
yielded an almost microscopic concentration of cancerous cells. Since
that time, no more cancer has been found anywhere in her body and she
is now, as far as we know, cancer free. She had a subsequent biopsy on
her right breast, her lymph nodes, and her left breast. All biopsies
since the first one have come back negative. She has also been tested
gentically, which was also negative. That is to say, the gene we all
posess which helps us fight off breast cancer is functioning fine in
her. Because of her age (38 when diagnosed), and the aggressive strain
of cancer found in her(which is resistant to conventional oral meds),
and the fact that three of her dozen aunts had breast cancer, she will
need Chemotherapy, even though she is seemingly cancer free. Her first
session is next Friday.

Here is the reason for this post. Aside from the side effects of chemo
we were aware of, there are others we didn't know about. Specifically,
she can't get sick for the next several months and also must avoid any
cuts scrapes and scratches, since her immune system will be reduced and
she will not clot properly.

As you know, our three cats, all front declawed, are about a year old.
All very active, all very fiesty, and depend on there back claws, and
use them a lot. I trim them weekly, but they grow very fast. Aside from
using common sense, and being careful in how often and the manner she
handles them, what else can we do to make sure they don't cut or
scratch my wife?

Also, I realize there are very few ways a cat can make a human sick,
but can she catch something from them. We assume that she doesn't need
worry about anything that won't routinely make a human sick, but they
do sleep on out pillows in very close proximity to our heads. Maybe we
are being overly cautious or parnoid, but we want to be sure. We change
all three litter boxes every few days and scoop them daily. One is in
our bedroom

We could seal them off from us and limit her exposure to them, but we
prefer not to, as they are wonderful therapy and seem to know when we
'need attntion'. They also reduce stress and are close companions and
confidants.

Less anyone think this is some thinly veiled lame attempt to justify
our original decision to have them declawed, I freely admit that we did
that for possibly vane and selfish reasons, and that we declawed them
months before a telltale spot appeared on my wife's mammogram. Please
don't use this post as further ammo to slam me for declawing my cats.
We've been through it before.

Has anyone been through a similar situation? Looking for some insight
here. I know there are some compassionate and helpful people here, and
I would greatly appreciate your insight.

Carl in CT