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We just got a kitty (as I posted earlier) and were talking about if we should declaw her or not. Originally she was going to be an inside/outside cat, but after my first post on her, I think she will just be inside! If we go outside and are messing around in the yard, we will let her come out with us for a bit, but mostly she will stay inside.
Our reasons for thinking of getting her declawed is that we don't want her to scratch our furniture, we have a 2 yeard old that loves to play with her and I don't want him to get scratched by her, and she will be mainly inside.
What are your thoughts/feelings on declawing? Should we?
Please don't, it's inhumane. It is as if they cut a human's finger off to the knuckle. It could also increase aggression and biting in a cat.
I personally feel it's inhumane to declaw cats. Check this website out. http://www.declawing.com/
Our cat is declawed. The cat was actually my sisters and when she moved in my mom said it had to be declawed (we just moved and had all new furniture). I know a lot of people think it is animal abuse, but our 10 year old cat seems perfectly happy. He is a 100% indoor cat (his long fur guaranteed that!) and the few times he goes outside it is with someone.
It is a personal decision so I can't really say yes or no. If you don't think it is animal cruelty, and your cat will always be indoors then I say yes. But if you think there is ever going to be a point in time where it will become an outdoor (even for an hour a day) cat then I would say no.
Please, please, PLEASE don't declaw your kitty! It's a horrific practice. Honestly, I was scratched as a child. It healed, it wasn't a big deal, and I learned a valuable lesson about how to read my kitty and when to leave her alone.
please please please don't do it! It is so cruel! :( When I had a kitty I cut his nails with (human) nail clippers every week. I started when he was a kitten so it was never a big deal. Seriously 5 minutes a week and they never got sharp! Also, get a squirt bottle and watch the cat when its around the furniture. First time he tries to scratch anything spray him! Cats learn pretty quick! Regarding your kid... the most important thing is to teach them how to act around pets. No poking, use 2 fingers, touch gently, no pulling, hitting, etc and definitely watch your child around any pet. They have no reason to lash out if they're treated right. :)
Claws are a very connected part of a cat, more so than our fingernails (which any human would not like to lose) it's more like our fingertips up to the first joint. So to declaw the cat would be to cripple it slightly. Now people who lose fingers or even limbs often recover well and expereince no pain after recovery and lead happy lives - so a declawed cat can also obviously lead a happy life but I would not declaw a cat and would strongly urge you not to.
Cats are in complete control over their claws, so she will not claw the 2 year old unless she means to, animals are usually very gentle with what they can tell are babies/children and if the cat did want to hurt the baby she could do it with her teeth as well. I would not think this is a danger unless your cat is a particularly feral one.
Not all cats scratch furniture and most will not if they have adequate scratching posts that they like. Even cats that claw and prefer furniture can be taught not to by squirting and other methods.
I think declawing is a serious injury and is not necessary because all concerns can be alevieted in other ways.
I vote against declawing. you could use those little rubber nail guards that make it look like your cat has finger nail polish on! I don't remember what they are called but they looked so awesome..
Please don't do it! Just see this quote from the link kate169 posted...
"Declawing is an irreversible surgical procedure that involves amputating the last joint of the cat's "toes." It is a very painful procedure with strong potential to secondary complications. (Imagine having the last joint of your own fingers amputated. Not a pleasant idea.)"
Please do not declaw your cat. If you want to declaw it you should save it the lifetime of pain and give it away to someone who wouldn't do such an awful thing. My vet won't even perform the declawing procedure.
Sorry to be blunt.
To add: I have three strictly indoor cats. I just trim their nails myself. I play with them a lot and very rarely get a scratch. They also have two scratching posts.
Please don't. It causes so many emotional problems to cats. We have 2 and they don't claw the furniture because we have things that they are allowed to claw. We also trim their nails every few weeks so they don't get any bright ideas.
@Emshaw: That was rude an uncalled for. My cat is not in a "lifetime of pain" and he has been declawed for 10 years. I think all the love, food, treats, and toys he gets has spared him. I respect your opinion (in fact if I were to ever have my own cat I would not have it declawed), but please don't insinuate we are bad pet owners because of this decision.
Even if you plan on keeping kitty inside, there's always a chance she could make her escape one day...(Mine has snuck out a couple times when we weren't being really careful) and could end up getting lost/needing to defend herself. You just never really know.
Don't do it! To me, it is on the same level as de-barking dogs: unnecessary and inhumane. Cats have claws for a reason and when you take them away you are taking away their sense of security and their one means of protection. Cats can be trained just like dogs and there are many ways to reinforce the idea that you don't want it to use its claws: spray bottles, scent deterrents, surface deterrents, etc.
growing up, my cat was declawed and an outdoor cat and he turned out just fine. our family just didn't know better. but i wouldn't do it now, after the humane society made my family promise not to declaw the second cat they adopted many years ago, i did some research and realized how painful it was for them.
i wouldn't go as far as to ridicule and lecture you, because i think it's a decision we have to make for ourselves once research has been done. good luck!
Try using the soft paws nail guards. Ours never took to them though, so we just trim her every week. She also has a few things to scratch in the house (a post in the bedroom and a turbo scratcher in the living room), so we almost never catch her on the couch.
NO.
nononononononononononononononononononono.
I'd be just repeating the up there comments if I went into my spiel, so yeah, don't do it. Please.
OMG no definitely not!!! It is really inhumane. I actually volunteer at the animal shelter here in Chicago and they make you sign something saying that you will not declaw any animal you adopt from them- that's how seriously they take it.
Just give them something to scratch on and keep their claws clipped. This is what we have for my kitty and he loves it:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3684659&ab=hp_ln_cat
@babyboo: I'm not insuating that you're a bad pet owner. If your cat was declawed before you got it then it wasn't your decision. I have done a lot of research on animal abuse and volunteering with local shelters and am of the belief that declawing is cruel and unneccessary. We don't rip dogs teeth out because there is a possiblity they might bite someone. What take a kitties claws where there is no reason to?
As well, here's a list of countries where declawing is illegal or considered 'extremely inhumane' - http://www.declawing.com/list.html
Echoing many of the posts above me here -- please don't declaw your kitty. You can teach the kitty to not scratch the furniture and you can trim her claws weekly or whenever they get too sharp.
Declawing was once thought to be ok (I grew up with a cat that got declawed in the 80s back when it was still a normal thing to do) but now virtually all vets have come to agree that it is an inhumane and unnecessary practice.
Medical ideas for pets change just like they do for people! Don't do it!
Don't do it! It's not even legal anymore in California because it is so cruel. We have 2 cats and it is very simple to keep their front claws trimmed. The way I do it, I sit on the couch and lay kitty on it's back on my lap (with it's head at my knees). I use my left hand to hold one paw and massage the claws out. Then I use the nail trimmer (make sure it is one made for cats, not a human one) in my right hand to snip the tip off. Don't trim too far down or you will hurt them. Anyway, the kitties don't mind at all, just lay there with their eyes closed purring. They know I am taking good care of them. It only takes a few seconds anyway. When I am done I help them flip back over and off they trot. Easy peasy.
As 99% of ppl said, don't do it, it's painful, it's inhumane, it's chopping off their first knuckle etc etc. For the scratching problem, my old roommate had 2 cats that LOOOVED to scratch, and she got these little nail cap things that come in all sorts of fun colors and didn't bother her cats a bit
I'm not in favor of declawing cats, but I think to say that the cat will never be the same or something is a bit much. 20 years ago when I was a kid, everyone had their cats declawed because people weren't as aware. My mom had our cats declawed and so did my aunt. I remember taking them home from the vet. They were out of it and sore for a day, and after that, they were back to their frisky selves.
I've never seen a cat be completely ruined from declawing.
But yeah, that said, I don't agree with the procedure and wouldn't recommend it.
If you voluntarily choose to declaw your cat, rather than work with the cat to train it not to scratch furniture or avoid other unwanted behaivors then you ARE a bad pet owner.
I'm not going to mince words about that. Declawing is painful and unnecessary. If you're not prepared to work with your kitten, then please adopt it out to someone who does not mind the claws. There are plenty of declawed kittys at the shelters who are ALREADY declawed who would make a great pet for you.
We cut our cats' claws and bought them a couple of scratching posts.
We use the Softpaws that Ribbons and Sewing reccomended. Our cats don't mind them very much, and they can still use their claws - they're just capped and don't hurt.
My former cat (who know lives with my former roomate) was declawed - we adopted her at the shelter, and she came that way. She had been a stray, but because she was declawed, spayed, and kind of fat, we knew she was a house cat that had probably just gotten out. She had awful teeth when we got her - and we think it was how she was defending and fending for herself without her front claws, before the shelter got her.
I have to agree with everyone, especially texaslawgirl... if you're too lazy to train your cat not to scratch on the furniture and would rather just maime the poor thing, then you shouldn't have a cat. Sorry, I just think it's an awful thing to do to an animal. I adopted a cat from the pound who was declawed and he had horrible raised scars on the pads of his feet and he had trouble walking because of them. Please don't do it!
Ditto all the previous posters who have mentioned that it is an inhumane practice.
When I was a kid, we had our cat declawed because we didn't know any better--our vet recommended it! But now we know...it's unnecessary and a little cruel. And I would NEVER declaw the little baby we brought home last year. He has a bit of a scratching tendency, so we have trained him off the things he's not supposed to scratch and we trim his claws frequently in order to keep him from scratching us when we play with him. He's a sweetie, and he doesn't mean it, he's just playing. No reason to punish him for that. I DO suggest that before you trim your cats claws for the first time, you have your vet show you how to do it. There is a vein that runs INTO their nails, and if you don't know what you're doing, you can clip the vein and it will bleed quite a bit...not comfortable for kitty, and blood gets everywhere (everyone does this occasionally, on accident, but it's best to have a tutorial so you can avoid it for the most part). Good luck!
Please please don't do it. Besides the pain that the cat will feel for the rest of the life - there's the inability to defend yourself and worry about your cat getting hurt you'll face.
Our current cat - a rescue from a shelter - was declawed. It's unclear whether she got out when her first owners were moving or if they left her. The shelter thought that she'd been out in the wild for about 6 months before she was rescued. She had horrible teeth and only has a few front teeth left - probably as Gilneas said because she was defending herself. She's totally an inside cat, but I totally worry when friends come over and/or stay with us that they'll accidentally let her out. I'm always worried that she'll get out and won't be able to defend herself.
I've used Softpaws in the past and they work really well and you don't have the worry/fear that something will happen to your declawed cat.
Not many vets will even do it. Our 1st cat was declawed but like some of the PP's, we got him from a shelter & he came that way.
My cat HATES the claw covers - she runs & hides and takes them off asap. I just clip her claws once or twice a week. I do my own nails once a week, so I keep her clippers near my nail kit to remind me. LOL
She knows she's not allowed near the couch and she's not even allowed IN the bedroom. We have all hardwood floors but she does rip up the bathroom mat sometimes so I just buy the cheap-o ones & only put the nice one out for company.
We've done both in my family. Had cats declawed and not declawed. I never noticed the cat in pain or crying. In fact the cat has lived a pretty darn good life thus far. As far as the cat who isn't declawed she hasn't caused any damage to any furniture. Actually now that I think of it of all the cats my parents/grandma (who lives next to my parents) that weren't declawed I can honestly only think of one cat who ever actually scratched at furniture. If FH and I got a cat I wouldn't do it not because I don't believe in it but just because at the time of the procedure it does hurt the cat very badly and I wouldn't want to put her/him through it. However, I bet that some of these pet owners who oppose declawing a cat, get their pets neutered and spayed and that is no walk in the park for them either so before people judge anyone who chooses to declaw a cat you should think about that. This is also a little bit off topic but something I would never do to my dog is have her ears clipped. There is no need for it. None. Anyway its your personal decision and whatever one you make will be the best.
I say dont because i have had many cats growing up and all of them have been declawed until the newest kitten that we have right now and it has changed their personalities for the worse--they are scared of everything and run/hide at every sound. Their claws are their only defense, even if they are just indoor cats. I trim our kittens nails now and dont have a problem with him scratching us.
Wow, I'm surprised at all the total opposition to declawing. I've also heard things that it's not good for a cat, but I've also seen conflicting evidence on whether it is really that harmful.
Here's my two cents: If you can tolerate having a cat that has claws, then don't get it declawed. If however, you cannot live with a cat in your home that isn't declawed, then get the procedure done. I believe that it is more important to give a shelter cat a home even if it means you have to get it declawed. I'd rather see a cat get declawed and adopted rather than put to sleep in a shelter, or to give it back for adoption because you can't stand all the clawing in the house.
I got my cat declawed. I paid extra for laser surgery which I believe really helped the pain level.
@texaslawgirl: I don't think we would be bad pet owners if we declawed our cat, or that anyone who does that is a bad pet owner.
We can train her to not scratch furniture and stuff, and she has a scatching post she uses, but what about when she kneads the blankets and cushions and our legs when she is on us? It hurts! And when she is doing it to my 2 year old while he is petting her, he cries. She also plays a lot and digs her claws into things when she does. Yesterday she jumped at a string and landed on my leg and her claws dug in. If she did that to my son, he would be really hurt! I don't know why she does this either, but when you pet her, and she is really enjoying it and purring super loud, she sticks her claws out and hooks your fingers and like pulls them to her.
Maybe trimming them would do the trick, but I really don't know if she will let us!
Also, a little off, but what do you think of getting your dogs dew claws removed? Isn't it kind of the same thing? We had one of our dog's removed.
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