declawing cats....cruelty?

[maci]

Well I never thought I would declaw a cat. I have had cats all my life, and I am big on non cruelty animals etc. But yes my furniture is ruined etc, all cats scratch some.
One of my cats (my favorite acutally), was just a clawing MACHINE! I mean worse than any other cat I have ever had. It was bad!
We finally did it, and I felt so bad. But you know what, he is fine. I have 4 cats at the moment and always had them as a child etc, he is the only one that we felt it neccessary.
It did not change his personality, he is still the sweetest guy ever, he just liked to sharpen his claws!
And yes he can still defend him self, when my kids pick him up, he lets them know when he wants down with his teeth or back claws.

Flame away! I know I would have too, a few years ago.

By the way, here is the big old mistreated guy:

 

[osukristin227]

Some dog breeds have their ears cut. Dobermans are the most that I've seen and it's purely cosmetic.

Continue on, sorry to get off topic...

 

[Beth76]

Our cat came from the breeder trained to scratch a post, so that was not an issue for us. I always had cats growing up and they were all declawed with no problems. My decision came when (shortly after becoming pregnant) my cat was sitting on my lap, she grabbed both of my ears with her claws and bit me on the nose. After that I had several other occasions where she would "attack" me. So, with that new behavior and bringing a baby into the house we decided to get her declawed. She really didn't have any problems with it.

Now, she's able to play with the kids without scratching them. When she had claws she would scratch us while playing even though we trimmed them. She sneaks outside sometimes and has always made it home OK. She was out for almost 2 whole days too. I was worried, but she's smart and knows how to take care of herself.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I just want to say, to the people who have had it done, there is no need to get defensive. You believe in it.

But, I have a right to an opinion. and IMO , it is cruel. I was just wondering if there was in fact any reason other than saving furniture, carpet, ect to have a cat declawed.

 

[Beth76]

I just want to say, to the people who have had it done, there is no need to get defensive. You believe in it.

But, I have a right to an opinion. and IMO , it is cruel. I was just wondering if there was in fact any reason other than saving furniture, carpet, ect to have a cat declawed.

I don't think my response was defensive, but you said it was cruel and asked if we have a non-selfish reason. So apparently we do need to defend ourselves to you. And I really don't see protecting expensive furniture and carpet to be "selfish".

 

[Tigger&Belle]

If it decides between a kitten/cat having a home, I'm all for declawing. I work at an animal hospital and we have just begun doing laser declaws.

I've heard of the laser declaws awhile ago, but haven't heard many details. Hopefully it will become more commonplace if it indeed has a faster recovery rate than the traditional way.

T&B

 

[Charade]

And I really don't see protecting expensive furniture and
carpet to be "selfish".

Well, to the extreme opponents of declawing, that is a selfish reason. Thier answer is don't get a cat if you're not willing to take the time to try to train it not to claw stuff.

 

[mick67]

I was just wondering if there was in fact any reason other than saving furniture, carpet, ect to have a cat declawed.

It's reason enough for me

 

[Aimeedyan]

It's illegal in many countries because it's cruel and needless. Cats can be trained, just like dogs can be (someone else even mentioned their cat was trained at the breeder). It's cutting off a finger at it's joint.

Now that I'm educated on it, I'm opposed to it. Many people don't educate themselves on it, most vets are in support of it, and it's common to do. Unfortunately, I won't be having any more cats in our home (DH is deathly allergic!) but we wouldn't do it if we did bring one inside.

I will say that as cruel and inhumane as it is, I would rather a loving family opt to do that instead of giving it to the shelter and it likely being put to sleep.

Can you believe that there are some vets that will do all 4 paws? Amazing!

 

[nwdisgal]

Ok, as I put on my fire proof suit, I will tell you about our declawed cat.They can survive quite well without paws. I'm not advocating declawing, I'm just saying doing so doesn't render them totally helpless. Our declawed cat lived to be almost 18 years old. He died of old age/natural causes. He was declawed when he was a kitten. At the time he was a kitten, we lived in a tiny apartment and he was tearing the place apart with his claws - furniture, rug, etc. We also intended him to be an indoor cat when he had the surgery done - had no idea that he would ever be outdoors. Yes, if I could have gone back in time with a crystal ball, I would have never taken out his claws, but, that said, five years later we moved to a beautiful house with a nice yard, and the cat was absolutely miserable sitting indoors looking outside at all the fun things to do. So he became an indoor/outdoor cat. We then moved to the countryside where again he had acres to play on and spent the majority of his day tooling around our property and the forest. The country side in our area was filled with natural predators - racoons, mountain lion and even bear, and our cat never ran into a problem without his front claws. He also had a few cat fights in his day with the neighbor cats and came out quite fine. The neighbor cats eventually befriended him because he was a sweetheart, but also King of the Pride. He had two things going for him - he was resourceful and he was smart. He was also a very successful hunter - even clawless. He brought me "presents" all the time Cats are actually quite capable of defending themselves, even when they are declawed they can compensate. What it really depends on is the personality of the cat, more than anything. After my 18 year old cat passed away, I rescued another older cat from the pound. She had claws and proceeded to tear up my leather couches, but we kept her claws in.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I don't think my response was defensive, but you said it was cruel and asked if we have a non-selfish reason. So apparently we do need to defend ourselves to you. And I really don't see protecting expensive furniture and carpet to be "selfish".

Beth, you response was not defensive. Most of the posts, thankfully are not.

Maybe I should not of used the word selfish. Maybe it is because I am lucky enough to have a cat who does not bother the furniture, but to me, if I worried about expensive furniture being ruined, I wouldn't have a cat.

Dogs chew furniture and almost everything else under the sun. I never hear about toothless dogs.

 

[Jasminesmommy]

How can any of you say its not cruel to amputate half a cats finger?? Do they not have feelings and bleed red? Some people don't think of cats as human and they are. If it makes you feel better to say it fine but outside cat or not its still cruel.
Here is a great site on it
http://www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/declaw.html

Here is the procedure- Very Graphic
http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawpics.html

 

[Disney1fan2002]

double post

 

[disney4us2002]

We had two siamese inside-only cats both declawed. When we got them I was actually a bit afraid of cats, lol. My only experience growing up was my grandfather's cat who was just the nastiest, spitting & jumping on anyone other than my grandpa. My in-laws gave us the cats as gifts. Hubby knew cats and chose to get them declawed probably for my fear as much as for furniture. Originally we talked of having them mate and decided against that when the male began spraying around our apartment. Having him neutered was probably also cruel and selfish to the OP but a necessity imho.

 

[Beth76]

Some people don't think of cats as human and they are.

Do you want to try that one again.

 

[Disney1fan2002]

We had two siamese inside-only cats both declawed. When we got them I was actually a bit afraid of cats, lol. My only experience growing up was my grandfather's cat who was just the nastiest, spitting & jumping on anyone other than my grandpa. My in-laws gave us the cats as gifts. Hubby knew cats and chose to get them declawed probably for my fear as much as for furniture. Originally we talked of having them mate and decided against that when the male began spraying around our apartment. Having him neutered was probably also cruel and selfish to the OP but a necessity imho.

Ummm...no having a cat payed or nuetered is not cruel or selfish. giving the amount of unwanted cats, NOT having them spayed or nuetered is selfish, IMO.

 

[Aidensmom]

Do they not have feelings and bleed red? Some people don't think of cats as human and they are.

My cat just meowed to me that she is fine and dandy being a cat thank you, don't insult her with calling her a human. (And she also says she is happy despite being declawed )

 

[tiggersmom2]

My cat just meowed to me that she is fine and dandy being a cat thank you, don't insult her with calling her a human. (And she also says she is happy despite being declawed )

My babies are currently lying on their African themed bed (yes they have their own room....but still love to sleep with us ) and they meowed in unison that they are FELINE and lovin' it! They also love being declawed so they can bat and play with us to their hearts content (but you gotta watch out for those back claws....they have learned how to utilize them!!!! )

 

[gradtchr]

I had my cat declawed as soon as I could for many different reasons. One he did not know how to use them and because he was not going to be around other young cats he would not ever learn. I found him when he was a teeny tiny kitten and really to young to be away for his mother but his mother had disowned him and would not accept him back so he either went with me or he died. I talked to my vet and a friend who is an animal behaviorist. Simba just could not figure out claws and my arms could not take it anymore so after extensive research and long talks with my vet we had him declawed. My vet highly recommended it for Simba and he does not recommend it for all cats, there are many he discourages it for depending on the cats personality.

Simba is still very capable of defending himself. He can bite with the best of them and he still has his back claws. He can climb a tree with extreme ease. He will show if he is in pain and he didn't suffer at all when it was done.

Would I declaw another cat, I don't know it honestly depends on the personality. If they know how to use them I wouldn't, but in the case of another Simba you better believe I would. Flame me all you want but I did what was best for my kitty and I do not regret it at all.

 

[Hermosa11]

I had a cat that was declawed. If you can find yourself a feline that does not wreck your furniture, etc. good for you .......Our cat was delcawed several years ago and I really never found him to fester fellings of anger towards being declawed. Our cat was rescued from SPCA and otherwise would have been put down. I would do it again. I am without cats at this time (passed away), but would do it again.