Did you declaw your cat?

[luvmy3]

LOL My dog came to us debarked and I still cannot train him not to bark...believe me...I have tried.

We have been in the process of training our dog not to bark since we got her almost 2 years ago, and all efforts have failed so far. I am currently researching bark collars as a last resort. I love her, but her bark is making it darn near impossible to enjoy living with her.

 

[Scurvy]

I'm against euthanizing an animal for behavioral issues, but it looks like you got some...issues that is. ewwww. What a way to make your point.

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm assuming LuvinLucifer was referring to aggression and not just clawing the furniture, and if that's the case then I think she has a point. Anyone who thinks clawing the furniture is a behavioral issue worthy of euthanasia doesn't need to own a cat at all, but I'm hoping that isn't what she meant. So many people say that they have cats front declawed because they are aggressive, but if a cat is so aggressive that it can't be trained not to attack people then declawing is probably not going to solve the problem. Cats like that are probably just going to move on to biting and clawing with their back claws. With an extremely aggressive cat like that, euthanasia might end up being the only real option. Of course I think most cats who are declawed because of "aggression" are just cats who haven't been taught not to claw, and whose claws aren't trimmed on a regular basis.

 

[LuvinLucifer]

Maybe I'm wrong but I'm assuming LuvinLucifer was referring to aggression and not just clawing the furniture, and if that's the case then I think she has a point.

You're not wrong. Maybe I should have used the term "temperment" instead. The vast majority of animal rights activists are not anti-euthanasia in all circumstances. I took a dog aggression seminar with Sue Sternberg, and she empasized that relunctance to euthanize actually harms the movement to reduce pet overpopulation and the problems that come along with it. By refusing to "give up" on animals that really don't have the temperment to be house pets more adoptable animals get caught up in the shuffle.

 

[kacaju]

We have been in the process of training our dog not to bark since we got her almost 2 years ago, and all efforts have failed so far. I am currently researching bark collars as a last resort. I love her, but her bark is making it darn near impossible to enjoy living with her.

Good luck..I am against them for this reason...you are going to shock, spray or a sound.... something to *make them* not bark..so just for example...if your dog is trying to alert you...If your dog has been trainned not to bark because of the fear of a shock, spray or sound...they may not try to alert you due to fear of what will happen when they bark....my goofball of a dog....will still be able to bark his fool head off and has no fear of barking. He never *fears* barking...and let me tell you the always yelling shut up to him and being angry when he barks breaks his spirit...you can see it...So after trying to train him not to bark...I gave up and we are all much happier...

 

[luvmy3]

Good luck..I am against them for this reason...you are going to shock, spray or a sound.... something to *make them* not bark..so just for example...if your dog is trying to alert you...If your dog has been trainned not to bark because of the fear of a shock, spray or sound...they may not try to alert you due to fear of what will happen when they bark....my goofball of a dog....will still be able to bark his fool head off and has no fear of barking. He never *fears* barking...and let me tell you the always yelling shut up to him and being angry when he barks breaks his spirit...you can see it...So after trying to train him not to bark...I gave up and we are all much happier...

Honestly I have had the same thoughts about training her not to bark, but she barks at everything that goes on outside, and we are miserable listening to her. Not to mention all of our neighbors probably are too.
I can't even take her for walks around the neighborhood, or anywhere there is a chance she will bark uncontrollably at people, cars, animals, blades of grass, the sun's reflection, etc etc . She gets put in her crate when I can't get her to stop, and she knows not to bark then, but I'd rather have a dog that is running around outside, or in the house than stuck in her crate, so the bark collar, is at this point, our only option if we want to keep our sanity.

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

Let's see... I was going to try and list all the names that have been given to us terrible, barbaric, selfish, disgusting etc people who have declawed their cats but I decided it was not worth my time.

Seriously though, I have three animals we adopted because they were strays. One of them is my cute, little, spoiled kitty who we love dearly. I had her front paws declawed at the same time I had her spayed. She NEVER acted like her little paws hurt, she runs around like a crazy cat and is happy as a pig in mud. However before we adopted her, she was abandoned on the side of the road, she was hungry and I suspect very scared. Now she lives indoors, has a belly full all the time, has all the love she can stand and has two big dogs to torment . I suspect she would rather live with me declawed than in the situation she was in.

So if you deem it necessary to continue name calling because I had her declawed... call away. OP... in my opinion you must do what is best for your situation and don't let anyone make you feel guilty one way or another.

 

[EMom]

Have I ever declawed a cat? Not no, but hell no. I can barely stand to think of it, let alone do it. Removing the last joint of each finger is what it is akin to. Godawful.

 

[daisyx3]

I only read the first and last pages here. Good thing I don't give a fart what people think.
I adopted my current cat at age 1 and she was already front declawed, but if she hadn't been I would have had it done. We work during the day and I can't be following her around all the time to make sure she isn't shredding things. The cats I owned before (who lived to be 19 and 14) were both front declawed, by me. All the cats still gave me unconditional love. They do not go outside.
Some of you will judge, because this board thrives on it. But when this cat dies if I get another one, I'll get it front declawed, and none of these drama queen arguments will change my mind.
Daisyx3

 

[jennyjinx3]

NOT an air horn ... compressed air. It's used for cleaning computer equipment. Sounds like hair spray - maybe a little louder - but without anything liquid actually being sprayed out. Kitties don't like the sudden "Psssst" of the air and it's FAR from painful.

It's all in how much time you're willing to put into training. Cats can be trained to not scratch certain things and they can also learn that clipping nails doesn't hurt.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

NOT an air horn ... compressed air. It's used for cleaning computer equipment. Sounds like hair spray - maybe a little louder - but without anything liquid actually being sprayed out. Kitties don't like the sudden "Psssst" of the air and it's FAR from painful.

It's all in how much time you're willing to put into training. Cats can be trained to not scratch certain things and they can also learn that clipping nails doesn't hurt.

I dont know.......I spent 15 years trying to get one of our cats to stop clawing the couch/chair......thats A LOT of time that we put into it.......nothing ever worked and we tried EVERYTHING.

Of course we worked too....and went to our kids games, so we could only work on training when we were home.

Am I the only one that think that cats are hard to train?

 

[fortwildernessishome]

Seriously..first off nobody said air horn but you mean to say you never train your pets? You just let them run wild and do whatever they want..to their own detriment and yours? It's pet training to spray them or discourage them from unwanted or unsafe behaviors/actions. Nothing bad or wrong about that and far better than amputating part of their foot.

Seriously.....I am SO SORRY that I misunderstood and thought that someone mentioned an air horn......my mistake.

Truly, with our first three cats, no amount of training had any impact at all with them scratching the furniture.

Do we let our pets "run wild" uh no.......unless you call scratching the furniture running wild!

Do we let them "do whatever they want.....to their own detriment and ours" uh no........unless that is what you call scratching furniture.

What I said, and I'll say it again......our two declawed cats had a night of discomfort. NOW, they have a LIFETIME of fun.......no being sprayed by water, no sounds of air that startle them enough to stop, no weekly or monthly clipping of nails.

I wont debate this anymore......my cats are happy, we are happy, can't ask anything more than that!!!

Everyone needs to do what is right for their own family.

 

[kacaju]

Honestly I have had the same thoughts about training her not to bark, but she barks at everything that goes on outside, and we are miserable listening to her. Not to mention all of our neighbors probably are too.
I can't even take her for walks around the neighborhood, or anywhere there is a chance she will bark uncontrollably at people, cars, animals, blades of grass, the sun's reflection, etc etc . She gets put in her crate when I can't get her to stop, and she knows not to bark then, but I'd rather have a dog that is running around outside, or in the house than stuck in her crate, so the bark collar, is at this point, our only option if we want to keep our sanity.

UGH..That would drive me crazy too!! Good luck. Truthfully after really paying attention to our dog..he barks when he is happy...so I just let him

 

[auntie]

Had our one cat for 17 years. Have another now. Never had any issues with it. It's easy to discourage. Never been an issue. Additionally, our vet won't do it.

 

[goofy4tink]

Yes.

we are highly responsible pet owners. Our cats are loved and spoiled.

Shelters are filled with cats looking for loving homes. It is far more important that they find homes than for them to keep their claws. If you take away the option, I believe adoption rates will fall. THAT would be a travesty.

I don't see declawing as that terrible. I don't buy into the ridiculous descriptions. It is a medical procedure done under proper care as any other medical procedure. My cats did not suffer. There is no difference between my cats and my friends/families cats who are not declawed.

I would do it again if other methods did not work and declawing was necessary in order to bring and keep a cat in my home.

And again I say....there is a reason the vast majority of vets will not declaw a cat!! Of course they suffered. You can rationalize all you want.

There is a huge difference between cats and dogs. I have a dog, and have had one almost continually for most of my life. Same with cats...have two right now, and a year ago, had three. And I trim their claws. Cats with trimmed claws do not try to scratch at furniture nearly as much as untrimmed cats do. I would say that for about a week after I trim their nails, I seldom see them scratching at anything. But, at the two week mark, they start up again.
But training them?? Hard to do. Haven't you heard that saying? We own dogs but cats own us?? Dogs merely want to make their people happy. Cats really don't much care one way or the other. They do pretty much what they want.
So...if they shed all over your furniture, are you going to shave them?? I mean, it's painless. There are ramifications with having pets. That's the bottom line. We are currently on zero pet replacement....we want to have nicer things now that our dd is headed off to college. We want to travel more and not be tied down to the house because of our pets.

Pets are work, they can be a huge imposition. Dogs bark. Dear God...I have had golden retrievers forever, as has my dh. They just aren't a barking breed. Well...tell that to my current golden. He is from a championship line.....most of his littermates have done incredibly well in the ring..his mom is in the record books. We were able to buy him due to a possible health defect. Well, when we got him home, and his barking never stopped???? Called the breeder to ask her about it. Well..it seems that entire line tends to barkiness...not all of them, but the males primarily. And since his grandpa and dad were both champions, they cut them some slack in the noise dept. Yeah, well we weren't showing him...so quiet would have been nice. And to this day.....12 years later??? Still a barker. And he primarily barks when I'm home. It seems to be a protective issue. I can get him to stop after a bit, but he does carry on for quite awhile. And no amount of yelling, can rattling, water spraying, clicking made any difference. Not even positive reinforcement.

So, there are just some things that you aren't going to change. Cats scratch. Feline nature. Do what you think is right I guess. But, it is barbaric and very painful. There is nothing anyone is going to say here that is going to change anyone else's mind on this one. If someone has declawed their cat, they are going to rationalize their reasoning.

 

[Planogirl]

Cats can certainly be very hard to train. There are no absolutes and they are all different.

One we had was always a bit wacko for some reason and he would not learn. All of the others did learn eventually but this guy would not stop a lot of bad habits. Plus he acted odd - he would sometimes sit close to a wall just staring at it and sometimes he would just yowl to himself. The vet could never find anything wrong with him except he just seemed off and he basically tried to destroy everything in sight. Clipping his nails didn't slow him down plus there was no such thing as Soft Paws or whatever they're called.

He was a good natured cat though and I felt awful when I realized what they did when they declawed him. He was still good natured afterward but I decided then that I would never do it again. I don't know what I would do if I ever adopted such an odd pet again but I wouldn't resort to declawing.

 

[TurkA77]

I am amazed at the amount of "Cat Whisperers" we have here. Some how they know the level of pain and discomfort declawing is causing their cats. For me, even if there is the slightest chance of pain being caused to any of my pets during a procedure that is not necessary, I am not doing it.


For the people out there that have no problem declawing their cats because it isn't painful or life altering will you let us perform the procedure on you or any of your children? I will pay for it. All we have to do is amputate your finger at the first knuckle to prevent your nail from growing back, the same way it is done to a cat. Please PM me if you are willing to undergo this procedure.

 

[furb & dez]

For the people out there that have no problem declawing their cats because it isn't painful or life altering will you let us perform the procedure on you or any of your children? I will pay for it. All we have to do is amputate your finger at the first knuckle to prevent your nail from growing back, the same way it is done to a cat. Please PM me if you are willing to undergo this procedure.

Perhaps you'd get more interest if you offered debarking instead. Pesky children too loud? Interrupting your endless line-up of trashy reality shows with their yelling? Why, simply have their voice boxes mangled and you and your babydaddy won't even hear them whine. After all, it's for their "comfort" and your piece of mind, since parenting is SO hard. It was the hardest three minutes of your life trying to teach them to be quiet, right?

 

[johnnymo99]

I am amazed at the amount of "Cat Whisperers" we have here. Some how they know the level of pain and discomfort declawing is causing their cats. For me, even if there is the slightest chance of pain being caused to any of my pets during a procedure that is not necessary, I am not doing it.


For the people out there that have no problem declawing their cats because it isn't painful or life altering will you let us perform the procedure on you or any of your children? I will pay for it. All we have to do is amputate your finger at the first knuckle to prevent your nail from growing back, the same way it is done to a cat. Please PM me if you are willing to undergo this procedure.

If you think a pet compares to a child I will pay for your LOBOTOMY. Sure are a lot of kooks in this thread.

 

[Coconut36]

Seriously.....I am SO SORRY that I misunderstood and thought that someone mentioned an air horn......my mistake.

Truly, with our first three cats, no amount of training had any impact at all with them scratching the furniture.

Do we let our pets "run wild" uh no.......unless you call scratching the furniture running wild!

Do we let them "do whatever they want.....to their own detriment and ours" uh no........unless that is what you call scratching furniture.

What I said, and I'll say it again......our two declawed cats had a night of discomfort. NOW, they have a LIFETIME of fun.......no being sprayed by water, no sounds of air that startle them enough to stop, no weekly or monthly clipping of nails.

I wont debate this anymore......my cats are happy, we are happy, can't ask anything more than that!!!

Everyone needs to do what is right for their own family.

That is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever seen. You are actually try to claim that amputating your cats feet is better than taking the time and effort to train them because they might be told no and sprayed? Holy cow You have absolutely NO idea your cat is not suffering as a result of what you did. Just because they can walk doesn't mean you didn't maim them..doesn't mean they are not in pain..it's not like they can tell you or will be visible in a limp. Cut off the tips of all your toes and learn to walk around again..sure you could probably do it but it doesn't mean it will feel good and you will not suffer lasting problems or pain as a result..that is what declawing does to a cat. Your cat simply adapted to amputation..that is hardly better than some training and discipline.

 

[PaulaSB12]

Due to the animal welfare act of 2006 in the UK de-clawing and cosmetic tail docking are illegal (I bet debarking is as well)