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I declawed my best friend Syd based on a Vets recommendation. From the minute I brought him home, I regretted my decision. I would like to say the usual "in my defense" stuff, but there is no defense. I can only hope when he looks down on me from above, he will get some satisfaction from knowing another stupid human is a little more enlightened.
There are lots of ways to accommodate a cat that scratch's stuff. Declawing is not an acceptable option.
If you feel you must have a cat who has had his toes amputated, go to a shelter and adopt one who has already been crippled. The shelters are full of them, because people who declaw cats place so little value on them, they dump them at the first sign of trouble. There is no need to cause even more suffering.
People who wish to declaw should spend time in the recovery room with cats that have just had it done.
It is absolutely the most pitiful thing you will ever see. No amount of pain relief helps. They are blinded by agony, their paws bleed and bleed.
Horrific.
It galls me that vets here in the USA are so greedy that they still do this barbaric surgery. That they themselves don't fight to get it outlawed. Since the owners don't get to see the intense suffering after surgery they like to think it's little more than a nail-clipping by the vet. That the cat is maimed and rendered defenseless for life at the least doesn't occur to them either, or they don't care because they value their furniture over all else. It's so easy to train them not to claw furniture but I hear and read how these people can't afford or don't want cat furniture and scratching posts in their home. Good grief! Then don't get a cat. Get a stuffed toy.
And if they don't have the money for these things, where do they get the money for the declawing mutilation? I've seen scratching posts for $10 on sale and nice cat trees for under $100.
It galls me that vets here in the USA are so greedy that they still do this barbaric surgery. That they themselves don't fight to get it outlawed. Since the owners don't get to see the intense suffering after surgery they like to think it's little more than a nail-clipping by the vet. That the cat is maimed and rendered defenseless for life at the least doesn't occur to them either, or they don't care because they value their furniture over all else. It's so easy to train them not to claw furniture but I hear and read how these people can't afford or don't want cat furniture and scratching posts in their home. Good grief! Then don't get a cat. Get a stuffed toy.
And if they don't have the money for these things, where do they get the money for the declawing mutilation? I've seen scratching posts for $10 on sale and nice cat trees for under $100.
And if you are still stuck for ideas, get a small claw trimmer for less than $10 and just snip once a month. The cats may not like it, but at least you're not mutilating them and your furniture will be a bit safer.
I've noticed that here in Colorado the pet shelters are very very anti-declawing - it's one of the first things they ask would-be adopters - but when I lived in Minnesota the shelters would offer it as part of the vet service alongside chipping and neutering
My cat Chaos was born in my parents' backyard in NJ, we think to a feral cat. My dad started leaving food out for the litter, and I said that once I got a place of my own, I would take one.
So 6 months go by. I got my own condo and decided to take one of the kittens. All that time they were living outside, at my parents house. I managed to trap Chaos, then took her to the vet to get her spayed and declawed. Other than giving her treats while she was outside, I had no real "relationship" with her yet.
I don't think she ever had problems because of it - she lived to be a couple of weeks away from turning 19 - but it always bothered me to see the other cats around my dad's house who would jump up and catch a toy with one paw, claws outstretched. Chaos would jump up and catch things with both paws.
Anyway, fast forward.. I adopted Luna & Hobbes (around a year and a half, I think, after Chaos passed away) from a friend who found them at around a week old.. she had bottle fed them and litter trained them but couldn't keep more rescues as she had, I think 7 already. So we took them in at around 8 weeks, figuring the vet said they can be spayed and neutered at 4 months, and also gave me info about declawing them, too. One of our vets has a cat at home who was declawed, so I figured it would be ok, even though I read about the horror stories online, and how so many countries and some states ban the procedure.
However, I got to know these two little darlings, and I could not bear the thought of chopping off part of their precious paws. I think because I got to know them first, it made that much more of a deal to me. When it was time to get them fixed, my husband told me I could wait on the declawing. I said no, if I don't do it now, I never will. And I didn't and I won't!
Yes, we have several scratching pads/posts, and I try to make sure they are using them and not some of our nubby-material couches or carpeting. They're still not happy with me cutting their claws, but I tell them too bad, it's better than what your older sister went through, and I give them treats when they let me do it.
We'll never know the kind of pain they go through, all for the convenience of keeping our possessions looking good. I can see if they cause injury to their owner or to the vets, but only in those types of circumstances.
I'll never forget that tragic day..... and neither will my boys..... for whatever reasons...... Chucky bolted across the highway, at the WRONG TIME....
right in front of the witnessing eyes of my 4 young sons..... Chucky got hit BY A SEMI!!!!!!!!! <can we say UGLY???>
That was the day I truly started noticing just how many cats lay dead on the roads and streets.
I agree with this whole-heartedly. I would rather have a mildly grumpy cat that wants outdoors than a dead cat that was happy it went outdoors.
Over my entire life (including childhood), I've lost 1 cat to being hit by a car, another cat got caught in an engine, and 2 cats that just disappeared.
I would never declaw my cats. Ever. Yes, my furniture is a little ripped up because for some reason one cat loves to claw away at the couch while the other dutifully uses the scratching posts I have everywhere.
And, although it's not the popular choice here, they are indoor/outdoor cats.
This topic is way too inflammatory. There is no middle ground here...People who declaw cats are evil. People who don't declaw cats are saints.
Hasn't this topic been exhausted yet?!
People seek forums so they can discuss inflammatory topics, anonymously.
If we ban inflammatory topics, it goes against the spirit of forums in general, which is to exercise freedom of speech. Aside from that, there are new people coming here all the time, so just because a subject has been discussed to death here in general, it doesn't mean everyone here in the moment has said all they wish to say. Sure, they could find an old thread and post there, and then will come the predictable "this is an old thread, look at the dates" comments. So I think those who have said all they wish to on the subject can simply choose to ignore the thread if they find it so annoying. It was helpful to the OP, and possibly others as well...isn't that what matters most ?
People who wish to declaw should spend time in the recovery room with cats that have just had it done.
It is absolutely the most pitiful thing you will ever see. No amount of pain relief helps. They are blinded by agony, their paws bleed and bleed.
Horrific.
That was not my experience. My cat didn't bleed and bleed and bleed, in fact there wasn't even any seepage. The doctor did an excellent job cleaning her up. My cat mewled a couple of times, then fell asleep. I brought her home, she behaved pretty much how anyone would behave after surgery (grumpy and whiny), and the next day she was using the litter box, eating, and experimenting with her changed front paws. Three days later she was back to normal.
She pounces, she jumps, she climbs, she kneads, she pulls the cardboard boxes apart, she splays her front toes (wow - she still has toes - how can that possibly be? All those scary videos insist that they chop her toes off!), and the only thing she -doesn't- do anymore, is cause damage to things with her front claws. She still causes plenty of damage with her back claws and teeth.
She doesn't walk funny, and the only hip problem she's ever had, was when she misjudged a jump onto my lap, from a step-stool, and pulled a muscle. She's made a complete recovery from that.
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