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I just trimmed my kitties' front claws for the first time over the weekend. It was much easier than I thought it would be, and took less than 10 minutes per cat (there was some assertion of dominance to be demonstrated in between toes! ). They were amazingly good about it, especially the more docile female. What a difference it makes when they're sitting on my lap, kneading my leg or my arm. Or when they're attempting to tear the carpet right off the staircase.
Now I've gotta get to their back claws, so that when they try to launch themselves from my lap into the next room, I won't be left with claw marks!
I hope to make it a weekly habit. Family pedicure night.
I have three cats. None of them declawed. I used soft paws for a while but those fall off randomly and leave ultra-sharp, ultra-destructive razor blade like nails until you detect them.
I've got a shredded sofa but since I bought them a nice scratching post, they all prefer that one.
About the argument against de-clawing, that it is inhumane and cruel:
A lot of cats are spayed or neutered. Isn't it contradictory to call amputation of the fingertips inhumane but ripping out the uterus or testicles is just fine?
I mean, if it was you, would you prefer to have your fingertips amputated or your reproductive organs removed?
A lot of cats are spayed or neutered. Isn't it contradictory to call amputation of the fingertips inhumane but ripping out the uterus or testicles is just fine?
Cats do not use their uterus or testicles to defend themselves, to express themselves, to run, jump, climb, etc. Cats do not walk upon their uterus or testicles, use them to balance, or feel. Once the uterus or testicles are gone, the cat will never miss them - not so with their toes. Spaying/neutering often results in a much happier cat, not so with declawing. Spaying/neutering prevents tremendous amounts of cruelty by preventing unwanted litters, reducing cat fights, the spread of disease, etc. Declawing prevents cruelty to your sofa.
Quote:
Originally Posted by galore
I mean, if it was you, would you prefer to have your fingertips amputated or your reproductive organs removed?
Cats do not use their uterus or testicles to defend themselves, to express themselves, to run, jump, climb, etc. Cats do not walk upon their uterus or testicles, use them to balance, or feel. Once the uterus or testicles are gone, the cat will never miss them - not so with their toes. Spaying/neutering often results in a much happier cat, not so with declawing. Spaying/neutering prevents tremendous amounts of cruelty by preventing unwanted litters, reducing cat fights, the spread of disease, etc. Declawing prevents cruelty to your sofa.
I would chose to have my uterus removed.
Huh? You make it sound, as if reproductive organs are totally unnecessary. Sure, they aren't necessary for a pet from a human point of view but fact is that you rip out organs that drastically affect behavior. And you do this mostly for your benefit, because it produces a more convenient, better pet (which is very close to the motive for declawing). The other arguments, that the cat will be happier without those organs are sugarcoating to make the owner feel better.
I took in an intact stray female cat who expressed herself very differently when she was in estrus. Once I got her spayed, she changed her behavior dramatically. I took away her potential to be a cat mother and to experience cat sex (I am sure this will be taken with immature giggles).
How do you know, that a male cat will never miss his sex life? Sure, if you neuter him as a kitten, he probably won't but he still misses out on a sex life, which is probably very exciting for a cat. So you can't say that neutering is so harmless to a cat.
Just as you allege that a neutered/spayed cat often results in a much happier cat, someone else can say this about a declawed cat. Because there are cases where people would get rid of a clawed scratcher instead of keeping it. So in such a case, the clawed cat might end up miserable in a shelter and at worst get euthanized.
It is possible to teach a cat NOT to scratch in certain places. The way you do it is ideally when they are a kitten and they are relaxing in your lap and they extend their claws maybe while stretching, you put a finger on their paw and pat it in the direction the fur growns until the claw retracts, and while you do this say "soft paw". Do this repeatedly. Before you know it, when you see your cat run to the sofa and start to scratch say soft paw and bring him to where he can scratch. Your cat will develop a habit of only scratching where he is supposed to scratch as mine did. If it ever slipped his mind, all it would take is a stern voice command of "soft paw" and he'd stop on his own and race to where it wa ok to scratch.
I built a website in memory of this cat and have pictures of him doing other tricks I taught him as well as instructions as to teach others how to train their cats to do tricks. Even though I'm not an AOL member anymore, the website which is one of those free sites members get, is still up. If you do a search on any search engine for Trick and Behavior training cats or Clever Cats it should come up. Otherwise, I think it is CLEVER CATS!(How to Trick & Behavior Train Cats).
my cat is decalwed ....very happy and catches all kinds of things w/ the mittens of his.
I had two options declaw the cat or give him away. I declawed him. I got him in college and had to bring him back to my moms in the summer. He's happy and healthy as far as his claws are concerned.
I have 4 cats (and a dog) none of which are declawed. I can tell you that at first, I was looking towards declawing because I didn't realize what it entailed. After reading about the procedure, I decided trimming was the way to go. Even with 4 cats, they really don't destroy anything. They first climbed/scratched my desk chair (which was only $20 and made out of carpet like material), but I spent some $$$ bought them a really nice 6 ft tall cat tree (and made sure there were a lot of toys around) and they have now been conditioned to only scratch the tree. (I used a spray bottle at first, but now I only need to shake it and they stop). Not to compare cats and kids, but both need boundaries. I don't give the 4 the free rain to do whatever they want (i.e., tear things up), neither would I allow my children to do so. My cats are very happy and can climb and scratch in appropriate places :-)
All of this being considered, I have a friend with diabetes who could absolutely not keep her cat unless it was declawed. It may be mean, but not meaner than having it put down!!!
Huh? You make it sound, as if reproductive organs are totally unnecessary. Sure, they aren't necessary for a pet from a human point of view but fact is that you rip out organs that drastically affect behavior. And you do this mostly for your benefit, because it produces a more convenient, better pet (which is very close to the motive for declawing).
No, I do this because allowing animals to breed unwanted litters is grossly irresponsible and cruel to the kittens who will suffer an untold fate, and to the millions who die at shelters from lack of enough homes. I do this because spayed/neutered animals live healthier lives, including dramatically lowered risk of certain cancers, etc. Not because of potential improved behavior.
Quote:
Originally Posted by galore
How do you know, that a male cat will never miss his sex life? Sure, if you neuter him as a kitten, he probably won't but he still misses out on a sex life, which is probably very exciting for a cat. So you can't say that neutering is so harmless to a cat.
Lots of things might be exciting to a cat which are not in its best interest & as responsible caregivers we do not allow them to do. And if you want to speculate, how do you know that the female wants to reproduce? Maybe she dislikes being bitten in the neck, chased, and mounted by every Tom passing by.
Quote:
Originally Posted by galore
Because there are cases where people would get rid of a clawed scratcher instead of keeping it. So in such a case, the clawed cat might end up miserable in a shelter and at worst get euthanized.
Two wrongs do not make a right. Being an irresponsible pet owner who would dump an animal at a shelter is not a pass to cut it's toes off instead. I have seen very few cases where someone truly NEEDED a declawed cat (in the homes of diabetic patients who cannot risk a scratch on their legs, for example). And to those people, there are plenty of cats, already declawed, waiting to be adopted at your local shelter.
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). They were amazingly good about it, especially the more docile female. What a difference it makes when they're sitting on my lap, kneading my leg or my arm. Or when they're attempting to tear the carpet right off the staircase.
