Cats... natural or de-clawed?

[dericdesmond]

my first cat is declawed, I felt bad, so when I got another, I left them in. The leather couch is screwed but I feel a lot better when he escapes for a few days. My clawless cat still whoops on the one with claws though, they dont intimidate him

 

[Bumppo]

I am willing to fight with everything i have to keep MY knives, why would I take away a cats?

 

[JAB]

I've had cats my whole life and would never have one de-clawed.

 

[JTR357]

I've had cats my whole life and would never have one de-clawed.

Me too.:thumbup:

 

[Mongo]

They don't generally remove the whole claw anymore or any part of the toes. The claws are clipped pretty far back they a liquid-cemical-glue type substance is put on the claw to keep them from growing back. I guess it kills the claw itself. With this technique it doesn't effect the way they walk, the recovery time is very short and there is much less pain. Check with multiple vets in your area because some still do it the old way. It's interesting to note, I found out that declawing cats is illegal in the UK. Kind of makes sense here because cats are more regarded as outside animals and dogs live in the house.

With this said, I still wouldn't have my cat declawed. Double sided tape on the arms of the couch and a spray bottle make training them (mine anyway) pretty easy.

You really have no idea what you are talking about. I do. What you are describing does NOT exist.

No, declawing cats is wrong.

If you disagree swing on by (if you'd like) and I can cut your fingertips off down to the first joint and make you walk on all fours.

Greg, the functional anatomy between cats and humans is VASTLY different. Cats walk/bear weight on P2. NOT P3 like you seem to be implying.
Obviously, being a DVM... I have my own opinions. Feel free to PM me if you have private questions.

 

[LEGION 12]

Never have and never will.

Every cat I have ever owned was great with their claws and never ruined anything in my house with their claws.

We have 2 cats now and we bought one of those cat scratching Emery boards and they love it.

We have one in the living room and one upstairs in the office, works real nice and the cats love it.

Here's what I was refering to: Link

Just got a male kitten 2 months ago think hes abought 8 or 9 months old bought one of those emery boards he just ignores it and uses every thing else in the house including me for a scratching post. Hence his name VLAD THE IMPALER . But i would never have him declawed have had cats most of my life there is always a chance they will get out then there pretty much defenseless . Feel bad enough that pretty soon gonna have to have him fixed

 

[powernoodle]

Interesting that the same folks who won't declaw their cat (with anesthesia) will gladly have the end of their infant son's penis surgically excised without anesthesia.

Have any of you guys who reject declawing consider how embarrassed kitty will be when he is in the middle school gym shower with the other kitties, and his claws don't look like everyone else's?

 

[LEGION 12]

Interesting that the same folks who won't declaw their cat (with anesthesia) will gladly have the end of their infant son's penis surgically excised without anesthesia.

Have any of you guys who reject declawing consider how embarrassed kitty will be when he is in the middle school gym shower with the other kitties, and his claws don't look like everyone else's?

Good stuff only gonna have him fixed if i have to if he starts spraying which in my experiance he probably will

 

[omaha-beenglockin]

I trained my kitten that the several throw rugs around the place were clawing stations(cheap to replace) and to claw anything else was verbotten---2 years later she goes to town on the throw rugs and the furniture is fine.

 

[butchesforge]

I trained my kitten that the several throw rugs around the place were clawing stations(cheap to replace) and to claw anything else was verbotten---2 years later she goes to town on the throw rugs and the furniture is fine.

No, the cat trained you,the throw rugs was what she wanted

 

[GregS]

Interesting that the same folks who won't declaw their cat (with anesthesia) will gladly have the end of their infant son's penis surgically excised without anesthesia.

Have any of you guys who reject declawing consider how embarrassed kitty will be when he is in the middle school gym shower with the other kitties, and his claws don't look like everyone else's?

This post makes no sense, I am concerned. You ok?

 

[GregS]

Greg, the functional anatomy between cats and humans is VASTLY different. Cats walk/bear weight on P2. NOT P3 like you seem to be implying.

I appear to be misinformed, it wouldn't be the first time. I still prefer to let my cats keep their claws.:thumbup:

 

[Ethelred]

This post makes no sense, I am concerned. You ok?

He's talking about circumcision...how some people think it's terrible and inhumane to declaw a cat but don't bat an eye when it comes to removing the foreskin on their baby son (without the sons consent no less).

 

[Legoman0721]

Interesting that the same folks who won't declaw their cat (with anesthesia) will gladly have the end of their infant son's penis surgically excised without anesthesia.

Have any of you guys who reject declawing consider how embarrassed kitty will be when he is in the middle school gym shower with the other kitties, and his claws don't look like everyone else's?

I didn't make this connection until you said it, but you're right on. I don't like the practice of declawing cats, and I vehemently oppose circumcision. I've never compared the two things before, but you make an excellent point.

 

[mdole]

so everyone here is anti-declawing, but what about "fixing" a cat's genitals?

 

[Ethelred]

so everyone here is anti-declawing, but what about "fixing" a cat's genitals?

While considering that there is an overpopulation of cats currently and millions of cats are put down each year I would say that 'fixing' them is the moral thing to do...nevermind there are some health benefits.

Even then, most Humane Shelters won't allow you to adopt a cat without getting it spayed or neutered. The shelter my wife and I volunteer at had to put down something like 3000 cats last year alone (and that's just in tiny Dayton, OH), that's a lot of unnecessary deaths because of irresponsible owners. It really hits home when you go in and see all the kittens and cats in their cages waiting for adoption.

 

[GregS]

While considering that there is an overpopulation of cats currently and millions of cats are put down each year I would say that 'fixing' them is the moral thing to do...nevermind there are some health benefits.

Beat me to it.

 

[Totally Judy]

I have had many cats, and I currently have one - claws intact, but I clip them on a regular basis so that they don't remain too sharp all of the time. She has several designated scratching boxes that she uses.

I did have two cats declawed once. I was the caregiver for my elderly brittle diabetic grandmother, and we adopted 2 littermate kittens. Grandma also had a big, black, fat mean cat. Grandma's big black fat mean cat used to scratch her, which would then cause a major infection and grandma ended up in the hospital many times as a result of that big black fat mean cat. I hated that cat.

Back to the kittens. Grandma loved the kittens, but she was always allowing them to jump up and down from her lap and also sleep on her lap. Because the kittens would accidently scratch Grandma while jumping up and down from her lap, I told Grandma that she had to keep them off her lap or I would get them declawed. Grandma told me how cruel I would be and how would *I* like to have MY fingernails pulled out?

Grandma continued to allow the cats on her lap. After the last time HER big black fat mean cat scratched her and put her back in the hospital, I took the two kittens to our Vet and had them de-clawed. They were indoor cats, and because of Grandma's fragile medical condition, I was not going to have her children accuse ME of allowing a situation where the kittens could scratch her and put her in the hospital. Grandma was really pissed off at me for doing that, but the kittens were just fine (or so it appeared to me) and they still would knead on the couch and chairs and other furniture. But they never scratched Grandma.

I was not responsible for Grandma's big black fat mean cat. That cat also would pee on Grandma's bed. When Grandma died, I actually told the cat, "You will always have a place to live in this house as long as you stop peeing on the furniture." The cat never peed on any furniture after that. Maybe because Grandmas was gone.

I have no regrets about declawing those two kittens. It was done because I loved my Grandmother and she loved those kittens but would not keep them off of her lap.

Both kittens eventually became coyote dinner - 8 or 9 years later while using the doggie door to sneak outside. Even an intact claw cat probably would not survive a coyote attack. There aren't many trees out in the desert to climb to get away from a coyote.

I doubt I would ever de-claw another cat, but never say ever. It all depends on the circumstances. I would never de-claw a cat just to keep the furniture from getting scratched up, though. Get a kitten started young enough on provided scratching posts, etc., and one should really not have much of a problem with them scratching objects they should not be scratching.

 

[canook]

You really have no idea what you are talking about. I do. What you are describing does NOT exist.

Obviously, being a DVM... I have my own opinions.

I made a mistake. I was referring to the Resco Clipper Method, I'm sure you've heard of it. The way it was explaned to me by the vet on base made it sound "nicer" than it really is. I didn't realize a little bit of the bone was still clipped before being glued. The other way (disarticulation) removes the whole 3rd bone and is (as described to me) more painful.

And by the way, you don't need to be so condescending. This is a friendly forum.

 

[ttoney83]

I brought 2 neutered males into my marriage. She has 2 neutered, de-clawed males. We've been married since 5-28-09 and have had no cat-on-cat violence. My question is should an indoor cat be de-clawed? I don't think so. Imagine having your fingernails ripped out along with the tip bones...

I agree with you 100% CM! Claws are one of a cat's primary defense/offense weapons. I would think that having them ripped out would be traumatic to the cat. I have 3 cats, all female "fixed" 2 are adopted and one of the adopted one's has had it's front claws removed. Sweet little cat, she wants desperatly to go outside, but, I can't in good conscience let her out since she is missing some of her weaponry and could not climb a tree if she needed to escape a fox. I think declawing SUCKS and so I gladly put up with clawed furniture. Of course, I don't have much in the way of "good furniture" for that reason.