Declawing

Originally Posted by laureen227

what you do is like cutting your own fingernails. what declawing is is like cutting off your fingers at the first knuckle.

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me, thats what declawing is. Holy I didn't know people do that. I was asking coz when reading the threads I thought it was just the clipping of claws people are against. Why on earth would you want to remove their claws permanently?

I had heard about de-clawing, but I certainly never considered doing it to any of my cats. I agree with what has been said in this thread, it is purely for the humans convenience. 4 of my 6 cats are inside...they have scratching posts, and I trim their claws, rather simple actually and of course I have done my best too guide and train them accordingly. I have no problems. My 2 older boys are outside alot, I leave their claws be. For they need them whilst hunting and more importantly as a defence should they encounter a stray or a dog. De-clawing= BAD IMO.

Originally Posted by DIEGO

I thought it better to revive a dead thread than to start a new one.
So declawing is actually different from cutting the points off the nails? I always just called it declawing when I cut their nails. They actually remove the complete claw? so that they never grow again? that makes my skin crawl just thinking of it.
Trimming their claws is ok isn't it? of course making sure you don't cut the quick, which I have never done.

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I wish declawing were just trimming *sigh* You've gotten good answers already, yes, declawing is the removal of the entire claw as well as the bone it is attached to, and in ways that aren't really that delicate for the most part.

You can see why we're so vehement about it. In America it is a cultural norm. When I tell someone about Zissou probably 8 times out of 10 the follow-up question is "Is she declawed?" sometimes followed again by a reasoning of why she should be. Growing up without pets I learned to fear cats that weren't declawed, I don't remember why, but if a cat wasn't declawed I wouldn't pet it. Luckily my sister taught me better and we've begun a long tradition of keeping our cats whole-footed, thank you very much. Not declawing is a newfangled thing viewed with scepticism in most of the U.S. I know to members in other countries it is hard to understand, but we're fighting an uphill battle against even the majority of veterinarians.

Trimming their claws is fine. Probably good for your health . I do Zissou's when she reminds me by ripping my skin open with a claw while climbing, kneading, or generally using me as a jungle gym. If you don't cut the quick it's no different than trimming your own nails.

And a lot of cats with behavior problems or litter pan problems are declawed!

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

And a lot of cats with behavior problems or litter pan problems are declawed!

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My mom's cat is declawed, and she has no problems whatsoever. My grandparents cat was declawed and there were also no problems. And my mom's first cat was declawed and there were no problems. My mom's first cat lived to be 18 or 19, and my grandparents cat IMthe same. My mom's cat now is currently 8 or 9 and she has no problems. I've been raised on declawing cats, and IMO, I dont see it as wrong. All the cats I have been around have been declawed, and they all have been or are healthy. I dont care how many articles you throw at me about how declawing is wrong. So please dont shoot me for my opinion.

Not gonna shoot you (right now) But after know WHAT is involved and how it can affect (negatively) your cat, why would you continue to do it?

Cats are born with claws - for a reason, its wrong to take it away. I've seen and heard too many negative stories involving declawed cats.

My statement to those that want to declaw is this: IF you've tried every other method with your cat and you have to resort to declawing the cat, then YOU should keep the cat the rest of its life no matter what happens or if the cat starts biting more or quits using the litter pan. There was nothing wrong with the cat before the declaw and if those behaviors start after the operation - then you are to blame.

I thank you for clarifying that matter. I wouldn't personally have a cat declawed and I don't think they even do that in NZ, when we refer to declawing a cat, we are thinking, trimming nails. Not sure they do it here in Japan either.

Originally Posted by yam102284

My mom's cat is declawed, and she has no problems whatsoever. My grandparents cat was declawed and there were also no problems. And my mom's first cat was declawed and there were no problems. My mom's first cat lived to be 18 or 19, and my grandparents cat IMthe same. My mom's cat now is currently 8 or 9 and she has no problems. I've been raised on declawing cats, and IMO, I dont see it as wrong. All the cats I have been around have been declawed, and they all have been or are healthy. I dont care how many articles you throw at me about how declawing is wrong. So please dont shoot me for my opinion.

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I think part of the "problem" with declawing is that many (most?) people have good results from doing it. By "good results" I mean the cat suffers no long term problem from the procedure and the people are spared from having to deal with the myriad of problems associated with "clawed" cats.

I agree with what several others have posted, if you choose to declaw you should first be aware of the long term physical and psychological problems that may result from it and be commited to keeping the cat if they do occur.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

My statement to those that want to declaw is this: IF you've tried every other method with your cat and you have to resort to declawing the cat, then YOU should keep the cat the rest of its life no matter what happens or if the cat starts biting more or quits using the litter pan. There was nothing wrong with the cat before the declaw and if those behaviors start after the operation - then you are to blame.

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Thank you for not shooting me I know this is a touchy subject on here, and I wanted to post my opinion without getting bashed. My own cats are not declawed, and I dont plan on doing it, but if I did, no matter what started to happen, I would never give them up. I dont see how people can do that to something they love. My mom's cat we had to put down a little less than 10 yrs ago, because he had a cancerous tumor on his side. He was losing weight and my mom didnt want to see him suffer anymore. It was real hard for her, because she had him for all his life. My mom is like me, she would never give up her animals for anything if something happened like a behavioral problem.

Unfortunately, everytime I talk to anyone in my family about cats they almost get angry with me for not declawing the cats.

My oldest is declawed and, although she has a huge weight problem, she's never had any issues I can tell of.

My grandmother's cat lived to be over 20 so everytime I talk to her about this subject she insists the cat never knew the difference and I try to explain to her, of COURSE the cat knew the difference, she just couldn't tell you.


Everyone insists that if you're going to have a cat in the house, you HAVE TO have it declawed.

It's been a battle since we got the kitten four months ago, and I'm sure I'll face it with the new cat.

The thing is, cats hide pain and discomfort very well. We don't know that they are fine, we can only assume they are. Imagine being a cat; all that stretching they do the stretch their spine and legs, to align things properly, to simply be is all gone.

Now imagine yourself with toes (on your feet) chopped off at the first joint and the same done to your hands. Would you go on? Of course you would. You would learn how to walk in some fashion, you would learn to write and feed yourself. It will not kill you but it certainally will affect the quality of your life.

If done to humans, we call it torture.

What about phantom limb syndrome? People poopoo that idea but if it can happen to humans, why not animals?

Just because something has always been done doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. If that were the case, we'd be in the Dark Ages. Of course, the US and Canada still are when it comes to caring about a cat's overall health.

My current cat Sneakers is not declawed, and I have never had any problems with her claws. I keep them trimmed. She does not scratch the furniture at all. The only thing she ever scratches that's not made for her to scratch is the rug in our living room, but because I keep her nails well trimmed she does not do any damage to the rug by scratching it-- my dogs do more when they scratch before laying down...

Now, my last cat WAS declawed. Her previous owners had her (front) declawed and spayed at the same time just before we adopted her, so we were the ones with her after the surgery. This was in the early 90s by the way, when declawing during the spay was fairly common. She recovered very well, and did not know she was missing something after that initial recover period... She still "sharpened her claws" often even though the claws were no longer there (stretched out her paws and grabbed the edge of a piece of furniture hard, pulling it with her toes.) She did this very hard in fact, and even left marks on some furniture eventually. She had very strong forelegs and could deliver a painfully hard whack with them in defense or if she was angry, and she also knew how to bring her back claws into play for this. She never had any other problems related to the declawing, she was very agile and strong. The only time she had litterbox problems was when she was older and she was then diagnosed with kidney disease (CRF) which turne out to be the cause of the problems (they stopped when she was treated for the CRF.)


That is my personal experience with my own cats. That said, I would NOT get a cat declawed or recommend it to anyone. There are much less invasive ways to prevent a cat from scratching, which do not involve amputation...

Yeah, I think that's the problem right there, people tend to automatically think that if you are going to have a cat in the house, it must be declawed because it will wreck the furniture otherwise. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I am in the anti-declawing camp, I wouldn't do it to my cats. They are very smart and learned early on to stop clawing. One never even tried it, we always gave them a place to scratch.
They need to scratch to exercise their back musles correctly. with no claws, they can't do that right. If the cat has given you no reason to remove his claws, it's sad to me that so many people do it as a matter of course, automatically, when they have them spayed or neutered.

I think it's very cruel and especially so after the cat is an adult. I know a few people who've had adult cats done after adopting them from the pound. One friend was perplexed as to why her cat bit so much afterward.

I just wonder (mentioning the scratching post) if the cat thinks it is missing the claws when they go to stretch or claw and nothing really happens (like it did before)???? Makes you stop and think..........do they really know something is wrong?

There are more humane ways.You can buy claw caps from your vet. They are like fake fingernails you glue to the nail and they cover the nail and then are shed off when the cat sheds his outer nail. No more scratched furniture and they can still climb trees and scratch posts.

Makes you stop and think..........do they really know something is wrong?

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I am going to go with a yes on that. A declawed cat that mimics scratching isn't getting the same satifaction a normal cat gets from scratching. When cats scratch they are stretching and exercising muscles in their legs and backs. THIS FEELS GOOD. The resistance is what makes it work for them, without nails they just don't get it.

In addition to all the other things said in this thread against declawing:

Declawed cats can NEVER get a full body stretch again. This can lead to back pain. If you've ever had back pain, you know how horrible it is. Imagine how it would be if you couldn't get a good stretch and relieve your back ache and sore muscles.

Declawed cats have less muscle tone in the chest, which can lead to heart problems later in life.

Litterbox issues with declawed cats don't necessarily start soon after. Sometimes, it takes years to surface.

My cat Morris came to me as a senior, declawed kitty. He has no health or behavioral issues, but he cannot stand to have his paws touched. He walks at times with obvious pain. His paws LOOK mutilated since they are so very tiny, especially compared to my whole pawed cats and his back feet. His pawpads are definitely mutilated. Several of them are actually split. Since he gets so upset when I try to examine them, I can't get a good look.

My friend, J, knows how I feel about declawing. Both of her cats were declawed before I met her, and then she got another one. I urged her to reconsider a declaw on Tinkerbell, but she said that the other cats didn't have claws and it wouldn't be fair for her to have them. She also said that her son wanted to take Tinkerbell once he got an apartment and a lot of buildings require the cat to be declawed. So Tink has no claws either.
Now she's adopted another kitten. I've been encouraging her to let Mouse keep her claws and she says she is thinking about it. I told her, hey, why not try it and see what happens. Try different methods to keep her from scratching, trim her claws, etc.

The fact is, the apartment complex is not going to examine your cats for claws. The only way they will know is when you move out IF your cats have torn up the carpet or whatever.
If you take all the precautions and get soft paws if needed, there is no reason they need ever know.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that she doesn't do it. I've said to her many times that if you don't want a cat with claws, don't get a cat at all, or adopt one that is already declawed.
I wish this country would ban it already.

Devlyn

I made the mistake of having my siamese declawed and I wish I hadn't! SoftPaws are the greatest non-invasive way to stop the scratching!

Miller has had to have two procedures on one toe because it keeps trying to grow back. We've been going about 2 years without a problem so hopefully it will stay that way. I had it done when he was a little older, which my vet has told me might have caused the complications...

Word to the wise...don't do it!!

And even if you get the occasional one the grows back (it happens) it will be deformed.

I would not want to live in an apartment complex that said my cats had to be declawed! In fact, when we were renting (1st marriage) we had a few cats AND a litter of kittens. In both the apartment and townhouse when we left you could not even tell any cats were in the place - no damage, totally clean (no peeing on carpet).

The manager even commented about how clean it was