Could you guys help me with a paper on declawing? - LONG

sillyitiliangrl

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I have to edit this paper for my class... do you guys have anything I should add??? Or if there are inaccuracies, please let me know.

\tDo you value the tips of your fingers? Do you find that they are useful? Would your life be more difficult without them? When you de-claw a cat it is the equivalent of cutting off the tips of your own fingers. Many people de-claw their pets to prevent undesirable behaviors such as scratching the furniture, carpet and the kids. What these people either donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t realize or choose to ignore is the fact that de-clawing cats is a form of mutilation and in many countries is illegal.

\tThe recovery from a de-clawing surgery is not a pleasant one. The animal is often unable to walk, and unable to use regular litter. They run a horribly high risk of infection in their feet and all too often the procedure needs to be re-done because the doctor did not remove enough of the digit to prevent re-growth a very painful process. The problems with de-clawing do not end there.

\tMany cats that have been de-clawed have serious behavioral issues that usually cannot be reversed. Many refuse to use their litter boxes causing them to spray and defecate all over the house. They often become unaffectionate after the procedure because they are in constant pain from the dead nerve endings in their mutilated paws. Still more problems exist.

\tCats walk on the part of their paws that are removed in the de-clawing procedure. Once a cat is de-clawed they no longer have a normal gait and often suffer from hip dysplasia and other painful joint issues, often resulting in more painful surgeries. For these reasons the cats often have a low level of activity and this can lead to feline obesity. As with humans, this obesity can lead to other serious diseases such as diabetes.

\tThere are alternatives to de-cawing your cats. There are products on the market such as Soft-Paws that allow you to cap the claws to prevent their damaging effects. When Soft-Paws are used conjunction with proper training of your pet they can learn to use appropriate scratching surfaces (such as cat posts and corrugated cardboard scratchers) and you can maintain your pretty furniture. Therefore, potential cat owners need to be aware of the issues related to cat ownership and make informed decisions about how they want to handle these issues so that they can prevent the mutilation that is de-clawing.
 

goldenkitty45

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Haven't finish, but noticed a mistake in the first few lines. Its NOT the tips of your fingers - its the fingers to the first joint! Declawing takes out the joint - not just the claw.

Continue reading now


Ok a few more things:

Add in about "fear biting" or hiding cause of the declawing. And add in that the cat cannot defend itself as well and if outside will fall prey to larger animals cause it cannot fight back.

For alternatives, mention about simply trimming the nails once a week. And mention a good sturdy treehouse for climbing/clawing. And add that if you still choose to declaw, then you should keep the cat the rest of its life no matter what problems occur from the declawing.
 

taurus77

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I think you started out very strong and it made me really mad to think of people that do this. I have to point out two grammatical errors that I caught, though. The last paragraph, the "L" in de-clawing is left-out and you missed "in" between "used..conjuction with".
But it is beautifully done!! You really did do a good job!!!


P.S. You have to let us know how you do on this when you get graded!!
 
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sillyitiliangrl

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Thanks for the help!

I won't be able to tell you what I get grade wise... because its for a writing workshop and will not be graded


BUT when I read it to the class 2 weeks ago (for the first draft which is what I posted) I got some great comments from my classmates including:

"Wow, I never realized any of that"
AND
"Thank you so much for writing that, I've been trying to convice my parents its a bad idea, now I have something to go at them with"

I've been very excited about it since!
 

zissou'smom

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It's typically spelt "declawing" with no hyphen although I know a lot of spellscheckers don't like that. Spellcheckers are stupid (by which I mean, they don't have any real language abilities, it's just a computer program that doesn't recognize declawing as a word and so divides it into things it recognizes.

Anyway, your organization is very good and logical.
 
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sillyitiliangrl

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Thanks for all the help everyone!!!

I get the paper back on Monday, I'll let you all know what the teacher said
 
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