Some people just don't get it!

I was volunteering last Saturday with my rescue group, cleaning up and looking after our storefront cats during our adoption time. A woman came by and was interested in a cat. She came back later with some friends. The lady was nice, but one of her friends --argh -- I wanted to slap her.

One of the women asked if the cat had her claws. I said yes - that we don't condone declawing and I explained WHY and what some of the problems could be. She seemed surprised and was taking in what I was telling her. I said NO rescue would allow you to take a cat if you were planning to declaw it.

This other woman cut me off -- and said well, that's why I wouldn't get a cat from a rescue! My cat was very destructive and I declawed her and she was perfectly fine. It's better than having them destroy your furniture - and then she acted all smug.

I held my tongue and waited for the woman to leave...and told the lady who was originally interested in the cat that I didn't want to argue with her friend, but that there is NO reason to declaw a cat. You can use Soft Paws, work with the cat, teach it where to scratch, use positive reinforcement, etc.

Man, it takes all kinds.

No matter how much we try, some people still believe in declawing.

My husband asked when we were going to declaw Kizzy..... I said never and explained my reasons.

His issue was, his brother's cat was declawed many years ago, and they never had any probs with it. So some of it is experience, people have seen it done, with no issues and think its ok.

OR

You get the dumb who think a piece of furniture is way more important than a kittys toes (even if the kitty doesn't scratch) or are so uptight and prissy and think a cat is supposed to be without his claws if he's indoors.. Uggggg, those ones make me sick

Sorry, went off on my own trirade.

The lady sounds like she's one of the ones that wouldn't get a cat from a rescue anyways because its "unworthy".

When I worked at the shelter I ran into lots of people who were like that. Nothing would change their mind, and any cat they adopted would be declawed no matter what. I never understood that.

I'm pretty sure that the reason my senior guy fell and hurt himself so bad last week is he's front declawed (he dislocated his shoulder). He can't catch himself when he slips. We have 2 cats that were declawed by previous owners, and Lola who had all of her claws when she found us. She's like SpiderMan when she loses her balance, but the other 2 can't do that.

It is soooo mean to de-claw a cat, I think any human that does it should have their toes removed and see how they feel.
I know it's not exactly the same, but removing a human's toenails wouldn't be enough.
How are the poor cats supposed to do normal catty behaviour.
I hardly hear of de-clawing happening in england, I wonder if it does go on?

I have a person like that at work.

Just yesterday I was talking to her about Poppy and how I bought him two different kinds of scratching posts to redirect him away from my furniture...and how the vet cut his nails so short and how I need to learn how to cut them better. She said she's getting her cat declawed so she doesn't have to worry about that stuff. I said and showed her, "how would you like it if someone cut off the top part of your fingers?" She said "I don't care." If she doesn't care, why does she have cats?!?

She said her other cat is declawed and he's just fine. I said "then I really hope the surgery and recovery goes just fine for your other cat." I didn't know what else to say to her that would be so nice because obviously she's made up her mind already. How sad.

Originally Posted by Jessy

It is soooo mean to de-claw a cat, I think any human that does it should have their toes removed and see how they feel.
I know it's not exactly the same, but removing a human's toenails wouldn't be enough.
How are the poor cats supposed to do normal catty behaviour.
I hardly hear of de-clawing happening in england, I wonder if it does go on?

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I believe it is outlawed in GB. And other places in Europe.

I myself would never declaw a cat but I have to say I have a friend who has six cats and all have been declawed and not one has had any problems. From what I hear the procedure is not as bad as it once was, don't know if I believe that. I have one cat and the only thing that has been changed is when she was spayed.

One of my friends, who is SO clueless when it comes to animals asked if I was getting Cammy declawed. UGH! She's known me since FIRST grade, how could she honestly not know the answer to that question? lol, she was over here one night and asked about Cammy when she was a stray and said something about taking her for me and I was like "Umm....no..." I would rather they be strays then her have them. She's one of those disposable pet people.

I hold vets responsible. A lot of people don't know better, and just think de-clawing is "something you do", like spaying/neutering. Many even consider it to part of responsible pet ownership, because they've been brainwashed by pro-declaw people. If vets refused to do routine de-claws, or at least educated their clients on the possible outcomes, fewer people would do it, I'm sure. But....the almighty dollar wins out, and vets still do de-claws, even PUSH de-claws, for the sake of $100 of pure profit. Some vets will tell you they hate to do de-claws, but they just have to or they wouldn't make any money. Sad.

When I took Nora in to get spayed, as I was waiting in line to drop her off ALL of the people in front of me (about 5-7 of them) were there to get their cats declawed, and the lady at the desk didn't bat an eye. There are always tons of cats being given away on Craigslist (all of them b/c of allergies...seriously, there can't be THAT many people allergic to cats) and if they aren't declawed people always point it out like its a huge negative and no one will want the cat. You'll see things like "cat DOES still have ALL its claws" or "cat is NOT declawed" etc. I find it very sad.

Gus was a HUGE scratcher, and when I had him I didn't know anything about Soft Paws or scratch pads, so we just suffered through it. We had to replace the carpet in our entire house when we moved b/c he destroyed it. Now at this house the carpet is "poofy" at some spots where he frequently scratched. Nora picked up on his habit and would scratch in the same places he did, but after Milo died I got her a super scratch pad and I didn't even have to show her how to use it. She immediately started scratching at it, and now scratches at it ALL the time. She hasn't scratched the carpet since. I would rather have destroyed carpet and furniture than get my cat declawed.

It's just a matter of not being educated. I had all three of my cats de-clawed. At the time I didn't really know or think about what that actually means in terms of pain for the cat. I try not to judge people for doing it now (how can I?)...I think a lot of them justify it by saying that the cat heals eventually. My cats did. Would I do it all over again? Probably not.

The last cat I adopted ended up moving to my Mom's house under the condition that she NOT be de-clawed. I really didn't think my Mom could handle that. She was the reason why my first two cats were de-clawed (I had to move back home and she refused to let me until the cats were de-clawed). I've educated her about de-clawing and now she opts to clip Miw-Sher's claws every few weeks.
But anyway, as I said, I try not to judge people for doing it. Although I no longer condone de-clawing a cat, they do recover fully from the surgery. If they are a strictly indoor cat I would rather they have a loving home as a de-clawed cat than end up in a crappy home with their claws.

kara_leigh, I see you live in Omaha, which I would consider to be in the same area as where I live (about 120 miles away). You're right; the attitudes here are terrible. I think it's slightly better in California or New England, where people tend to educate themselves better before they do something.

I fortunately have managed to convince a few friends not to de-claw their cats. One of them, when she dropped her cat off to be neutered, the receptionist basically tried to "sell" her a de-claw---"are you SURE you don't want him de-clawed? EVERYBODY de-claws their housecats" etc. My friend said "But I was told that de-clawing is like cutting off the first joints of his fingers", and the receptionist said that was true, but so what? And there's one vet clinic that I'll call sometimes to ask about their prices on alters or dentals, and EVERY time, the receptionist asks if I want a de-claw with that alter/dental "might as well, since the cat will be under anyway". Ugh.

I call it the "do you want fries with that?" phenomenon. Everybody wants to supersize, right? So, "do you want a de-claw with that neuter? We have a neuter/de-claw package, and you'll save money!" "Well, sure, why not?" "Great! Do you want a 2-paw or a 4-paw de-claw?"

Every time I drop off a cat to be fixed I worry that the vet will forget that I don't want the cat de-clawed, and do it anyway. I'd be furious if that happened. They do so few alters without de-claws that it seems like a possibility.

Originally Posted by anjhest

Although I no longer condone de-clawing a cat, they do recover fully from the surgery.

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Unfortunately, not all recover fully. I've known several cats that didn't recover properly, or died from infection following a de-claw. A de-claw is an amputation---serious orthopedic surgery! Most vets are not qualified to do orthopedic surgery, and have no business removing bone anyway. You got lucky if your cats recovered fully in a reasonable amount of time.

All of my cats have their claws except for Bastet.. she came to me with all 4 paws done. Apparantly it was done because she thinks legs are scratching posts, and the owners couldnt break that habit. I do worry that she will hurt herself at times.. she likes to jump up on high places, if she were to slip, she wouldnt have claws to catch herself.

Tabbi and Gozer have ruined the woodwork in the house. We bought this house about 3 years ago and have been slowly remodelling. We made the mistake of using soft pine for the woodwork because it was cheaper.. the cats enjoy putting their claws in the soft wood. A lot of it will eventually need replaced, we are thinking of using a laquer on the wood to harden it, so it wont be as enjoyable. I also have some soft paws nail caps, but not 100% sure how Im going to get Gozer to sit still so I can put them on.

De-clawing is tempting when I look around and see the ruined woodwork, I'll admit it.. but we do also have occasional escape attempts, and I couldnt imagine the cats being outside without their claws.

Bo doesnt bother anything except the cardboard scratch pad.



If someone wants a de-clawed cat, they can find one in shelter or rescue that the previous owners had already declawed. I dont see the point in purposly putting a cat thru it. If you want a de-clawed cat, adopt one that's already been done.

Before someone declawed a cat, I think they ought to read this thread:

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=192278

I can't believe my bleeding-heart-liberal sister always has all of her cats declawed. Maybe she didn't get the memo?

Maggie came from someone who didn't want her anymore. They were going to just dump her outside and it broke my heart when I heard about it so I grabbed her up. She was young but she wasn't a baby. She was also already spayed and declawed. Dump her outside declawed??!! I knew I'd have to keep her inside for the rest of her life...it's really a shame. She's not a jumper which is probably because she knows she hasn't got claws.
Maggie is almost 2 years old and I'm lucky she's had no problems from declawing. She did learn how to slide on those poor unclawed little pads at top speed down my long tiled foyer and has a blast!
I also don't bother arguing with people about declawing because like other posters have said, it's like... they just don't get it!

People ask me ALL THE TIME when they come over if Oscar is declawed and I say I would NEVER do that to him. How would they like it if I ripped THEIR fingernails and townails off?

"I was always getting scratched!" & not because they were intentionally scratching her, it just happened. I can't BELIEVE how some people can get so exasperated over such a minor, easily solved situation. Is it really too much work to clip their claws or use nail caps? Provide scratching materials?

I am always getting scratched myself. Whatever- it happens! On another note - I know declawing isn't always the most expensive thing - but it's still a waste of money. People are starving and dying from treatable diseases for the simple reason that they can't afford treatment. But it's somehow more important to have a cat declawed for no good reason.

Ugh.

Here's a good site if you're having trouble with your cats scratching things......just because you're against de-clawing doesn't mean you have to let your cats wreck your stuff. That's just rude (on the cats' part), and not a good testimony if you're trying to discourage other people from de-clawing their cats.

http://www.pawsneedclaws.com/

Taxi likes to launch himself on all of our door frames. Before he was de-clawed, he would jump up, dig his claws in, and hang there a few seconds before sliding down. Now he still does it, using his hind claws. The scratch marks are just lower, but all of our door frames are still destroyed!

Crazy cat.

(If I could do it over, no, I would not de-claw him again)