Declawing Cats  

thankfully here in the UK it is illegal!!!

I dont get why people still want to declaw especially when it comes to furniture might getting scratched its sometime purely selfish of humans to do it. I know there are some extreme cases that it needs to be done but it should never be done to protect a bit of furniture

Allergic people shooting cats with water guns, who prize their leather furniture and wooder floor more than a leaving been.... hummmm.... WHY do they want a cat? I bet anything this cat will end up in a shelter! Makes me furious!

I know of someone who did it because the cat was going into the bathroom and scratching on the shower curtain... A stupid shower curtain! Shut the dang door, problem solved.

I've made it known I hate leather furniture. I also strongly dislike impracticality. Don't pick out fancy expensive furniture if you have or want to have pets (or children). Get something durable or don't have pets. I'm sure those material items will snuggle up with you in bed and keep you company...

My cat has claws and she is very nice with them with us humans and the dogs. She never used them on the furniture and has her own cat furniture in which she does use. We have leather furniture because it stands up well for the dogs use daily over the years. The only thing she bothers are blankets when she kneads. Unfortunately that means holes in nice blankets. We just can't have nice things

If they aren't willing to deal with a cat, then they shouldn't have one. If they're that worried about their furniture, why should anyone believe that they won't abandon their cat when he/she is no longer convenient?

OMG, how much do shower curtains cost?? $5??

I hate people who just DON'T care about the facts. Like that stupid girl I had to take off my facebook friends after I explained to her, in great detail, how wrong of her it was and she did it anyway!

I get so mad thinking about it, and I cried the day I knew the kitty had the appointment.

WHY do these people even HAVE a cat????????????????????

And it IS illegal in a number of places in California and Norfolk, VA. And most other countries in the world.

But I HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT when the vet forms have that check box for "would you like your cat declawed during her spay procedure?" We got ALL the vets in the area to change that policy, and they are ALL armed with brochures about scratching alternatives - and ALL sell Soft Paws (or equivalent) now. As soon as they realized they could make monthly income off selling the alternatives, the attractive income from performing the once-in-a-lifetime declaw (when properly performed) became less attractive.

I think a more expensive one may cost $25, but still it's stupid. I've seen people with cats that shred the walls and they still won't get their cats declawed.

I've heard the techs at my clinic pushing soft claws. It greatly improved my opinion of that clinic. (my vet doesn't need declaws to make money. it just takes up more time that he could be using for another surgery on surgery day -and he'd prefer to finish early on those days so he can leave. lol) His clinic cats aren't declawed, though they are allowed outside.
Another vet I tried had both her clinic cats declawed and didn't try to dissuade declawing - she actually assumed all spay and neuters wanted that included. Imagine the look of horror on my face when they asked and I specified that no, I liked Tomas's claws.

I guess MY shower curtains cost $5, sometimes less!

I'm not sure what my vet's policy is on declawing. I'm afraid to ask, because I want to keep liking them. They take payments, which is rare around here! I know they've never pushed it on my when getting my cats done.

We have a leather couch, and it has scratches (accidental). My chest is all scratched up from Nina; she cuddles with me on my chest but if she hears a truck outside or some other noise, she'll bolt away and leave gouges and scratches, but I couldn't care less, I'm just happy that she loves me enough to cuddle in the first place.

I mean the fabric curtains, not the liners.. though you can get the curtains cheap, too.

I think mine is that they will do it if someone pushes and pushes as they don't want to completely lose that customer who would just go elsewhere. But in this area, most cats are indoor/outdoor or will end up that way at some point - they have to realize this. (my neighbor has two outdoor and one indoor/outdoor all front declawed cats. )

De-clawing is mutilation. I've never understood why anyone would do it and when my ex-friend/ex-roommate had her cat de-clawed I was horrified. Her cat was a very rambunctious kitten that played a little rough, they never tried to train her, they just had her toes cut off. She did have horrible behavior changes, she became very mean biting and she learned to scratch with her back paws, she was constantly limping and I can't imagine the kind of pain she was in. My ex-friend ended up getting rid of the cat.

My husband and I have 4 cat trees and 3 regular scratching posts. We never even had to train our cats to the scratching posts, they just did it naturally. When we got the kitten the older cats showed her where to scratch and I don't think it's even occured to Lilly that she should put her claws in our furniture. It really upsets me that people will mutilate a cat when there is such a simple alternative, like buy a scratching post or put soft claws on. It's not that hard and I'm sure it costs less than having them de-clawed.

Sorry, I misread it... Not only that, but I should said "Living being" and not leaving being... duh!

I think he should keep the cat's claws intact and get rid of the wife AND leather couch!!! Shallow,superficial, materialist morons should not have pets!!! Why can't this be out-lawed in America?

our woodwork is shredded, and the cats still have their claws (except Bastet, her previous owners had all 4 paws declawed, but kept her intact)

I threaten to get them declawed when I catch them clawing at the wood.. but I would never do it. Im thinking of replacing the targeted areas with harder wood to make it less appealing, and painting the trim work instead of leaving it natural wood.

The main area they target is the stair banisters.. I've also ran ideas thru my mind on just turning the banisters into scratching posts that can easily be repaired when they get too worn.

I don't think it's right to cast aspersions on peoples' character because they value their possessions. It's certainly possible to love your cat, and to also have nice things that you don't want your cats to ruin.
I know someone who has 5 cats, and her house doesn't look very good. She has scratching posts all over the place, but her carpet is ripped up at the edges, the sides of her couches are all ripped, and some of her wood furniture has gouge marks in the sides. She tried soft paws but her cats ripped them off (my cat Oscar did the same thing with his soft paws...little stinker!). I think if people thought that they could only have a cat if they stopped caring about their furniture/the appearance of their house, there would be a lot more cats in shelters.

So, all that to say, I still don't think declawing is a good idea in the vast majority of situations, but I think you need to approach it correctly with people. If I, uninformed about declawing, encountered someone who said things like "Well how would you like your fingers amputated? You seem to care more about your furniture than your cat. I bet he'll end up at a shelter some day." Then I would write them off as being a bit nuts, and not consider their opinion.
And if you present it well, but someone still chooses to declaw, then it is what it is. I know many loved cats who are declawed (including my old cat Scarlett, and my current cat Romeo), who are happy and don't have problem behaviors because of it. It's not a good idea for the vast majority of cats, but it's not a death sentence.

And therein lies the problem.

So many people just do it routinely like spaying and neutering, when it is presented as such (tickbox) it doesn't help either. I had never even heard of such a thing before I moved to the US. When I moved to Canada I got myself a shelter kitty. The ladies at work asked me if I'd had her declawed and of course I was absolutely horrified and told them as much. I explained to them that it is considered unethical in the UK and that it is totally unnecessary anyway. A scratching post solves that issue. They started call me a crazy cat lady after that.

When I asked one of them why they chose to declaw she said 'I didn't want the cat to scratch the baby'. FYI the cat had never scratched the baby, or anyone else for that matter. My mind boggles.

I think it's very sad that people are able to make these decissions and feel justified because it is on the advice of a vet.

It really boils down to education and approaching people - vets and cat owners in the right way. Unfortunately, as others have pointed out, many vets still "package" spay/neuter and declawing as routine and don't properly educate clients. I have to give my vet credit in that regard. I've known her to make every effort to actually talk folks out of declawing and even refuse to do it under some circumstances.

Unfortunately, there are still a lot of cat owners who, while very caring and responsible, are uneducated about how cruel and unecessary declawing is. That's where those of us who have the knowledge and experience come in. But, in educating other cat owners, we have to do so with the right approach. Lecturing and criticizing them (in other words the "crazy cat lady approach") won't get us anywhere. Trust me, I've been there. The key to effectively educating folks and convincing them not to declaw lies in sharing our experiences and providing accurate information in a positive, respectful way. Been there too and it works!

Six cities, so far, in the USA have outlawed declawing. Five in California and one in Virginia. So it's coming, but slowly.

West Hollywood
Santa Monica
Beverly Hills
Los Angeles
San Francisco

And Norfolk Va

Maybe we ought to get some celebrities involved. That might speed things up.

Anyone know of any cat lover celebrities? I don't pay any attention to that world, but....I wonder...

Here are a list of the countries that have outlawed declawing of cats. I pray every day that the USA will some day soon be on this list

England
Scotland
Wales
Italy
France
Germany
Bosnia \t
Austria
Switzerland
Norway
Sweden
Netherlands
Northern Ireland \t
Ireland
Denmark
Finland
Slovenia
Portugal
Belgium \t
Brazil
Australia
New Zealand
Yugoslavia
Malta
Israel

source: http://www.declawing.com/htmls/outlawed.htm

just to mention: the conversation was done civily and when they asked me I had no idea they had declawed. They both thought I was nuts saying that giving most cats a scrath post will stop any unwanted scratching.

The point that was missed here is that simple measures like providing a post and entertainment for the cat is not explained to these people. Instead the vet cashes in on an opportunity.

I didn't mean to imply the conversation wasn't handled civilly. My point was that many times it isn't, either when the topic comes on TCS or in person. It definitely sounds like you handed the situation in positive way.

As I mentioned, many vets fail to properly educate clients and offer alternatives to declawing. There are others, including my own, that do, so we can't generalize.

I understand what you are saying but this ( in bold) is just not true. You want a declawed cat? Go to any shelter and find plenty. They get dumped just as often, if not more, often than cats that have not been mutilated.

Or..take the trouble to train your cats properly. People, in general, who declaw are lazy and do not care about what's best for their cats. My opinion.

And I know a lot of people who work in rescue, and guess what, they find declawed cats dumped on the street quite often. A LOT.

All those other countries manage just fine without this horror.

And it's not the fingers of humans that should be chopped off, it's the toes and heels of their feet. Cats walk on their toes.

And to have all four feet done. My gosh. Can you imagine not being able to scratch an itch? Vets who do that should have their licenses revoked.

Sorry, I don't see how anyone can say I love my cat and I'm having his toes amputated in the same sentence. Such cruelty just does not mean love to me.

I love your post!!! You are so right, theres no option here to have this done, Smooch is a huge scratcher we cant declaw him we wouldnt even if we could you have to work with your cat not further hurt them

So far up here--out in the country around us there were about 14 semi-ferals that were found to have been declawed. Now how are they supposed to defend themselves?

Mind, we have had a few ourselves show up--or get dumped--that were declawed. This is worrying to me-----

Many vets do not educate owners on what declawing is. Yet I know a shelter volunteer who I showed pictures of a declaw procdure, gave her my whole long talk - two weeks later both kitties are declawed. Some people just don't care, they value their furniture more than their pets.

Ugh. When I first moved to Florida, we got a little black kitten named Loki. Pat wanted to get him declawed, so I researched what exactly that entailed. I learned there are two methods- the laser removal of the last digit, or the chopping off of the last digit. Yeah, no thanks. I even called a few vets to ask which way they used, and all just said that they removed the last digit... yeah, but how? None would give me a straight answer. Loki ended up going to live with Pat's mom, since we were moving to the roommates house, and he has leather furniture. This was also after we tried soft paws, and that failed. I decided Loki living elsewhere was better than Loki being mutilated.

My three now all have their claws, of course. they also scratch up the leather furniture- accidentally, just from walking across it. We will try soft paws or some equivalent eventually, since they only actively scratch on their scratching post. I would NEVER cut their nails off. Ever.

I want to respond the what I bolded. I had my old cat declawed when I got her spayed (it was a "package deal"). I didn't know exactly what declawing involved, and the doctor didn't bother to tell me what it really is. My cat didn't have behavior probelms, but I feel so bad for having had her declawed. Our kittens took immediately to the scratching post we made from scrap plywood wrapped in a carpet remnant (base), and scrap untreated 2x4's wrapped in sisal rope. Our girl kitten is really cute -- she sharpens her claws on the scratching post right before she attacks her stuffed mouse!