Hello

My name is Cassandra, I have been front declawed nine years ago. My previous owners dumped me into the woods because I started to bite them. My paws have nerve damage and are always numb. I shake them all the time. I wake up from my naps because I hiss and growl in my sleep. I have nightmares all the time, flashbacks of my declawing. A veterinarian who does not declaw cannot examine my paws unless they medicate me, I may have bone fragments in my paws from a botched declaw. The veterinarian said she did not want to put me through medication, X-rays, possible correction surgery because it would traumatize me further. She used to declaw many years ago and stopped. I take herbal medications daily for my mental instability and pain. I will never forget laying on the operating table while each of my toes were being amputated. I heard the snap, and saw my claws on the table next to me. It was the most horrible experience, I cried and cried and no one heard me. I bite my new owner, she cannot pet me. I am extremely heartbroken humans have done this to me. I cannot knead, climb, hunt, and I never purr. Declawing is a major orthopedic operation, it is amputation of the leg bone.  

I exhibit psycho behavior, I bite, I do not purr, basically, I am an un-cat. All I do is eat and sleep and play sometimes. My paws have possible nerve damage because they were amputated at the third phalanx nine years ago. I am extremely worried my leg bone will protrude through my paw pads because I 'scratch' objects, like a normal cat with claws does. Or my paws could possible have bone fragments in them from a botched declaw. I was taken to a non declaw vet and told they did not want to out me through examination and xrays, it would traumatize me further, to keep me on pain meds my entire life.

I really think a new set of claws will fix my problems, if any of you have any I could buy or borrow, I would appreciate it very much.

Ur message needs to be sent far and wide to those who have had or are considering to have their cat de-clawed. So sad. Love to you little cat. 

I know you are a person talking as a cat but if declawed cats COULD talk I think this is what they would say!

Totally agree with what Slykat12 said above. :nod:

Poor baby! :heart4:

TCS is an anti-declawing site, so few people are going to give you an argument. A quote from the forum rules:

This website is anti-declawing. Understand that if you are pro-declaw in your posts, you will encounter opposition. Please learn more about alternatives for declawing here in our forums as well as on our website itself. Declaw - More than Just a Manicure.

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HELLO ALL, YOU PROBABLY ALREADY KNOW...Declawing should never ever never ever have been legal...I loath vets who declaw. The Paw Project, California, FB is The Place To Be for anyone who wants to declawing illegal

As jcat mentioned, this site is quite anti-declaw, so there really isn't a need to try to convert people here. We've educated a lot of new members and saved quite a few paws in the process. For the most part we have found that a rational, calm discussion giving facts works better than sensationalizing things.

I didn't know what declawing entailed when i first joined the site, but I learned about it here and can now educate others. We have members with declawed cats who now feel awful that they did it, but now know better.

Have you checked out any of our articles on the subject? They can be found in the sticky in Care and Grooming:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/248996/tcs-cat-care-grooming-resources-articles-and-important-threads

I have a declawed cat; I assume he wasn't born clawless. He is one of two cats I took in about 3 years ago in the dead of a Wyoming winter. They would always come into the yard together around dusk, and were obviously malnourished and suffering from the bitter cold. Keen observer that I am, I didn't notice the missing claws until one day "Stubby" began pawing furiously at the back of an upholstered chair. At first I was puzzled by the strange sound. I soon realized what the explanation was, and my puzzlement turned to anger. Who could do such a thing to an animal whose very identity revolves around appendages which are its principal means of defending itself and securing food? Stubby is a large, heavy, well muscled cat who'd resemble a black panther if he weren't a short-legged Manx mix with almost no tail; a fact about which he seems very sensitive. However, he's ten times more sensitive about his lack of claws, I think. He's prone to biting his housemates, and, because he has powerful jaws, he can and does do severe damage. His favorite tactic is to sneak up on his fellows and attempt to sever their tails. Not one cat in this household has proved to be immune to his vicious attacks. He grabbed one of them by the tail once and flung him across the room as a killer whale might fling a seal into the air. The tail was nearly severed at its midpoint but saved. In a second attack at a later time on the same cat while the tail was healing, the victim received an ugly, penetrating and tearing wound on his right flank that the vet couldn't suture. That wound took forever to heal. I would have taken Stubby to the shelter after his first truly vicious attack on this same cat, were it not for my aversion to shelters; especially those which cater to dogs. My guess is that the initial attack was provoked. "Trouble", the victim, is prone to batting at the other cats. He too is a rescued cat. I think Stubby's bad attitude is attributable to his disability. He's jealous of normal cats (has a chip on his shoulder), and his only weapon is his teeth/jaws. Whereas a normal cat can rely on its claws to defend itself and wage battle, he cannot. He even bites me sometimes when I pick him up or try to pet him. He likes to play fight. He uses his clawless paws to grab my hand and attempt to bring it to his mouth. This would be fun were it not for the fact that he sometimes succeeds.... and oh the vet bills and the time spent attempting to keep the peace around here! Please do not declaw your cats!

I fostered a declawed cat. She was ten years old when she was surrendered to Animal Control. She spent one year in that shelter before she was fostered out, and when the foster person went on vacation I took her. She was arthritic. At some point in her life her tail had been broken and nothing had been done about it. She had a big mark around her neck. She was tiny, weighed nothing, and was difficult to feed. She was under a lot of stress and could be very grouchy...Until you brought out the Temptations, and that's how we bonded. It took time, but eventually, she would stand up and put her paws up to be scooped up and cuddled. She would doze in my lap. I managed to find her a fantastic home with someone with a soft spot for senior animals and she is thriving. She has learned to play and has come right out of her shell. Shame on the person who declawed her, who didn't look after her poor tail, injured her neck, and dumped her at the shelter when she got old. She's lucky, though, and I hope she has a lot of great years left.

Particularly concerning is the appalling behaviour of some vets still who promote this as a viable and acceptable solution! Not only is it an utterly despicable procedure with no justification under any circumstances, but the often patent dishonesty in convincing otherwise well-meaning people to agree to the brutal mutilation of their pet can most generously be described as sickening!

Fortunately, so far as I'm aware, declawing has never been legal here, or if so, not for many years. It's unsettling though that some cat owners are unaware of just what it entails, and the terrible damage it does.


A couple of years ago now, a friend of mine was talking to a friend of theirs in the U.S., and happened to mention in passing that the cat was clawing something: probably a chair or something else she shouldn't have scratched. The U.S. friend asked, in all innocence, why the cat hadn't been declawed, since hers had been (to be fair, she had not had this done; her cat was a rescue). This woman was a retired doctor, and, in all respects, appeared to love her cat and treat it very well. Nevertheless, she seemed genuinely bewildered when the friend here explained that declawing was illegal; she did, it seemed, have truly no idea as to the effects.

Some lady adopted a cat from me then told me she was going to declaw her so she doesnt ruin her furniture I told her the cat would only shred her couch if she didn't trim her nails and keep a cat scratcher around. I had poke holes in my brand new white leather couches but im a cat lover so they dont bother me. Anyways since the cat was white she easily noticed a flea on her ! She returned her after spending 100$ on toys. She shouldve bought a flea treatment.

That sounds terrible. Maybe she didn't really want the cat and she took her half-heartedly. It's very difficult finding good homes for these poor cats. I have a stray cat that I take care of. He's a neutered male. I'm not sure if he was part of someone's TNR colony but he followed me home in April and has stayed in my backyard since. He's very shy but loves the humans he knows. Every time I go down to feed him, he doesn't let me leave. He wants me to stand there and pet him while he eats. Now that it's cold, I'm having trouble standing in the cold. I've tried feeding him inside his shelter, which is pretty big for a lone cat, but he won't eat in there unless it's raining. Sometimes he comes inside my house and doesn't want to leave. I think he's lonely? I'd take him in but I have four indoor cats and two of them are 8 months old kittens who drive all of us nuts all day. So im trying to find someone to adopt him but it's been a struggle it's even more difficult for him because he's about 6 and he lives outdoors. All my cats have come straight from the streets except one...I never even thought that there was something wrong with adopting a cat from the street until I got rejected by some ppl who said they didn't want a cat from the street. They need love too, you know.

I took in a persian because her owner refused to get rid of her dog who was bringing in fleas in to her home which the persian was allergic to. So her skin is healed now and her poop smells.normal. she fed her canned food and it just was horrible . I thought she was dying because it smelled so bad. It took months to go away. Any ways it also took months to find her a good home. I wanted to keep her but my son is loud n she likes her quietness. A great couple is picking her up saturday. I had someone else who was going to adopt her but got a funny feeling at the very last second. The day before to be exact . And I told the adopted I needed time and she turned into a witch. Im glad I trusted my intuition. I too have outdoor cats that belong to neighbors. Theyre sweet n patient with my baby. They get skinny when its cold cause I dont feed em . I thought of rehoming them . Poor cats.