The declawing culture

I know I have brought up the topic of declawing before, but I thought I would revisit it. Declawing cats seems to be very prevalent where I live and possibly where some of you live too. I know very few family members and friends that have cats with claws.

It has been ingrained in my head since I was a child that cats "need" to be declawed because they will tear up the furniture, scratch people, etc. My first indoor cat that I had as a child was declawed, and I continued to have my cats (three in all) declawed as an adult.

I did some research and decided not to have my most current cat, who is now two years old, declawed as a kitten. He is my first cat ever with claws, and I admit that it makes me nervous. This is new territory to me, and I wonder if I will regret it someday in the future. He is a sweet cat, and I only get scratched when he is being too playful. He also uses his scratching post diligently. I still wonder about all of the "what ifs" though. What if he tears something up, what if he scratches a visiting child, what if he harms my other cat, etc.

I don't ever plan to have him declawed. Even if I wanted to (and I don't), my vet only does the procedure on kittens. Two years ago though, I really had to struggle with the decision and whether or not I wanted to do it before my "window of time" (as the vet called it) was up.

As I was gathering my things and leaving the vet's office last week, I overheard part of the conversation that the vet was having in the next room with another client who was having her cat neutered. It was the same conversation that she had with me two years ago. "Are you going to have him declawed while he's here?" The client was not sure. "If you do, it would be best to do it now at the same time he is neutered. I can't do it when he's older." She then went on to say that kittens recover quickly and that he would never miss his claws, etc. I left and never knew what that lady decided. That conversation probably happens in a lot of vet clinics these days.

Sorry about the rambling post. Hearing that conversation just made me think about my decision two years ago and about all of the people that make that decision for their cats everyday.

Yeah, it's very common here, too, to the point of just about every vet clinic offering a "package deal" of neuter/de-claw, and the receptionists will try to sell up---"do you want fries with that?" When I first moved here 20 years ago I didn't know anybody (besides me!) who had a neutered cat who had not been de-clawed. Even those who went outside :/.

Recently I've seen a bit of an improvement, maybe the internet has helped, but I do now actually know some people besides me and my mom who chose not to have their cats de-clawed. And some vets in Sioux Falls try to talk people out of it. Slowly but surely! Hopefully the trend will continue instead of backtracking like many improvements do.

About your worries----what about those particular worries would be worse than if one of your de-clawed cats did it? Chewed something up, bit a child, bit one of your other cats? There's nothing really different about the amount of damage they can do, just in a different way.

Hehe, one of my cats is de-clawed (she came with the house :tongue2, and before I moved in I put a bunch of stuff in there and she would sleep on it, etc. There was one dog bed she totally shredded. I honestly don't know how she did it. But wow it was mangled. None of my clawed cats have ever shredded anything like that. So it's not like a de-clawed cat can't do any damage.

It's very doubtful that you'll regret the decision not to declaw him. Declawing is illegal in the European Union and many other countries. I don't know how many cats that is - in 2013 there were over 12.3 cats in Germany alone - but surely far more than live in the U.S., where there are also a great many non-declawed cats. People obviously manage quite well without maiming their pets.

Our non-declawed Mogli destroys things not by scratching, but by chewing on them - something any declawed cat could also do. We simply give him cardboard boxes and scratchers to chew and appropriate things to sharpen his claws on. I work at a shelter and have almost daily contact with somewhere between 50 and 70 some odd cats that aren't declawed and can assure you that those who work there don't have constantly shredded hands or limbs, nor do we see serious (or even minor) injuries among the cats all that often.

Clipping their nails (and filing them) or putting soft paws on can help relieve some worries about getting scratched or your things getting scratched. I don't think any one can guarantee a cat will never scratch, but I think the best way to deal with it is to look at your scratching kitty with empathy. To understand that a scratching kitty is only protecting themselves/exercising their nature and not being spiteful or deliberately harmful towards you (or your things). 

I'm so happy you have made the decision not to declaw your kitty! 

One of my childhood friends' parents only ever had their cats seen by the vet twice in their lives - once to be spayed/neutered and declawed, and once to be put to sleep many years later. When I was looking for a new vet in my area, I asked for suggestions from other pet owners. A dog owning coworker suggested a vet, I gave them a Google, and one of their advertised services was declawing. NOPED my way out of that one. I won't even talk to a vet that thinks suggesting declawing for anything other than a severe medical need is a good idea.

Declawing is what people resort to when they don't know enough to research or even consider the alternatives, and there are now a lot of behavioural problems people are seeing as a result of the cats they declawed back when it was the norm. I'm inclined to believe people who think declawing is a good idea tend to be the same people who think cats don't need to see vets regularly, or that any old food is good enough. There's a difference between the people who are willing to be lazy and blissfully ignorant, and the people who want their pets to thrive and live happy lives, rather than just "being" and preferring our convenience over their health.

This came up on my Facebook feed that a rescue I follow had posted. I don't know if I would call it graphic, but it is certainly jarring enough that I would put it behind a spoiler since I know this is also an anti-declaw community that doesn't necessarily warrant being shown these to persuade away from declawing:
I've been scratched accidentally during play a few times, I've gotten bitten a few times too (and that sucks, but thankfully ripping all their teeth out isn't something many people do to prevent biting - at least, not in cats, but exotics like monkeys do sometimes get all their teeth pulled when people want them as pets -- but that's another equally horrifying situation). It's not the end of the world, it'll heal. Now I just play with more distance, like wand toys or a straw on a wand instead of a straw between my fingers.

At the end of the day, cats will be cats. People who are so fearful of getting scratched or so fearful of the liabilities of others getting scratched, or damage to their property probably need to build their confidence and check the reality they live in before they bring home a pet of any kind. This is an animal that you are promising to yourself and to them that you will take care of for the rest of its life. It's not fair to them or to you that they should be deprived of their natural instincts because we rationalize our fears and take it out on them with mutilation. It's almost as irrational as having a child and fearing that someday they'll run away, so you break their legs.

I have had cats since I was a teen. When my family got our first 2 cats, we had no idea how to care for them. We never provided them with scratching posts and over the course of their lives (both lived to be about 11) they did a pretty good job on our carpets. My mom just shook her head and went on with her day because we 5 kids did way more damage anyway.

As an adult I hesitated to get cats because I didn't want my carpets and brand new couch shredded. But I really wanted cats. When I brought my 2 kittens home, there were already 3 large scratching posts waiting for them. I always made sure to praise them when they use their posts. They are 3.5 years old now and have never scratched the furniture or carpets. I trim their nails myself every couple weeks because they play rough and scratch each other, but they're only play-fighting and I don't worry that they will ever hurt each other.

I agree that people who declaw do it out of sheer ignorance and/or laziness. It is as cruel as debarking a dog, maybe more so. If you can't be bothered to provide scratching posts and train your cat to use them, either deal with the scratched up furniture or don't get a cat. Mutilating it should not be an option.

chevs said:

I have had cats since I was a teen. When my family got our first 2 cats, we had no idea how to care for them. We never provided them with scratching posts and over the course of their lives (both lived to be about 11) they did a pretty good job on our carpets. My mom just shook her head and went on with her day because we 5 kids did way more damage anyway.

As an adult I hesitated to get cats because I didn't want my carpets and brand new couch shredded. But I really wanted cats. When I brought my 2 kittens home, there were already 3 large scratching posts waiting for them. I always made sure to praise them when they use their posts. They are 3.5 years old now and have never scratched the furniture or carpets. I trim their nails myself every couple weeks because they play rough and scratch each other, but they're only play-fighting and I don't worry that they will ever hurt each other.

I agree that people who declaw do it out of sheer ignorance and/or laziness. It is as cruel as debarking a dog, maybe more so. If you can't be bothered to provide scratching posts and train your cat to use them, either deal with the scratched up furniture or don't get a cat. Mutilating it should not be an option.

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Howeveron rearth is a dog debarked?

I come from England and never heard of declawing cats. Now I live in Israel and had never heard of it till a girl at work bought a white cat and declawed it as she had white furniture!!! I was stunned.
I now have a very good friend in America who has declawed housecats. He is animal mad. He spends thousands on feeding ferals, deer, birds, any animal that comes into his property. I told him that whisky's claws do not retract and he advised me to have him declawed. I'm surprised he didn't hear me scream at him. He can't understand why I won't. I can't understand why he would. We've agreed to disagree. The onlyllunch problem with his claws is they tend to.stick in. All i can do is clip them. He doesn't scratch and not does blighty. Neither of then bite either but I won't look at the backs of my furniture!! They do use their scratch posts regularly too.

Stewball said:

Howeveron rearth is a dog debarked?

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Debarking is where tissue is removed from the animal’s vocal cords to permanently reduce the volume of their vocalizations. they can still bark, it's just not nearly as loud.

Kat0121 said:

Debarking is where tissue is removed

from the animal’s vocal cords to permanently reduce the volume of their vocalizations. they can still bark, it's just not nearly as loud.

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where do these people come up with these awful ideas. Perhaps it should br done to screaming bratty children.

Stewball said:

 

Kat0121 said:

Debarking is where tissue is removed

from the animal’s vocal cords to permanently reduce the volume of their vocalizations. they can still bark, it's just not nearly as loud.
[/quote

where do these people come up with these awful ideas. Perhaps it should br done to screaming bratty children.

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that would have been great when DD and I went to Disney World last month    

Pretty much since the late 80s, we've had all of our cats declawed (talking a LOT of cats in that time). Our last adult cat that we got came to us declawed already on all four paws - we only ever did the front paws only. And now, we got two kittens. My decision has been to not declaw these guys. Much against the wishes of my mom (she's 78 and I live with her) with her leather furniture. But, it's already scratched now from them climbing, not from scratching. That wouldn't change even if I did declaw them.

They will be neutered in a few weeks. I'm actually having it done at the Tree House spay/neuter clinic. Cheaper than my vet BY FAR and Tree House is a no-kill cat shelter so I'm happy to help them out. So, I don't have the option of having them declawed at the same time. I am pleased that my vet has never even suggested it to me though when we did talk about neutering. Surprised, but pleased. Especially seeing as he obviously knows my others are all declawed.

Mom's a bit worried that they could injure the others when they get older. I'm not as worried about that. My cats know how to hold their own. Goodness, look at Sara, who is declawed on all four paws. She can put up a battle like you wouldn't believe.

I find it fascinating how wildly different people's experiences are with things like declawing. I've had cats in my life literally as long as I've been alive. I've never had a declawed cat. I've known very, very few people who have but they've always been these crazy oddities. I've grown up knowing that getting scratched is apart of pet-owning life, and my parents let me know that if I was scratched/bit it was likely my own fault (and so far that rings true!). We've had our furniture scratched up, but it's always been sort of a our-own-fault feeling rather than a the-cats-are-at-fault. None of the vets I've visited have ever advertised declawing, I'm honestly not even sure if any of them did it or not. I'm pretty sure I would have left in a hurry if they had even hinted that declawing was something I had the option of.

Through all of the cat fights I've broken up and all of the times I've picked up a cat that did not want to be picked up, I've never had a serious injury from my cats. I've been bitten pretty deep, scratched enough that they've left scars, but nothing that would ever make me second guess getting a cat declawed. I have bite and claw marks all over my arms right now, in fact! I've seen the aftermath of declawing and it can be heartbreaking. My neighbours when I was a kid got their cat (who went outside!) declawed and she had infection after infection and she was miserable, wouldn't even try using the litter box. Best part, the neighbours acted like it was the cat's fault.

Declawing wasn't common where I grew up either  and I've always had the idea that if you have a cat, you have claws just like you have teeth, a tail and fur. The same with dogs. My dog has scratched me more than my cats ever have. My vet has never brought up declawing and she does not have anything in her office that advertises that she does it. I don't know if she does it or not. My cats are not destructive towards my things (OK Sophie is but not with claws. She likes to push things onto the floor if they happen to be in her way. She broke a lamp like this when it was on to the stereo cabinet in my room and she wanted to stretch out on it but if you asked her, she'd insist that it jumped and she was an innocent bystander 

Declawing was still pretty big when I was a child but when we got our childhood kitten my mom refused to get it declawed.  Not for the cruelty of the procedure itself (I don't think that was even a discussed topic then) but she always said the cat could get outside and it would need to defend itself.  That alone is a good enough argument in my book.  I don't know enough to say if a cat really is in agony the rest of its life or not but I really don't feel the need to declaw.  I'd be afraid to even ask because I think a growing number of vets are starting to frown on it.  Our vet didn't even ask.  I mean, we are rural so it's probably assumed the cats will go outside at some point.  (I haven't fully decided if they will be strictly indoors or not but they will be until they get their rabies shot)