Do Most People Declaw Their Cats??

So I live in the DFW area...and was browsing craigslist for cats just for fun (cant help it even though I'm not in the market for one at all).  And I noticed that a good chunk of the cats were declawed.  I'm not going to think a person is downright horrible for declawing but I do think it should discouraged.  I also didn't think it was such a common practice and I'm appalled at the number of declawed cats in my area.  I guess that explains why one couple I know always declaws their cats.  Is this a regional type thing or is it a normal thing to declaw your cat in the U.S.?  

Edit:  Sorry for the horrible typo in the title..making me cringe now. 

There are still vets, particularly in the south, that offer a spay/neuter and declaw "package" if you will. I also know that many vets in my area (Alabama) are still of the mindset that it's better to declaw the cat, then the cat be rehomed or sent to the shelter (oxymoron if you ask me.) I also know of several people that have taken in strays (not part of rescue groups) that declaw the cat because they think it makes them more adoptable.

Southerner here.  Unfortunately, it is a very common practice in my area.  I almost recoiled when our vet's "office cat" grabbed my hand and had no claws!  One of the office workers had told me the cat's background story:  a woman started her car and a kitten was under the hood.  The woman brought her to the vet's office and said she would keep the kitten if it was a male, but to put it to sleep if it was a female.  The kitten, a tortoiseshell, turned out with the odds to be female. Our vet said there was no way he was putting her to sleep and if the woman would make a donation to the clinic (the practice had just opened), he would keep her. The woman gave him a $5.00 donation and left.  While I am grateful that our vet didn't euthanize the kitten, it made me sad that she was declawed.  My husband and I wouldn't ever consider having this done, unless it was for the cat's health.  We did have to have a claw removed from one of elderly cats, but it was a medical necessity and even then, it bothered us.  

I don't want to get on my soapbox, but it makes me sick to hear people going on and on about declawing for the sake of their furniture.  If I was so in love with my furniture, well...I'll stop here.               

We used to have our cats declawed without question. If they were going to live with us, they'd be declawed. It started with our Siamese that almost scratched one of our Malamute's eyes out (yes, that Malamute was THAT docile). And then to avoid the declawed cat from having a disadvantage, all others were. And it was like that since the mid-80s until this year.

I now have three younger cats that are not declawed (Oscar, Oliver and Penelopy), and two older ones that are not (Maple and Sara). Maple can hold her own, but she's also nearly twice as big as any of the younger cats. Sara however is the smallest cat in the house, and she's 100% declawed front and back (we never had the back paws declawed, but Sara came to us fully declawed). And Penelopy likes to rough-house, because she does that with the boys! Sara wants no part of it, so I'll hear her scream every now and then because she's somehow gotten herself backed up into a corner of sorts :/ She has a little scratch on her nose now

Anyway, I can understand why people would do it if they already had one that was. It's a bit difficult having a mix, albeit not impossible. While I know squirting is discouraged with cats, that is the ONLY thing that breaks up these tiffs and makes Penelopy leave Sara alone, at least for awhile.


What I cannot understand is people declawing pets just for the purpose of saving furniture. Our cats used to scratch up furniture with their back paws all the time when jumping from it. Oh well. We have this beautiful leather furniture with scratch marks all over them (we've had it over 10 years), none of it from any front claws. The furniture is still perfectly good, even if a bit scratched, and has held up beautifully! In fact, the only problem we've had with it is one of the chairs is split at the top from Maple (my big girl) always sleeping up there. And if someone really wanted to look at my furniture that closely then they have problems...

kittyluv387 said:

 
So I live in the DFW area...and was browsing craigslist for cats just for fun (cant help it even though I'm not in the market for one at all).  And I noticed that a good chunk of the cats were declawed.  I'm not going to think a person is downright horrible for declawing but I do think it should discouraged.  I also didn't think it was such a common practice and I'm appalled at the number of declawed cats in my area.  I guess that explains why one couple I know always declaws their cats.  Is this a regional type thing or is it a normal thing to declaw your cat in the U.S.?  

Edit:  Sorry for the horrible typo in the title..making me cringe now. 

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LOL I read the title wrong.  I thought it said do MOIST people declaw their cats? Hey, typos happen!  It's that dang auto-correct (a contradiction in terms) that gets me!  It's fair to say auto-correct just does not "get" me, so many times.  Lol.  

Back in the early 90's, before I knew better, I had both my new kittens declawed.  I intended for them to be only indoors and they were until they passed.  But I honestly thought it was just the nails that would be removed, not the whole first segment of their "fingers" if that's what they are called.  I was horrified when I realized what I put my babies through!  What I don't understand is I took them to a cat only vet in Atlanta, which is where I lived at the time.  You'd think they would be better advocates for humane treatment than that.  And no they didn't explain to me how much they would remove.  

No! Never! Never! Never!

There was a vet in the area who boasted on her web site that she specialized in declawing.  I was disgusted to see that. 

Squirting water is sometimes the only way my Benny will stay off the counter while im cooking! Sometimes flicking water at him with my fingers will do, other times hes more bull headed and needs the bottle.

Meh, i dont understand the whole furniture thing but i probably wouldnt want to be friends with people who are that materialistic anyways. Cute fuzzy companion animal> furniture

It did say moist, the mods must have changed it!


I guess the region does come into play. I moved to dfw a year and a half ago from the los angeles area. I didnt have cats until i moved to dfw but i never really heard of people declawing their cats there. Another point for california i suppose. I think im a little more disgusted of declawing since its such a common practice here.

I think our old vet only ever offered declawing to us because he knew we declawed all of our cats. It was never offered before Buffy was declawed, but he knew how we felt and why we did it at the time. My new vet didn't offer it at all. I know they do it, but it's not something they outright offer. Not to mention I think the CW would smack them if they did.

It's pretty common here but I've seen an improvement in the last 10 years or so. Back when we moved here, I think all the cats I knew except the ones belonging to my family were de-clawed. Now I know several people who have not de-clawed their housecats. Yay for the internet!

One thing I saw said that 45% of spayed/neutered cats in the US are also de-clawed. At the time I read it, I thought that was low because it's so common here. I wonder what the national average is now. . .

I hope it'll become illegal like it is in most developed countries. I don't think any headway will be made with passing laws on the subject, but if the vet associations decide to censure any vet who performs a non-medical de-claw, I think that would have the same effect.

I don't think de-clawing has anything to do with cats picking on each other. Some young cats just like to pick on old lady cats for some reason :/. Claws or no. I have 2 de-clawed cats in my bunch and they handle themselves just fine.

I don't think it's terribly common here in Illinois. On the shelter websites, only one or two of the cats listed are declawed. And the shelters would never declaw their cats. One actually asks about declawing on its application and will not let anyone adopt a cat if they intend on declawing.

I do not understand the furniture excuse. I have two sisal scratcher posts and two scratcher boards. I put them where Mingo liked to scratch, which was generally on the corner of upholstered chairs or sofa as he came into the room. He does not ever now scratch on the furniture and will actually run across the room to scratch on the sisal posts. That's all it takes. To declaw a cat when a simple solution is available is inhumane to me.

DreamerRose said:

I don't think it's terribly common here in Illinois. On the shelter websites, only one or two of the cats listed are declawed. And the shelters would never declaw their cats. One actually asks about declawing on its application and will not let anyone adopt a cat if they intend on declawing.

I do not understand the furniture excuse. I have two sisal scratcher posts and two scratcher boards. I put them where Mingo liked to scratch, which was generally on the corner of upholstered chairs or sofa as he came into the room. He does not ever now scratch on the furniture and will actually run across the room to scratch on the sisal posts. That's all it takes. To declaw a cat when a simple solution is available is inhumane to me.

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I'm in Northfield, and they asked about declawing on my application too. I don't think they will refuse to adopt a cat out if someone wanted to, but they highly discourage it, and in the little "welcome packet" they give it has literature about why you shouldn't declaw. However, their primary focus is finding a good home for the cats.

And my boys like to scratch SOME of the furniture. Fabric-covered stuff in particular; they don't care for the leather stuff. It's areas where the scratch posts aren't, and that furniture is old and being used as something to hold junk :lol3: Mom did put tape on it though because they scratched it so much, they'd gotten through the foam underneath the fabric! So it made a bit of a mess. Apparently the cats don't like duct tape because they'll start to scratch out of habit, then suddenly stop when they realize the tape is still there.

I'm in the northwest and we think declawing is absolutely disgusting. The shelters won't adopt a cat out if the person wants to declaw. I'm appalled that it is still normal in certain parts of the US. very few cats here are declawed and it's sad because at the shelters the declawed cats also tend to be biters or were surrendered because they won't use their litter box.

fostersrule said:

I'm in the northwest and we think declawing is absolutely disgusting. The shelters won't adopt a cat out if the person wants to declaw. I'm appalled that it is still normal in certain parts of the US. very few cats here are declawed and it's sad because at the shelters the declawed cats also tend to be biters or were surrendered because they won't use their litter box.

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I recall a Cat From Hell episode where Jackson Galaxy worked with a beautiful Persian (himmy) who had been declawed to train her to use her litter box. She had been adopted and returned because people didn't want to take the time to find out what was wrong. She wasn't using her litter box. It turns out that she had developed arthritis in her declawed paws! Poor baby! She was treated with acupuncture and an oral med, IIRC. She accepted retraining with her new owner under JG's instruction. It's really sad how quickly people give up on lovely pets like this one because it might take a little work.

It's illegal in my country but I have read some City the Kitty articles that say some vets in the US kind of encourage it as part of a kitten's vet care or fail to discuss other options with people who bring their cats to the clinic.
Since it is a relatively common practice (as far as I know) some people might think it is a legitimate part of caring for a cat.

I do think there is a lack of education on the subject. It's also fairly common for people to think that their indoor-only cat simply doesn't need their claws, but these people fail to understand they type of surgery they are doing to the cat. Others simply are more concerned about furniture than the consequences to the cat.

There are several rescues in my area that do not condone declawing (including clauses in the contract); but, most vets do not even take this into a consideration when discussing declawing with the client. An example: One of the Humane Societies in my area has adopters sign a contract stating that they will not declaw the cat. Area vets know this, but will still declaw the cat if the owner requests (the reason doesn't have to be substantial). The vets' reasons "I'd rather the cat stay in this home than be returned to the shelter and euthanized." Needless to say this doesn't help our situation with trying to ban declawing in my area...

I think it's pretty common where I am. I always thought it was common knowledge that it was like cutting off the first knuckles if fingers, but I learned differently when I started volunteering at a shelter a few years ago (they wouldn't adopt cats out to people who intended to declaw though). I've got a friend who got both of his cats declawed. He's a good guy, but it's really hard to keep my mouth shut when he talks about cats.

Ginny said:

I recall a Cat From Hell episode where Jackson Galaxy worked with a beautiful Persian (himmy) who had been declawed to train her to use her litter box. She had been adopted and returned because people didn't want to take the time to find out what was wrong. She wasn't using her litter box. It turns out that she had developed arthritis in her declawed paws! Poor baby! She was treated with acupuncture and an oral med, IIRC. She accepted retraining with her new owner under JG's instruction. It's really sad how quickly people give up on lovely pets like this one because it might take a little work.

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There was a kitten at the shelter I foster for (my friends actually fostered him) who was adopted and under contract to never declaw. Well they did anyway. Four paw declaw on a 10 week old. He stopped using the litter box and she returned him. The shelter let the lady know she was no longer welcome. He was the sweetest baby. He would lay on his back in your arms and suck on his thumbs. It's so sad that even when people are informed they still choose to declaw. I hate the reason "well I've declawed cats before and they were fine.." . I don't understand how the risks aren't enough to dissuade them.

fostersrule said:

There was a kitten at the shelter I foster for (my friends actually fostered him) who was adopted and under contract to never declaw. Well they did anyway. Four paw declaw on a 10 week old. He stopped using the litter box and she returned him. The shelter let the lady know she was no longer welcome. He was the sweetest baby. He would lay on his back in your arms and suck on his thumbs. It's so sad that even when people are informed they still choose to declaw. I hate the reason "well I've declawed cats before and they were fine.." . I don't understand how the risks aren't enough to dissuade them.

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I wish there was a way to 100% ensure that the contract would be kept. I wish there were enough funds, volunteers, and resources to keep tabs on pets that are adopted and sold. 

I'm really surprised Canada doesn't have a ban on declawing and I think someone mentioned in another thread that declawing still goes on today because it's a quick way for vets to make money. I wish money wasn't put over the heads of the well-beings of our animals.

I wish for a lot of things... 

I think four paw declaw is particularly sad and probably cruel. :/

I have never had a cat de-clawed. And I would never do it. That said, my recently departed Estelle had been de-clawed by a previous owner. Her feet were so small. I actually thought that whoever declawed her took more of her toes than normal. As she got older, she refused to use the litterbox. I invested a ton in puppy pads, which she did agree to use. I have no doubt at all it was due to the declawing. She acted as though her feet hurt.  She couldn't jump up on chairs very well either. The lack of claws had an effect on her kitty confidence.

I can't imagine ever intentionally doing this to a cat after living with her for many years.

The other cats all have their claws but it was never an issue for Estelle and the rest. Anyone who has been whacked by a cat's paw (with their claws in) knows that it can still hurt. She always held her own and as the first of the cats, the others sort of gave her wide berth.