why are cats declawed

Originally Posted by pinkdaisy226

I don't know about that. I know that when I was making an appointment to get Baylee spayed, they assumed I would want her declawed as well. And honestly I think a lot of people will take what their doctors say seriously, same as with vets... thinking, oh well he went to school for this, he should know better. If the vet says, we have to pull his tooth out, would you not believe him?

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Exactly! Look, when I took Trent in for his neuter surgery - to physically hand him over to the vets to be neutered - they asked if we wanted him declawed too. Like it was just part of the routine. Actually with about the same tone as "Do you want fries with that?" I asked what all it entailed, and they lied to me about that. (It is more than just removing the nails and nail bed...) I believed them. If it's that routine, then they should know what it is right? Trent is declawed and no, I didn't know what it really was until after it was done. I guess I'm stupid then, right? That's balderdash. I trusted a professional to tell me the truth. They wanted my money, they got it. I've heard much the same from so many people on this site, I do not believe that "No vet would push any procedure on anyone."

Obviously, I have since changed vets to someone who is straightforward about declawing and discourages it as much as possible because it isn't necessary except under very few circumstances. And he refuses to do it, unless medically necessary to the cat, to any cat over 1 year old because of the pain management issues and recovery time that older cats require.

people the vet can not read minds, you have to tell them what you do and do not what done to your cat. I have never met a vet that would just go and do anything with out talking with the owner(s) first.

A vet I am longer associated with, one of his girls one time while I was in the office waiting for an appointment was on the phone. A lady had called to get her cat neutered. I heard the office worker say rather matter-of-factly- "OK, I have Randolph scheduled to come in on the third for a neuter, will there be a declawing for him at the same time?" I was appalled and after she hung up I went up and told her she may as well throw all my cats' charts away because I was done with this clinic. I walked out and never looked back.

It is an unneccessary and painful procedure to put a cat through. It is done because some humans do not know how to deal with normal cat behavior, or to save furniture, or to stay in an apartment because of a landlord's rule. Very rarely is it done for medical reasons. Just because cats are stoic and don't show pain easily people get to say that declawing is no big deal. I have a friend who only rescues declawed cats. I am here to tell you, it is a very big deal, and yes, it can cause problems over time if not done correctly in the first place.

Originally Posted by eburgess

people the vet can not read minds, you have to tell them what you do and do not what done to your cat. I have never met a vet that would just go and do anything with out talking with the owner(s) first.

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No, of course they don't do it without consent, but how they go about getting that consent is a different matter entirely. As both Mary Anne and I have pointed out, how they and their staff present declawing, how they answer questions about it, if they flat out LIE about what it entails does play a part. Don't be naive and think that there aren't any vets out there who do unnecessary procedures to boost their bottom line.

Originally Posted by valanhb

No, of course they don't do it without consent, but how they go about getting that consent is a different matter entirely. As both Mary Anne and I have pointed out, how they and their staff present declawing, how they answer questions about it, if they flat out LIE about what it entails does play a part. Don't be naive and think that there aren't any vets out there who do unnecessary procedures to boost their bottom line.

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Hey all I can tell you is MY EXPERIENCE!!!! Don't bitch at me or balme me for your mistakes. It is up to the owner to understand what is or isn't going to happen to thier pet. Not my fault people!!

Originally Posted by eburgess

Hey all I can tell you is MY EXPERIENCE!!!! Don't bitch at me or balme me for your mistakes. It is up to the owner to understand what is or isn't going to happen to thier pet. Not my fault people!!

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And I'm just sharing my experience as well, not blaming you. Of course, there are wonderful vets who will discuss any and all procedures openly and honestly. But there are also those who push procedures and tests to get more money out of you. Like Ari said, most people trust the people who have been trained in a specialty. That's why I hire doctors, mechanics and veterinarians...because I don't have the time or qualifications to learn or know everything that they do.

If you have time to post on this forum you have time to do alittle research.

Originally Posted by valanhb

Exactly! Look, when I took Trent in for his neuter surgery - to physically hand him over to the vets to be neutered - they asked if we wanted him declawed too. Like it was just part of the routine. Actually with about the same tone as "Do you want fries with that?" I asked what all it entailed, and they lied to me about that. (It is more than just removing the nails and nail bed...) I believed them. If it's that routine, then they should know what it is right? Trent is declawed and no, I didn't know what it really was until after it was done. I guess I'm stupid then, right?

That's balderdash. I trusted a professional to tell me the truth.

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That is exactly my story Heidi, and the reason why Baylee is declawed. I'm grateful that the vet that performed the declaw did it properly so that I haven't had the least bit of trouble with her (other than her tendency to fall over the railing)... but only after I learned more about the procedure did I realize how horrible it is.

Originally Posted by eburgess

If you have time to post on this forum you have time to do alittle research

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Yes, that's true. But not everyone knows about this forum or to do the research. That's all we're saying... that so many people take people in the medical profession at their word without realizing that they DON'T know everything, or to do the research.

There are many people who aren't going to take the time to research a procedure..they believe "Vet knows best" and if the vet recommends declawing..then it must be ok. Our rescue group stopped working with a vet because he recommended declawing and we have a strict "NO DECLAW" policy. People who are on the fence or want to declaw a cat can certainly adopt one that has already had the procedure. Declawed homeless cats need homes too.

Katie

True but finding a declawed cat in the shelter is very hard

True but finding a declawed cat in the shelter is very hard

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Not true at all...we get declawed cats EVERY WEEK from the shelter. Petfinder even has a way that you can do a search for cats who are declawed.

http://www.petfinder.com/search.html

You simply select "Cat"..and list your location..towards the bottom there is a check box for Only Declawed Pets. I just did it for my area and it brought up the closest 450 cats. As far as I am concerned..with so many declawed cats available..there really isn't a good reason to need to get a clawed cat and have the procedure performed.

Katie

Originally Posted by eburgess

True but finding a declawed cat in the shelter is very hard

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I agree with Katie... definitely not hard. Max is a 6 year old cat that we adopted a month or 2 ago and he came declawed. He was at Petsmart, through an adoption agency. And while I was there I walked past 3 other cats who had already been declawed.

Not in the shelters I've visited.

Originally Posted by hissy

A vet I am longer associated with, one of his girls one time while I was in the office waiting for an appointment was on the phone. A lady had called to get her cat neutered. I heard the office worker say rather matter-of-factly- "OK, I have Randolph scheduled to come in on the third for a neuter, will there be a declawing for him at the same time?" I was appalled and after she hung up I went up and told her she may as well throw all my cats' charts away because I was done with this clinic. I walked out and never looked back.

It is an unneccessary and painful procedure to put a cat through. It is done because some humans do not know how to deal with normal cat behavior, or to save furniture, or to stay in an apartment because of a landlord's rule. Very rarely is it done for medical reasons. Just because cats are stoic and don't show pain easily people get to say that declawing is no big deal. I have a friend who only rescues declawed cats. I am here to tell you, it is a very big deal, and yes, it can cause problems over time if not done correctly in the first place.

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Hissy, I totally agree with you. If on a rare occasion to relieve a poor kitty from pain, then yes. However in my opinion there is no other valid reason to ever declaw. My living room chair has battle scars from when Nikki & Daisy used it before I got them a couple of scratching posts. They took to them right away. I'm against declawing.

Originally Posted by eburgess

I'm going to disagree with you many of the point you have made. No vet would push any procedure on anyone. and anyone who would blindly do anything vet says without research is, in my mind, stupid. You wouldn't let yourself go under the knife without knowing any and all risks and benifits of the procedure, why would you dothat to your pets!!

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Not every pet owner is so inquisitive, most take an animal to a vet and listen to their advice. It is very easy for an owner to be misled [intentionally or not] by a veterinarian without knowing any different. Same can be said about going to any doctor. People generally goto a doctor because they have a problem that they hope the doctor can solve. When a solution is offered, they generally don't resist.

There are indeed plenty of dishonest veterinarians out there, not the majority, but enough to give the good ones a bad name.

Spaying/Neutering, Declawing and Vaccinations are fairly common procedures in the USA, when a veterinarian reccomends any of these optional procedures, people rarely question it at all. When the vet says that if they neuter their male cat before he reaches sexual maturity that he won't spray foul smelling urine on everything in their house, people generally get the cat neutered. When the vet says after we declaw your cat, he won't tear your house to shreads, people generally get their cat declawed. It gets better, when the vet says, if you have both procedures done at the same time, it'll cost you less, people generally have both procedures done at the same time. The most frequently asked question, is about post-op care for the animal, not if the procedure is really necessary.

The majority of people in the United States who have their cats declawed, don't know that it isn't necessary.

The necessity for S/N and Vaccinations is well documented. Declawing, well, it's only documented to be medically feesible. What I'm trying to say here, Declawing can be done safely and with minimal negative effect to a cats health, but declawing doesn't often directly benefit the cats health either, thus there is no necessity for declawing.

Declawing is merely an option, a preference per se, it will not hurt the cat but it won't exactly help the cat either. There are still a lot of vets that will push the procedure, without ever discussing alternate options with the owner. Plus, there are still a huge amount of owners that have only ever known declawing to be part of owning a cat, they simply do not know any different.

I know different, I have seen both, I have worked with both. I have had great success with alternative methods of controlling undesirable scratching problems, but I'm also not ashamed to admit that I would have a cat declawed if it provided a mutual benefit. I know a vet that does the procedure correctly, and I know that the procedure when done correctly is extremely humane. I have seen bad declaws, I know the procedure can be severely botched. I also know that for the most part, a scratching post and a good pair of nail clippers, have always worked EXTREMELY well for most of my cats.

Originally Posted by eburgess

Just b/c people get thier cats declawed does not mean they are irresponcible pet owners. They get it done b/c they feel it is nesscary NOT because they are "saving" the couch. If a cat is indoors all the time, I don't see why the owners should not be aloud to consider it.I didn't get Limerick declawed b/c it was an added expense and his scratching is not a problem.
The bottom line is the choice of to delcaw or not to delcaw should be left to the owner. Each cat is different and each situation is different. Find a vet you can trust, do your homework, know what is going to happen, then make your dission.

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Right on the Money there!

From my experiences with having cats declawed, to actually assisting in declawing cats, and even based on my experience with some of the alternatives to declawing, my official stance on declawing is that it is an Option, and should remain an Option. I would love to see more veterinarians explain it as an option, and then allow the owner to make their own choice on the matter. I would also love to see declawing become nothing more than an option, rather than a 'family tradition'.

There is a lot of misinformation on declawing around, until owners understand what declawing really is, until they are properly informed, they simply will not know that they have a choice when it comes to declawing.

Knowledge is the key, give owners the information they need to make an educated choice, and let them make the choice.

Spotz

Originally Posted by valanhb

...
Obviously, I have since changed vets to someone who is straightforward about declawing and discourages it as much as possible because it isn't necessary except under very few circumstances. And he refuses to do it, unless medically necessary to the cat, to any cat over 1 year old because of the pain management issues and recovery time that older cats require.

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Smart choice ...mine also draws the line around 1 year, but strongly reccomends it be done early or not at all [barring medical necessity of course]. He is more than happy to sit down and talk about it, and honestly could care less which way you prefer. His priority is making sure that the procedure is done correctly if you choose to have a cat declawed. His priority is the health and well being of the animal, not how thick his wallet is at the end of the day.

Spotz

Originally Posted by eburgess

If you have time to post on this forum you have time to do alittle research.

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Perhaps you should do a little research:

www.declawing.com

As you will see, doing just a "little" research provides anyone with sufficient information to reach a point of absolute disgust of declawing. It takes a LOT of research to learn enough about declawing to get enough information to form an educated opinion. Few people have the time to do a LOT of research.

Spotz
PS If you have time to post on this forum, you have time to show a little bit of respect.

Spotz...thanks for the link! I didn't realize that I was trimming my cats nails the wrong way and causing them to split:

Many people hold the clippers at right angles to the nail, thus cutting across the nail. This tends to make the nail more subject to splitting or fraying. It is better to hold the clippers in a vertical position--that is, up and down, so that the claw is trimmed from bottom to top instead of across the nail. This position help prevent splitting.

Katie

Originally Posted by TNR1

Spotz...thanks for the link! I didn't realize that I was trimming my cats nails the wrong way and causing them to split:

Many people hold the clippers at right angles to the nail, thus cutting across the nail. This tends to make the nail more subject to splitting or fraying. It is better to hold the clippers in a vertical position--that is, up and down, so that the claw is trimmed from bottom to top instead of across the nail. This position help prevent splitting.

Katie

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I'm not sure I understand how we're supposed to clip them then... what's the difference between clipping the claw from bottom to top than across the nail? They kinda sound the same to me!

Originally Posted by TNR1

Spotz...thanks for the link! I didn't realize that I was trimming my cats nails the wrong way and causing them to split:

Many people hold the clippers at right angles to the nail, thus cutting across the nail. This tends to make the nail more subject to splitting or fraying. It is better to hold the clippers in a vertical position--that is, up and down, so that the claw is trimmed from bottom to top instead of across the nail. This position help prevent splitting.

Katie

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I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about. Do you mean trimming the nail at an angle rather then vertical???