Declawing Cats

[blueyedgirl5946]

Yesterday I went to the vet to pick up cat food for Muffin. There was a potential customer there. He was getting an estimate for neuter/declawing a cat. I tried to tactfully suggest some alternatives. Also I was suggesting that neuter and declaw all at once might create some behavior issues with the cat. The bottom line was the wife had new leather furniture and didn't want to have to deal with the cat. The husband had tried shoot with the watergun to stop the cat. Then the wife complained about the water mist on her wood floors. I told him about how when Max and Speedboat were inside cats I had managed to train them with scratching posts/catnip. Later it turned out my husband was allergic and we had no choice but to move the cats outside in a protected fenced in area. However it is not foolproof. I told him I glad I was we had never declawed them. Nothing seemed to change his decision. It ought to be against the law to declaw a cat.

 

[-_aj_-]

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

 

[carolina]

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!

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by -_aj_-

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

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...

 

[cococat]

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

 

[subvet642]

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?

 

[kscatlady]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

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...

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.

 

[ldg]

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.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Originally Posted by Carolina

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!

Carolina, that man didn't say anything about being allergic. He just talked about how the wife didn't like him trying to break the cats with the spray. Also how she didn't want her new leather furniture ruined. The allergic part was our situation in how I was glad we never went the declaw route because my husband became allergic and we had to put the cats outside. I agree with you though. They probably will end up putting the cat in a shelter.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by kscatlady

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

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.

 

[kscatlady]

Originally Posted by strange_wings

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.

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.

 

[subvet642]

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.

 

[strange_wings]

Originally Posted by kscatlady

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.

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.

)

 

[lauren_miller]

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.

 

[carolina]

Originally Posted by blueyedgirl5946

Carolina, that man didn't say anything about being allergic. He just talked about how the wife didn't like him trying to break the cats with the spray. Also how she didn't want her new leather furniture ruined. The allergic part was our situation in how I was glad we never went the declaw route because my husband became allergic and we had to put the cats outside. I agree with you though. They probably will end up putting the cat in a shelter.

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

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

I wish I had told that man, stretch out your hand. We will chop your finger off at the first joint. Then you will match your cat. I am glad he didn't have the cat with him for me to see. I just hate it when people consider themselves and their own convenience, rather than want to take time to train the cat. Those who are so thoughtless don't need a pet. I never had a problem getting my cats to use the scratching posts. They knew where they were and they used them. They never ruined my furniture or carpet. I never had any behavior problems like peeing outside the box. I just had smart cats, with claws.

 

[bellaandme]

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?

 

[nekkiddoglady]

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.

 

[breamarie]

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.

 

[kittymcg]

Originally Posted by LDG

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.

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.