Declawing...

[soka]

I have had neither of my girls declawed. Yes they scratch my furniture and yes they get me sometimes, but I'm willing to work and deal with that in order to keep them happy and healthy.

 

[graciecat]

No, I have cats all my life and none of them have been declawed.
In fact the Vet I go to won't declaw cats.

I know this because I was in there one day and some Lady was having a fit because she wanted her cat declawed and they told her they were sorry but the Dr. didn't do that.
She told them she'd take her cats somewhere else and they told her that was up to her, but her cats would not be declawed there.

 

[juliekit]

Originally Posted by adias.angel

*sick feeling* I didn't realize what it was until I read it on here. I just took our male cat in 2 days ago to have it done and to be fixed. I will never do that again. Our cat comes home tonight and I am about ready to cry after reading this. Carla

Dont cry! We all make mistakes unfortunately

Im curious though, did the vet offer you a combo neuter/declaw? I HATE those type of things because they are promoting declawing to those unknowing owners. Heck, I think if I would have been offered a spay/declaw combo before Ceci, I would have said yes simply because i didnt know any better.

 

[juliekit]

BTW, I would love to see Declawing banned in PR and the US. I dont so much mind cropping and docking (call me a monster but I like it). I adore a well bred pit bull with cropped ears (my dad owned a champion weight puller) or a great dane with a good crop.

A bit off topic, but I know a guy who owns a Great Dane (cropped) with 'tuxedo' (B&W) markings. He also owns a Boston Terrier and gets asked all the time if the Dane is the daddy and the Boston the daughter. He always tells them its the other way around: The boston is the mom...LOL

 

[mooficat]

a link to The Top Reasons NOT to Declaw............

http://cats.about.com/od/declawing/tp/reasonsnot.htm

 

[mirinae]

No, nope, never, uh-uh, not even if you paid me.

It is not that hard to re-train your cat -- if I can do it, with a brain-damaged, hyperactive cat, I think anyone can do it.

Seriously, though, nothing I own is worth putting my kitties through that kind of pain. I can replace shredded furniture (not that I have any, but you get the picture); I can't replace Spike or Oz.

 

[reesespbc]

Reeses isn't declawed and my wife and I will never have her declawed. I always knew that it wasn't always the best idea but never knew what it "actually" was. I did some research and after finding out that basically it's amputation, I refuse.

She's been really good so far, she doesn't really scratch anything. She'll claw at closet doors trying to get in and what not but I haven't noticed any damage. We even have 2 leather couches and I haven't noticed any damage. There was one spot I thought she did, but after examination I think it was there when we moved into the house (couches came with). She doesn't even really get on them and if she does she jumps off pretty gently.

 

[Asteria]

Neither of my cats are delawed, and none of my future cats will be. I consider it cruel. My mom wanted to have my cats declawed but I am soo glad we researched it first and found out how cruel it is.

 

[epona]

Originally Posted by adias.angel

*sick feeling* I didn't realize what it was until I read it on here. I just took our male cat in 2 days ago to have it done and to be fixed. I will never do that again. Our cat comes home tonight and I am about ready to cry after reading this. Carla

Awww you poor thing, I feel for you. It is illegal here, but I believe that in some places it is almost treated like routine surgery, along with spaying/neutering. If a vet told sold declawing to you as the right thing to do, or as a package deal, then I blame the vet, not you.

Blessings to you and your kitty, and vibes for a full and speedy recovery for him. I am sure he will be fine.

In answer to the original question, I would not even have an option of getting a cat declawed, so the answer is that my cat is fully clawed. And don't I know it when he's due for a manicure

 

[mom2salemisis]

I had salem and ailey declawed before i found out what the procedure actually did and i am so sorry for putting them through that. i feel awful that i let someone hurt my babies that i love so much. i recommend to everyone that gets a cat and even suggest that they might want to get their kitty declawed that the look it up and research it before they make a decision. i have saved a couple of my friends kittys from this horrible mutilation although it doesnt change what i did. merlin was declawed when i adopted him from the humane society i sadly had to vote yes

 

[sharky]

I put no ... but I needed the both

Kandie was declawed over 18 yrs ago as an 11 yr old me lost the battle ... She is a hunter with a very WEIRD to MEAN disposition....

Zoey just gets clopped when her semi feral mind thinks it okay to have momhold and cut her nails

 

[adias.angel]

Originally Posted by Epona

Awww you poor thing, I feel for you. It is illegal here, but I believe that in some places it is almost treated like routine surgery, along with spaying/neutering. If a vet told sold declawing to you as the right thing to do, or as a package deal, then I blame the vet, not you.

I wish it was illegal here. Unfortunetly we received no advice from the vet either way. When we asked about getting him fixed and declawed all we got was a 'yes we do that'. We assumed the declawing was a simple procedure. We will not be going back to this vet again.

My boyfriend was just as upset as I was last night when I got home with Hobbes from the vet; Hobbes is a pitiful mess. I think we slept a total of 4 hours if that much. Hobbes was hurting and he kept giving us these pitiful meows. At about 4 am Hobbes finally fell into a deep sleep in the crook of my boyfriends arm with his sore paws stretched out on my boyfriends chest. The vet told me when I picked him up that he wouldn't need any pain medicine but he sits like a rodent on his hind legs cause it hurts to much to rest the front ones on the ground.

We have one cat left who still has her claws, but we have both agreed to simply clip them with the cat nail clippers. Its suppose to be pain free. This way she won't be able to beat up on my other babies that don't have claws. Thanks for all the encouragement, Carla

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by adias.angel

We have one cat left who still has her claws, but we have both agreed to simply clip them with the cat nail clippers. Its suppose to be pain free. This way she won't be able to beat up on my other babies that don't have claws. Thanks for all the encouragement, Carla

my 2 declaws have no trouble 'holding their own' with my 2 clawed cats. my clawed cats also wear soft claws - but that's mainly to protect me & the furniture.

 

[littleraven7726]

my cats are declawed. but they came to me that way. they were all adopted as adults, and had been declawed by previous owners.

 

[celestialrags]

Since this post started I have spent the last day or so calling different vets in my area. I called about 10, and asked about cropping and declawing. every one of those vets, when I asked about cropping, said we don't do "that" any more, and kind of snorted at me. But about 5 of those vets offer a declaw disscount with a spay, and the other 5 asked if I would be having a declaw with my spay today. ALL 10 do declawing! They offer it out like it's as routine as trimming nails or getting shots! But cropping isn't done? I think if only one is banned it should be declaws, I know most people feel both should, but if a vet doesn't mind mutalating paws, it wouldn't bother them to trim the ears a little.
How can we expect people to understand how cruel declawing is when many vets still offer it, and not only offer it but treat it as a rountine proceedure and give discounts for it. When people go to a vet that do this, they are being made to think it is something that gets done together. The vet just acts like it is done together, Are we having a spay/declaw?
I guess there is more money in amputating a cats toes then trimming a little off the ears? I can't see any other reason why a vet wouldn't crop, but will declaw. (I could understand if the same vets against cropping won't declaw, but to do the declaw?) Most people won't crop either, but come on, what would you rather see banned, if only one was, you would have to say ban declaws, right?

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by celestialrags

Most people won't crop either, but come on, what would you rather see banned, if only one was, you would have to say ban declaws, right?

i would consider it a more mutilating & severe surgery, since most dogs don't walk on their ears.
maybe it's because cropping is purely cosmetic, whereas declaw is done for non-cosmetic reasons?

 

[celestialrags]

Originally Posted by laureen227

i would consider it a more mutilating & sever surgery, since most dogs don't walk on their ears.
maybe it's because cropping is purely cosmetic, whereas declaw is done for non-cosmetic reasons?

That may be why, I guess, because it IS a cosmetic thing. But, why do people declaw, I know it's not cosmetic, but it's only for convience of owners. I think it is way crueler personally. (to declaw)

 

[yosemite]

Originally Posted by adias.angel

We have one cat left who still has her claws, but we have both agreed to simply clip them with the cat nail clippers. Its suppose to be pain free. This way she won't be able to beat up on my other babies that don't have claws. Thanks for all the encouragement, Carla

We use human nail clippers and do Bijou and Mika's paws about every 10 days. We've never had an issue of them scratching furniture. We made certain they had a scratching post and knew what it was for. To get them used to having their claws clipped we would often just sit and play with their paws while they sat with us. Also it's easier to do them when they are in half-sleep/relaxed mode. Don't worry much about the cat with claws hurting the one without - kitties without claws get very good at using their teeth and can defend themselves.

 

[essayons89]

I need a "both" option in the poll.

Shadow and Midnight were both front declawed over 12 years ago. At the time I didn't know what declawing entailed but now that I do I will never, ever consider doing having it done to my babies. I feel horrible for having it done to them.

Everest and Charlotte were in a foster home from a very young age and were trained very well in using scratching posts. I keep a couple of different types around the apartment. Everest likes the corrugated cardboard insert in the scratcher attached to one of the doorways. I've also seen Shadow "going through the motions" with it. Charlotte likes the scratcher with the carpet inserts in them. She also likes to use the carpeting and area rugs on my floors.

I applaud the countries where this practice is illegal. It's cruelty and I wish the US would wake up and ban it.

Bryan

 

[sims2fan]

I was reading an article on how a lot of cats declawed abroad when surrender to shelters they end up being PTS because there not many indoor only homes in the UK. The article was refering to army families bringing the cats over from the states.

Here is the quote:
In Britain, very few cats are declawed except on medical grounds. Some cats belonging to families on American airbases are declawed, making them difficult to rehome if the need arises as relatively few British owners are geared to keeping an indoor-only cat. The British prohibition on declawing is not an indication that animal rights activists are trying to decrease pet ownership, nor are British cats mostly barn cats. Depriving a cat of its primary means of defence is simply considered cruel by the great majority of British cat owners. In return, British cat owners find it hard to comprehend how a "cosmetic" mutilation for the sake of the furniture can be considered humane in the USA.

http://www.messybeast.com/catsusuk.htm