Note that I go into a little detail about declawing if anyone doesn't want to read about it.
A friend of mine has a cute kitty, pretty healthy, and they are talking about having him declawed. He plays a little rough and does some minor couch scratching, but its all manageable. Some other cats my friend's had in the past were declawed, and they claim that there's some vet or something that does it really well and in a way that doesn't hurt them.
My friend already knows what the procedure entails and that it's akin to amputating the ends of a humans fingers. She says they can learn to live with it, and they can, but it can be, at best disorienting to cats, and at worst causing long term problems and pain, and negatively impacting their personality.
My recently adopted cat was declawed at some point before I met her, and it worries me because she ran for the front door once, and got outside for a minute. She didn't keep running and we'll be on an even more careful lookout for her, but if she were to make it out and get lost, she doesn't have her first line of defense against threats.
I really don't want this to be the case for my friend's cat just because they don't want to put in the effort to keep the cat's claws trimmed. Heck, I would even be willing to help pitch in some money to keep the cat's claws trimmed.
I've never met a cat lover before who would have their cat declawed, unless it was for some sort of medically necessary reason. I know it's not my call to make, but I wish I could persuade my friend that this is really not a necessary thing to do to a cat.
A friend of mine has a cute kitty, pretty healthy, and they are talking about having him declawed. He plays a little rough and does some minor couch scratching, but its all manageable. Some other cats my friend's had in the past were declawed, and they claim that there's some vet or something that does it really well and in a way that doesn't hurt them.
My friend already knows what the procedure entails and that it's akin to amputating the ends of a humans fingers. She says they can learn to live with it, and they can, but it can be, at best disorienting to cats, and at worst causing long term problems and pain, and negatively impacting their personality.
My recently adopted cat was declawed at some point before I met her, and it worries me because she ran for the front door once, and got outside for a minute. She didn't keep running and we'll be on an even more careful lookout for her, but if she were to make it out and get lost, she doesn't have her first line of defense against threats.
I really don't want this to be the case for my friend's cat just because they don't want to put in the effort to keep the cat's claws trimmed. Heck, I would even be willing to help pitch in some money to keep the cat's claws trimmed.
I've never met a cat lover before who would have their cat declawed, unless it was for some sort of medically necessary reason. I know it's not my call to make, but I wish I could persuade my friend that this is really not a necessary thing to do to a cat.