When did you change your mind about declawing?

[lawguy]

I just figured, "How would I like it if somebody chopped off some part of my body that is important?"

To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that there are too many cats without homes already, I would be against neutering and spaying.

 

[pushylady]

I had never really heard of it until Pushkin came into our lives as a little kitten. Then I noticed all these "neuter and declaw" signs at various vets around here, and I just assumed it was something that everyone did these days, so we were going to when we got him neutered.
I so glad I learned about the process!! I would never dream of it now.
I think that's a big reason why so many people do declaw - they just think it's normal, and they don't realise just how invasive the surgery is.

 

[musicalbookworm]

I've always known de-clawing was wrong. I tried to talk my sister out of declawing her cats. The more I know, the more adamant I am about it. One of my friends tried to persuade me to declaw my cats. I offered to remove the first joint of all his fingers since he thought it was such a great idea.

My cats are very kneady

and affectionate. I do trim their claws ocassionally to reduce my pain.

Angie

 

[cjh27]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

I do however, have lots of sympathy for the people who were talked into it and had no idea what they were doing and now suffer for it themselves.

... same here- so here goes another hug to all of you

Christine

 

[alleygirl]

Originally Posted by Momofmany

I've always been against it, and it wasn't until I came to TCS that I understood the logic behind my emotion.

Same for me. I was always against it because cats should just have claws. Now that I know how awful it is, I'm even more against it.

 

[Ms. Freya]

I grew up in a rural area and all of our cats were part-time barn cats, so they needed thier claws. I never really considered declawing untill much later one of my coworkers had her cats declawed to protect her Mother in Law's furniture during the 2 months she stayed with them. Her one cat had major behavior issues afer the surgery,(still does about 4 years later) so I looked it up and was horrified by what I read. I swore never to do it to one of my cats.

I'll admit we wondered if we'd need to remove a claw or two from Freya, since she's a polydactyl, but thankfully we didn't.

 

[merindah]

I took Libby to the vet this morning for her rabies shot, this was her first vet visit with me. (I got her 3 weeks ago). I made an appointment to have her spayed and the vet immediately asked if I wanted her declawed as well.

I was a little disappointed she asked. I declined her offer- of course.

 

[goldenkitty45]

My first cat was declawed by the insistence of my parents if I wanted to keep him. I cried when I brought him home and his feet were bandaged and I had to carry him up and down the steps for him to use the litter box.

I think I made up my mind then I would NEVER declaw another cat. I did research about it later and cried and told Mitten I was so sorry I did it to him. He was one of the rare cats that was not affected psychologically or physically with the declaw (he was an adult when done).

 

[plainjane]

I was never really okay with declawing...I had a family cat when I was young who seemed constantly unhappy and she was 4 paw declawed. I always as a kid thought that that must be why, (and it might be).

That's not to say I don't own cats that are declawed. Bast has been front paw declawed by her previous owner.

I would never condone it and have actively refused to do it when asked to by people I've lived with, (no cats have habitually torn up anything besides the scratching post in all my experiences, most people are exceedingly paranoid about it though). I'd rather move than ever consider declawing...

Cats are living beings, NOT STUFFED ANIMALS!

 

[northernglow]

Originally Posted by cjh27

Here in Germany declawing has always been illegal as it is seen a case of severe animal cruilty and a vet caught doing it would probably face a heavy fine the first time and loose his or her licence if caught repeatedly.

Same thing here in Finland. I've never seen a declawed cat. I was very shocked when I heard that they really do that in USA and that it's legal!

 

[zephyer78]

To all who were lied to or misinformed by their vets about this "procedure" I am so sorry for you. I think declawing should be made illegal in the US. It is a horrible thing to do to your cat. If you cannot accept the fact that cats come with claws.....GET A FISH!!!! Again this is NOT to the people who did this and now feel regret, but to the people who have or will do this,knowing that it is a mutilation, to save their precious couch or whatever. I had a cat that I fostered once and she was front declawed...it made me so sad to see her feet all flattend out. She never came out to hang with the other cats and if she did come out at all she would bite you as soon as you went near, or hiss like crazy and run when any of the other cats came near. I hate to say it, but when her owners were ready to take her back I was happy to have her go

So i guss I never changed my mind about it. Sorry about the long post, but I admit I am a bit fanatic abot decalwing.

 

[yourbriness763]

We have had cats my whole life, my mom got every cat declawed & I just thought that's what you do - UNTIL YESTERDAY...I was PM'ing another cat member about a totally different topic & there was a link in his/her signature about declawing - I have to back track to last Sunday - I watched an episode of Extreme Home Makeover edition & it was about a family that took care of rescued tigers & other kinds of cats (there were other issues on why they were taking care of these animals but I can't remember right now), basically the majority of these poor animals were abused & injured, some of the tigers having been declawed & at the time I didn't understand why they were injured just from being declawed other than maybe the vet did something wrong. Anyways to make a long story short, after seeing that episode, that's what sparked something in my mind to click on that link to find out more about it. Now that I know the details & what's entailed to declawing an animal I will NEVER declaw another cat again.

 

[rang_27]

Originally Posted by yourbriness763

We have had cats my whole life, my mom got every cat declawed & I just thought that's what you do - UNTIL YESTERDAY...I was PM'ing another cat member about a totally different topic & there was a link in his/her signature about declawing - I have to back track to last Sunday - I watched an episode of Extreme Home Makeover edition & it was about a family that took care of rescued tigers & other kinds of cats (there were other issues on why they were taking care of these animals but I can't remember right now), basically the majority of these poor animals were abused & injured, some of the tigers having been declawed & at the time I didn't understand why they were injured just from being declawed other than maybe the vet did something wrong. Anyways to make a long story short, after seeing that episode, that's what sparked something in my mind to click on that link to find out more about it. Now that I know the details & what's entailed to declawing an animal I will NEVER declaw another cat again.

Thank you for sharing that with us. When I grew up our cats were declawed & just like you I just thought that is what people did. The only cats I knew that weren't declawed were cats that also weren't spayed or neutered. So, like many of you I thought it was standard. I'm so thankful that I have been educated about the truth. Every time I look at my cats paws I'm thankful that they have their claws. I do not regret my decision to let them keep their claws. I just can't imagine them without claws.