Kitty advice, please

My opinion:

If you are even thinking about de-clawing a cat, you are not a cat lover and should not even contemplate cat ownership.

:flowerforyou:

Yes, it's much better to let that cat be among the hundreds of thousands killed every year in shelters or abandoned because no one wants them than to remove a few toe knuckles.

My advice: give the cat to someone more humane than you and don't get any animals that will "mess up your expensive furniture".

For ****'s sake like.

I'm not going to get into the "humane or train" discussion, but have you ever had a declawed cat play and swat you.

Pap pap pap pap pap

It kind of tickles and is pretty funny

Pap pap pap pap


Oh, and when they hold on to kick with their back legs, makes me laugh.

The last cat I will ever have was a declawed rescued that was pretty aggressive

Don't declaw! My cats aren't--we just have a scratch post!

I will rip through the world to find you and take that poor kitty off you if you even think about the idea of considering to maybe declaw it.

That is the cruellest thing you could do and I cannot believe people still do it.

please don't.

I don't believe declawing cats is inhumane at all. It doesn't cut off the toe or pad. Cats also do not use the last bone to walk. Your cat doesn't feel any irregular pain outside of the normal post operation pain. Do you plan on fixing your cat? I'm sure that won't feel too well either. It isn't even necessary for your cats to have their paws shaven or for them to bleed. Laser removal works great and minimizes the recovery time. I have never heard of a cat that was traumatized by the loss of their claws. I have owned many cats and they have all had their front and back claws removed.

Spaying and neutering are done so that there arne't thousands upon thousands of homeless cats and dogs running around fending for themselves (many of which will die very young because they are domestic and nt able to properly care for themselves in the wild). Not to mention that male cats that are not neutered get injured in fights and female cats who have even one litter of kittens have an increased chance of getting cancer.

Declawing is done simply because people care more about asthetics than the animals in their care. No comparison. If you don't want your furniture clawed, don't get a cat. Or work with the cat to ensure the best outcome.

How do you know what kind of pain the cat feels from being declawed? How would you like a bone from each toe removed, plus every nail?

There is nothing inhumane about it. Declawing isn't only for aesthetics. There are many other reasons to declaw a cat. Also, contrary to popular belief, declawing a cat is not comparable to removing a bone or fingernail from the human body. I don't understand how you are coming to this conclusion.

Try google. You will see what everyone is referring to. In fact, there is a website - www.declawing.com - which is run by a vet that explains why a cat needs claws.

I will rip through the world to find you and take that poor kitty off you if you even think about the idea of considering to maybe declaw it.

That is the cruellest thing you could do and I cannot believe people still do it.

please don't.

Worse than dropping it off at a shelter or in the woods somewhere? Or on the side of a road? Really??

For the sake of arguing my point in this situation yes it is worse.

All cats scratch. Scratching is a natural and necessary part of feline life. In fact, it is IMPOSSIBLE for a cat or kitten NOT to scratch.

A cat’s claws are as important to it as your fingers are to you. When you declaw a cat, you aren’t just removing its nails. Declawing removes the tool cats use to grasp; when climbing, running, reaching and any number of activities a cat might engage in

1. Claws are a cats first line (and really only line) of defence, without them in a confrontation its like you have put your cat in the middle of a highway at peak hour traffic, they don't stand a chance.

2. claws are essential for their paw, front leg, shoulder and back health, this relates to their fitness.

3. to catch prey/ have fun, without claws it is estimated that a cat with claws has a 82% more chance to catch dinner than a de clawed cat. so if it escapes/got out one night and couldn't find its way home it would have a s*** all rate of survival. and even though she will keep it inside, we all know cats get out one way or another they always do.

4. declawed cats often stop using their litter, after the operation and sometimes when they are completely healed the pads on their paws are still so tender they cannot handle walking into a litter box.

5.personality changes - generally after a massive operation and such pain afterwards you cat loses all trust it had in you, become either fearful or withdrawn.

6. The same way you need all your toes for walking, cats need those clawed joints to move naturally. In fact, cats need that part of their feet even more because they are far more physical creatures than humans are.

I firmly believe that cats can be trained. More specifically, training a cat to use a scratching post (and other scratching toys) is certainly possible! Cats are smart animals and if consistently trained with love, patience and care…you can turn their destructive behavior around.

I own three wonderful fully clawed cats, I wouldn't change a thing about them and I would never willingly put them in harms way. You choose to declaw you cat, you choose to put that cat through one of the most painful procedures a cat can go through. the physical rehabilitation can be endless, the cons far outweigh the pros (who bloody cares about furniture, if you love your furniture more than your cat you shouldn't have a cat).

Australia, England, Brazil, Japan, Scotland, New Zealand to name a few recognise this as completely barbaric and have made it illegal and i can tell you some US states are looking into that option but once again they are behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to animal safety. - NOT AN ATTACK ON AMERICAN PEOPLE

http://www.declawing.com/

At the end of the day it is up to you but I would strongly advise against declawing, it is cruel and inhumane to be honest. It should be illegal. If you put the time and effort into training your cat, (s)he won't claw your furniture. I've had cats my whole life and our couches are in perfect condition. My cats have a scratch pole and they know that is the ONLY thing in the house that they can claw.

Think of it this way - if you had a child and that child scratched you because it didn't know any better, would you remove your child's nails completely? Or would you teach it not to scratch?

Hurting a living and breathing creature for the sake of your furniture is just... I cannot even fathom it.

ETA:

I firmly believe that cats can be trained. More specifically, training a cat to use a scratching post (and other scratching toys) is certainly possible! Cats are smart animals and if consistently trained with love, patience and care…you can turn their destructive behavior around.

You know how I trained my cats not to claw our furniture? I lifted them away from the couch when they attempted to claw it. None of this shooting them with water, smacking them, and yelling at them business. You need patience and a lot of love!

WE have two cats, and I am really a dog person. When we first got the first cat we wanted to declaw, but then we too discovered how painful it was be to the cat, and I think it demoralize them for life.... sounds a bit silly but we decided not to declaw. We have no problem with furniture and we had one cat for 8 years and the other for 2 years.

this spring we are getting a dog, finally! (we will not declaw the dog either).