Opinions Asked: Declawing Cats

In My Humble Opinion
21

IIRC this procedure requires constant maintance by the owner to insure that the now unmovable claw does not grow too large or ‘circle’ totally around.

I work with one of the local cat shelters here. If you want to have a declawed cat - get one already declawed at the shelter - they get them all the time. A lot of the time declawing is modifying the cat to make up for the owners mistake in not spending enough time training or training incorrectly.

I have a cat that would NEVER put her claws out (actually I don’t know how she knows not to under some circumstances) on a person. This same cat might bring down several birds in a day so she knows how to use them.

Front declawing is better then dumping them back at the pound or shelter. If it’s the only way that you will keep your cat then fine. F & R is overkill and very dangerous for a cat. When attacked a cat will fight and try to escape, this is normally done with biting and front claws. If escape is not an option a cat will usually change tactics and while holding on with mouth and front paws (front claws help immensly here) will powerfully rake the attacker with the back. A F declaw can manage this manuver but a F & B declaw will still try but fail putting it in a very vonerable position. Also as pointed out having rear claws will usually allow rapid climbing of trees or whatever to allow escape.

Because of F declaws being able to still defend themselves when things get heated we can put fully clawed cats in with F declaws (in the cat colonies at the cat shelter) but fully declawed cats must be caged because if they are attacked they will mount an unsucessful defence that will just encourage the other cats to continue - not pretty.

Also declaws are more likley to be biters (from experence) and more likely to develope bad litterbox habits (from, well I.ve heard it over the years)

22

I am in the “It’s cruel to declaw” camp as well, and so my kitten isn’t declawed. My SO wasn’t so sure, but he was willing to not declaw her because he knew that I was against it. She’s scratched us up a lot, but usually when we’re “playing” with her, and she is a bit of an aggressive kitten to begin with, so we can’t hold that against her! Our couch was free from the previous tenants, so we don’t really care about it, but she hasn’t damaged it at all, that I can tell. She tends to do her claws on the “Cozy Kingdom” (cat house thingy), the door mats, or the old suitcase with the busted zipper (same texture as the house thingy).

My two cats at my parents house are outdoor/indoor cats, and so they have their claws. I have rarely seen them do their claws inside, except for on one section of one of the couches, though we discourage it. There are claw marks, but its not that bad. They are worse in the winter about scratching, since they don’t go outside as much (my cats dislike the cold).

The cat I had many many years ago was declawed in front, but I wasn’t the one to make that decision. My parents did, although I think they have since changed their minds about it, and believe it to be cruel as well.

23

Would you rather have the cat die at the humane society?

I have 2 cats, 1 has front claws declawed, the other is not declawed. I will probably never declaw another cat, but the one that has claws has dug a whole in our new couch, which doesn’t make me very happy. The declawed (front claws) cat would have left no part of my house unscratched if he could. But, again, that being said I will probably not declaw future cats.
But don’t be influenced by what others think is moral - the cat is your pet, and is lucky to have found someone to spend thousands of dollars to keep them alive. I think a cat would rather be declawed and alive than have claws in a gas chamber at the pound.

24

Ehh, for me the people whose houses look bad because of their pets, it’s not usually because of shredded furniture. It’s when they don’t vaccum or clean enough, there’s pet hair and it’s not real clean… And part and parcel of that “plunk it in the living room and forget it” mentality, they’ve kept that old lazyboy they were given when their parents redecorated and sure enough, the upholstery is starting to go since now their cat’s been using as a scratching post for the last 3 years. And that chair is the least of their decorative problems.

If you need a perfect house, avoid pets. And kids. And parties and guests and generally living there, and you’ll have a lovely place to theoretically live in.

Upholstered furniture isn’t going to last forever. Keeping a perfect couch under plastic for 20 years has never been a goal of mine. If you use it for even 5 years, it’s pretty likely to be somewhat shabby regardless of your pet’s bodily modifications.

My cats aren’t declawed. The most damage they’ve done is a few scratches on wood (old english is a fine product) from when they’ve launched themselves onto the desk or something (which are just as likely to be from the back as the front claws).
And the couch has the side of one arm which is starting to look a bit pulled (I’ve had it for 5 years, with 2 cats) but none of that really jumps out at you.

Cats are climbers, if every surface in you house is a priceless antique, you’re going to regret getting cats. If, on the other had, you have a good scratching place or two, enough room for the number of cats you have so they aren’t always trying to stake out new territory, and keep your kitties amused, and pick fabrics that are more forgiving, you can have nice furniture and intact kitties IMO.

That said, my cats immediately try to destroy wicker/rattan type furniture. So I avoid that.

I’ve also heard leather is problematic, but I don’t like the look so don’t have experience. I’ve found both the velvety and linen/woven type upholstery is quite forgiving of kitty claw punches.

Not blaming people who have their cats declawed, if that’s what you gotta do…I just would like to see people to react to their particular pet’s behavior rather that just do it as a preventative when there’s no real problem.

25

None of my cats will ever be declawed. My furniture is still nice. They only scratch two things in my house - their cat tree and my really old couch. Nothing I own is more important to me than my cats, I wouldn’t do it even if they were scratching my furniture.

26

While I can certainly understand and admire your passion in this matter, I think this statement may be a little too generalized. There are many circumstances in which declawing is the better alternative (e.g. cats scratching small children or other pets). Also, to say that someone loves furniture more than a pet is a gross overstatement. Ultimately, in my opinion it is better to have your cat declawed if it saves a ton of money in replacing valuables, injuring others (other pets included), and saving yourself lots of frustration and anger over something instinctual. In addition, I am a strong believer in keeping cats strictly indoors anyway, as the life expectancy of an outdoor cat is significantly less than an indoor (feline leukemia, FIV, FIP, cars, dogs, mean people, exposure, . . .) Putting a cat outside just b/c it scratches furniture, to me, is a less humane option than just doing the surgery and getting it over with. Finally, declawing is a perfectly acceptable “final” solution than the shelter or pound.

27

Declawed both of my indoor only cats. There were absolutely no ill effects and I don’t regret it all.

28

Most vets don’t do it like that anymore. That method was indeed cruel and inhumane.
Most use a laser method that DOES NOT remove the bone.

I’ve got three cats and they’re all declawed in front. It was done by laser. The vet pops out the claw (like you do by pressing on its pad) and lasers off the JUST the claw part. No bone was removed, no incision, no stitches, and it’s much less painful.
It’s more expensive, but it was worth it to me.

I took them in one morning, the procedure was done that morning, and they came home the next day around noon. The only reason they had to stay overnight was to monitor them from the effects of the anesthesia.
They didn’t even have any bandages. They didn’t seem to be in any pain, since they were jumping and running around as usual.
We’ve had several of these threads before. Some of them have gotten quite heated and nasty.
Do a search and see what turns up.

29

The people I was referring to actually bought the furniture less then two years ago, and are pretty good housekeepers. The cats just love the furniture for some reason.

hangs head and mutters to self “Search” is my friend. “Search” is my friend. “Search” is my friend . . .

30

DO NOT DECLAW YOUR CAT!!!

31

Fair enough Lissa, I was answering more in general than specific. Not trying to imply your friends are slobs or anything.

I just like to encourage people to find out if it’s a problem before trying to solve it. Kitty behavior varies quite a bit.

I’ve never had a biter, now suddenly I have Sid “I vant to drink your blud” who likes to chomp my ankle when things aren’t going his way. (doesn’t actually break the skin, but dang it makes me jump.)

And he’s not declawed, so can’t blame it on that. :wink:

32

Okay . . . I’m not a veterinarian. However, from a relatively medical standpoint (as I said previously . . . I was a tech for years, and have performed declawings myself), declawing just isn’t that big of a deal, folks.

Is it cruel for parents to put orthodontic braces on their children? In most cases, the latter isn’t even to prevent damage to anything . . . merely cosmetic. Declawing a cat (as long as the animal stays indoors) as a kitten is not a terribly traumatic procedure, in general. No more traumatic for your pet than a routine dental cleaning. There are of course risks involved with any surgery in which the animal must be anesthetized . . . but the quality of the cat’s life who grows from a kitten without claws is apparently no worse than that of their taloned peers.

Declawing an adult CAT . . . no, I wouldn’t do it. But it seems a bit farfetched to say that a person who doesn’t want their furniture ruined shouldn’t have a kitten.

33

vets here don’t do it routinely, and even if they i had i don’t think it’s fantastic.

our cat (who died, aged 14 last november) was not what you’d call the energetic type…he lived mostly on top of a cupboard, and only came down to fight with our dogs, get cuddles, eat, or sleep on someone’s bed.

you learn early on that they only scratch if they’re annoyed, and the “kneading” thing never bothered us enough to make him stop.

he really enjoyed climbing trees and perching on people’s shoulders and heads, don’t think he could have done that without his claws. i miss him.

our dogs were the ones that scratch…usually doors of rooms they want into…and we have an alsation/labrador cross at the moment, and a pyreannean mountain dog before that.
you get used to it.

the fur is worse.

34

We thought long and hard about declawing our new kitten. Because we have an geezer cat of 16 years old who is declawed, we decided for it. The new guy was very agressive toward the old cat and my husband’s arm.(He was a saved cat, and I think some abuse was involved) So He is no worse for wear, and the older cat can stand up to him.

35

After 5 years of working with an animal shelter I NEVER knew a cat to be declawed because of either of these reasons - this is an excuse not a reality. Also I never had a cat scratch a child unprovoked.

Declawinmg them effects them for the rest of their lives, IT’s hard to describe but the best way would be lack of confidence. I have had 8 fully clawed cats and 3 front declaws and notice a difference.

36

Okay, the general concensus is that declawing a cat is cruel. (A vet once offered to remove my dog’s dewclaws, which I declined as unnecessary.)

My next question: is it more cruel than spaying/neutering your exclusively-indoor pet?

My dog, for example, is spayed. I had it done when she was a puppy. Since she’s never outside alone, I have little worry about unwanted puppies, but I didn’t want to have her go into “heat.” (I thought it might make her uncomfortable.)

I spoke to a lady once who told me that I was selfish for doing so. The surgery made her uncomfortable for about three days, which the lady said was cruel because I didn’t want to be “bothered with the dog’s natural sexuality.”

What do you guys think?

37

Unless you’re breeding the animals on purpose, I think they should be rendered incapable of breeding. There are just way too many unwanted animals. Many times, even if you think there’s little chance of the animal breeding, the cat slips out or a male dog slips in your yard. Male dogs and cats are notoriously good at doing most anything to get to a female in heat. Like our mothers used to say, “It only takes one time!” I’d be interested to hear from Reinhold and k2daveon this.

38

don’t do it

39

I think it is cruel to not spay or neuter your animals…how would you like to feel super horny 24/7 and not be able to do anything about it?

I have a horse, a mare. I have never wanted to breed her, I don’t feel she is of quality to better her breed. But every time she goes into heat she has my sympathy. Spaying of horses isn’t usually done unless the mare in heat is a danger to herself or other people/horses.

Luckily, my horse is mellow in heat, but I do feel for her not being able to do anything about her discomfort and urges.

40

I completely agree. I’ve never owned a pedigreed animal, because I can’t bring myself to spend money on a “Brandname Dog” when there are millions who need homes.