We had a cat who had to have one toe declawed. His paw was broken before we got him, and two toes healed with the claws frozen. One was frozen “in” (retracted), but the other was frozen “out” (extended), and would get caught on things and bleed. So he had one toe declawed when he was neutered. The bill said “amputate digit.” If I hadn’t already been against declawing, that would have done it.
Our cats have never been terribly destructive. I guess we’ve just been lucky. They pretty much claw the stuff we buy for them to claw.
On a silly note, because I know that it’s probably not the standard, my Tom cat’s surgery was internal, they made a snip, pulled, and left him with an empty fluffy ball sack. So he still has something there. That was a cat’s protection no cost vet.
So everybody should do it that way. Females, you can’t tell it’s been done without shaving for a scar or a second surgery anyway.
Ta Da, no mutilation, win win.
Are any such mutilations ever done on dogs on a regular basis? Are they ever declawed to stop them from digging? Are their teeth ever filed down(or even removed) to make them less destructive and/or dangerous?
No. There’s no reason for something to be made “illegal” when a governing body oversees a profession. Let the profession decide whether or not to offer the surgery.
Should circumcision be made illegal? Breast enhancement surgery? Tricorn hats?
I had no idea that declawing of cats was controversial until I opened this thread.
Our rescue charities strongly encourage the adopters to keep the cats in at all times.
I have three cats, the older two are declawed. The newest one was a feral cat that we took in, and she still goes outside. We didn’t have any of them as kittens by the way.
I don’t know. But if they were, I’d think the medical regulating/licensing body would be the one to decide what effect, if any, that fact would have on whether or not the procedure was offered.
Tails and ears are regularly docked. But not for practical reasons in most cases; in working breeds it’s traditionally done to protect the animal from injury, not to protect human furniture.
Sex is very painful for female cats. The male cat’s penis has barbs that point outward so when he withdraws it, it is quite uncomfortable. I do not think enjoyment is part of the equation with regard to female cats.
Well, no. It’s not a finger. The cat’s not going to play the piano, tie its shoes or sign a check. It’s a toe on the paw and the last digit is held in a raised position to keep the claw retracted when not in use. The whole purpose of that digit is to move the claw up and down so, if there’s no claw, the digit pretty much has no function. It is not remotely like removing the last digit of a finger.
Much like circumcision, declawing is one of those issues where one side is WAY more emotionally invested in it than the other. One side says “Eh, do it if you want… or don’t… whatever” and the other side is “Never do this ever”. That imbalance of emotional energy tends to make debates on the topic tiresome as the more strongly invested side tries to demonize or shame the “eh, whatever” side into submission. There isn’t really a counter “Everyone must declaw or they’re monsters” side.
Personally, I’ve never bothered declawing before. My wife wanted the latest one declawed and so it goes. Haven’t seen where it really made a difference and the other option was not adopting a cat that needed a home from a shelter with way too many other cats that also needed homes. So the whole “Maybe you don’t DESERVE a cat!” schtick sounds hollow to me. Sure, maybe the cat deserved to stay homeless instead. That’d be way more awesome than a fed, sheltered and pampered cat with no claws.
