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Declawing a catThis forum post has messages dated from 10/17/06 through 11/11/11, please be sure to read all the messages. If you feel it is old or outdated, please follow up with a question or comment and someone may be able to update it, or reply with newer information if you have it. - Cats
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| Declawing a catI am thinking of getting a kitten but i worry about it scratching my toddler. Is declawing a cat really as bad as they say it is? What else could i do in its place to stop a kitten from scratching furniture and my toddler? |
|  I don't think it is so far. The front claws anyways. Just make sure the vet keeps your cat for a couple days. The vet here wasn't too anxious to do the declawing.Talking to a local about it, it's more of an "american" thing to do. |
| If the cat is going to be an outside cat I don't know if it would be a good idea. I definitely think it is a good idea in terms of the toddler. But I have always heard that if cats are going to be outside and they are declawed they won't have a way to defend themselves as well with no front claws. I don't have any cats this is just something a friend told me who does have cats. If it is going to be an indooor cat then definitely yes. You don't want your little one getting scratched and then being afraid of the cat. |
| Do not declaw a cat that spends anytime outside. That is the only defense they have against other animals. If you have an indoor cat that stays indoors 24/7 then I think it would be ok to declaw him/her. |
| Is there another way to handle this problem then declawing them? It does sound cruel. I heard recently about something that goes over the nail and a vet can put it on. Has anyone else heard about this? |
| Do a simple google search for declawing + cat (www.google.ca/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG, GGLG:2006-42, GGLG:en&q=declawing+cat) and you'll see why you shouldn't even consider declawing your cat. It's absolutely horrible and it leaves your pet totally defenseless. Sure, you might never plan on letting your kitty go outside, but what happens if she escapes through an open window or if there's a natural disaster & the roof blows off (etc)??? Then she's go ZERO way to defend herself against other cats or dogs, it's hard for her to catch food, and she can't climb into trees or away from danger (for example, how many declawed cats died in New Orleans last year because they couldn't climb out away from the rising flood waters??). No, even if you don't consider the actual surgery itself, declawing is truly barbaric thing to do to an animal that is so dependent on humans for its survival. It's like forcing your cat to wear a muzzle all day every day. "But what about my sofa??", you ask. Well, buy something called Soft Claws (aka Soft Paws): www.claws.com - they're easy to apply & widely available rubber tips that you glue over your cats' nails (like the fake nails that some women wear). They aren't permanent and simply fall off the next time your cat sheds a nail layer . You can apply them yourself or have your vet do it for you. They're fantastic. DON'T DECLAW. Really. It's not fair to your cat - you can't promise that nothing will ever happen to your kitty, so don't take away his only way to protect or save himself. |
| oops, sorry - the link for soft claws came out wrong. It should be www.softclaws.com Check it out. They come in lots of funky colours and always get a big chuckle from guests (or vets) when they first notice that your cat has pink (or blue or yellow or striped) toe nails :) |
| Would you want your fingernails forcibly ripped out? Would you want the bones in your fingers removed to the first knuckle? That's about what happens to your cat when it's declawed. Declawing a cat is very inhumane. Try going to any shelter and saying the word declaw. Doubtful you will be allowed to adopt a cat. I'm just a little passionate about this. |
| The same shelter that will rip reproductive organs out without thinking twice. |
| Did I read that correctly? Lee are you saying that spaying or neutering a cat, which is absolutely humane, is somehow comparable to declawing? Do you even know what declawing is? Or what spaying or neutering is? And the benefits it provides? |
| Both are cutting away natural, normal parts of the animal. The "benefits" of both are just "benefits" for us. They are not benefits for the animals. Don't forget animals have survived for a very long time without any human intervention. |
| Yeah both are surgical procedures, but only a man would consider spaying or neutering an animal to be mutilation. Women have hysterectomies all the time and there are no significant problems if it is done properly and not done too young. That's a debate I had - and won - with the shelter where I got my Siamese. But while you wouldn't bat an eyelash at your wife having a hysterectomy, you would freak if she wanted to have all her fingers chopped back to the first knuckle. Get a grip dude and learn the difference between surgery and mutilation. Unless you intend to adopt millions of stray cats you have to understand that fixing them is necessary. A female adult cat has 3 stages of life - she's either pregnant, nursing, or in heat. It's not like dogs where there is a season. I wouldn't want to live that way! |
| "no significant problems"... yet there is a significant alteration to the body. Additionally, I don't believe that it would be considered normal for girls to get a hysterectomy as they reach maturity. A hysterectomy is normally done to resolve a medical problem. Where fixing and/or declawing of animals is not done because the animal has any medical problem. |
#13inside my igloo...brrrr | Well if your cat is going to be an inside cat that I don't see why you wouldn't want to declaw the front paw only. Keep the back claws in for protection just in case it gets outside so it can protect itself and climb in case of danger. |
| Kimmy, did you read anything about what declawing is? Why would you electively do that to your pet. Would you remove part of the bones in a dog's paws? Then why do it to a cat? |
| Personally I would never do it. All it really does is leave the animal defenseless. I would try the soft claws first and maybe that will work. Also get your kitten a scratching post. If it can find other things to scratch maybe it will leave your furniture alone. |
| I used to put Soft Paws on one cat. I had to have the vet do it because the cat wouldn't let me. The vet didn't like Soft Paws. There were problems with the nail cap not falling off and it causing the cat pain. I had to agree with the vet, but I needed to do something to minimize the damage the cat did to herself with her scratching. |
| i have tried the Soft Paws and my cat just takes them off i dont want to have to declaw her but what else can i do? |
| Declawing is very barbaric. If youdo this, maybe you should as well consider removing all teeth of your cat as it can use them. You can not compare declawing with spaying. Declawing is just done for your convenience whereas spaying is also good for your cat. It prolonges cats life, spayed cat has smaller risk of breast cancer as well as pyometritis. |
| I agree with Lee, Spaying or Neutering a cat is just as barbaric as declawing your cat. How would you like for someone to take way your reproductive capabilities against your will? What is crueler; a cat not getting adopted or a surgery carried out by a good veterinarian? Is it really better for a cat to be locked up in a cage for a significant period of time or be put on death row in several states? I have had four cats in my life time, two of which I have now. The bottom line is that; 1) soft-paws do not work as they will come off about every 2-3 days and a fortune will be provided to soft-paws Company. 2) Yes, you can train a cat to use a scratching post but he/she will not think twice about using your couch or rug when it is sick of the 5 scratching devices it has. You can use water as a deterrent but they are smart enough the realize what they can get away with when your not around. 3) Is putting tape or foil over all your furniture a long term and practical deterrent? 3) A declawed cat will not be in danger by s |
| I agree with Lee, Spaying or Neutering a cat is just as barbaric as declawing your cat. How would you like for someone to take way your reproductive capabilities against your will? What is crueler; a cat not getting adopted or a surgery carried out by a good veterinarian? Is it really better for a cat to be locked up in a cage for a significant period of time or be put on death row in several states? I have had four cats in my life time, two of which I have now. The bottom line is that; 1) soft-paws do not work as they will come off about every 2-3 days and a fortune will be provided to soft-paws Company. 2) Yes, you can train a cat to use a scratching post but he/she will not think twice about using your couch or rug when it is sick of the 5 scratching devices it has. You can use water as a deterrent but they are smart enough the realize what they can get away with when your not around. 3) Is putting tape or foil over all your furniture a long term and practical deterrent? 3) A declawed cat will not be in danger by sneaking outside if you are responsible enough to look out for there safety. 4) Declawing should only be performed on kittens as it is far less traumatic for them and they bounce back quickly without any extra urge to bite. 6) Is piece of mind for your children worth it? My two lovely cats are without front claws and enjoy the warm roof over there head, the great variety of 100% organic food (select cuts of meat and low grains like in the wild) they eat every day, playing with my wife and I, and keeping each other company. Both of my cats still run, jump, and climb without favoring the back or front legs. |
| My mother recently had her two cats nails trimmed (very low) which was a MUCH more humane thing to do. You can actually purchase a nail trimmer at your local pet store and trim them yourself. |
| I to have considered this and I sincerely think that any parent should think of their childs safety first and foremost. I took in a kitten and do love it like another child but my kids are my kids and keeping my littlest from a deep scratch on his face or near his eye is something I had to keep from happening. Any surgery can seem terrible if you read too much into the detail but as far as domestic cats go they have been declawing them for a long time and they do come out of surgery to leave a normal life if done properly at a kitten stage. Its something a household must decide and live with. |
| "Yeah both are surgical procedures, but only a man would consider spaying or neutering an animal to be mutilation." Wow. Just wow. That must make me a man then, huh? Stop being a prejudiced loser with no real arguments, or go away. If you can't defend what you're saying without bringing completely irrelevant (and incorrect) assumptions into the picture, GTFO. I am a woman. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe that birth control in animals is a bad thing. In fact, even surgeries are okay. What I have a problem with, rather, is the unjust forced castration and/or removal of uterus in anything we feel like doing it to. The reality of the situation is, there are much safer, less mutilating ways of sterilizing an animal (injectables, vasectomy, tubal ligation). In conventional neutering (of either gender), there are a host of complications and increased risks that arise from surgery such as a range of cancers including bone, urinary tract, and Hemangiosarcoma (blood tumors). Increased risk of the bodies' rejection of vaccines, fourfold risk of prostate cancer in male dogs, thyroid problems in females, and hair loss. None of the other options have these risks. For these reasons, I would consider neutering to very obviously be mutilation. Considering the alternatives it seems almost pathetically cruel that most people still do this to their pets in the name of the well-being of animals. You can argue what you will (and I know you will) but really, take the time to think about it. These surgeries are not human surgeries. The dog does not have a triple-shot of morphine and a comforting surgeon talking to him softly. He does not know what is happening to him, all he can hear is the screams of other dogs. He doesn't know if you're leaving him here and never coming back; for all he knows the vet is about to kill him. Most of all he is alone, and scared, and when he wakes up his nuts are gone. If your parents had done something like that to you as a child what do you think your reaction would have been? Someone that you loved and looked up to, the only person in your life, who you thought would always protect and care for you, took you to a strange place and let them cut your balls off/ out. Are we smarter than them? I don't know. Dogs are much, much more intelligent than you would believe. If we are, does that give us the right to take off body parts? Some would consider that mentality that of a serial killer. I seem to remember a law from many, many years ago. It stated that epileptics and the mentally slow were to be subject to mandatory castration, even though those afflictions were not hereditary. We haven't really come a long way. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Neutering Used to assist in an animal rescue center, and have owned many, many dogs and cats. Postscript; Declawing is a terrible, unnatural procedure. Here's a tip, if you don't like the fact that a cat has claws, don't get a cat. What you are describing is like buying a songbird only to rip all its feathers out. |
| I have had atleast one cat in my house my whole life. They have all been declawed. It has only been in the last ten years that declawing has been viewed as barbaric. I currently have 4 cats; one is declawed, the other three are not. The three that still have claws are all around 1 year old. I will be taking all 3 to be declawed this week. I have tried everything under the sun to keep them from scratching me, the furniture, the blinds, the screens, the dogs, etc but nothing works.My house looks like a kitty playground with all the scratching posts. There is tape and tin foil on every vertical service. They pull off the soft paws which can become nasty from them scratching around the litter box. I dearly love all my animals and they are given the best of everything. My promise to them is to take care of them for the rest of their lives; which is why they will be declawed. They are not allowed outside ever. None of my cats have ever had a problem from declawing. If the surgery is done by a competent vet, they are bouncing around just like before. This is my opinion only from having owned about a dozen cats in the past 30 years. |
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