posted
I look at declawing the way I look at, say, circumcision. It's a brutal surgery with a painful recovery period, especially if done late in life, and a lot of the time it's done with no real reason except convenience. At the same time, sometimes there's nothing else you *can* do, when a cat that you love won't stop hurting people. (i realized upon re-reading this that it looks like i'm advocating cat circumcision in dire situations :-p)
My cat growing up was front paw declawed, and I don't remember her having any problems with anything. She was mostly an indoor cat, though.
My two cats now I adopted from a no-kill cat shelter that expressly forbids declawing as a condition for adopting. I respect that, i even primarily agree with it, and I think that sort of demand on the organizations part makes sense, because only folks who can put up with a clawed cat will adopt.
In general, though, I think a lot of people declaw for convenience and because of ignorance. Convenience because it's so much nicer not having the sides of your sofa frayed and your white silk curtains shredded -- and yet they're ignorant of the fact that declawing is actually major surgery, that removes an entire knuckle from your cats paw -- bone and nail. It is akin to removing the hoof from a horse, actually -- since the hoof is actually an extension of bone inside.
It's painful and for a lot of cats, the recovery is not quick. You know vets recommend using torn up newspapers in your cat's litter for a week or so after neutering/spaying? Well, that's because the cat can often and will often not pee in a way that is conducive to healing, and will get litter granules inside the wound, or just rub it's belly against the litter inadvertantly. I didn't do the newspaper thing with my two cats, though, because i knew from their previous litter habits that they would not actually lie down in the litter, nor brush it into their tummy areas.
This same thing applies to cats that have just been declawed. Sure, some of them will be very delicate with their paws, thus speeding up the recovery process. But some won't, and for those poor feline souls the process is PAAAAINFUL.
Hmm. Writing this post has reminded me how much i want to be a veterinary technician. I needed that reminder.
posted
Bernie tried to bite the lamp cord the other day. And he always always ALWAYS LIKES BITING MY HEADPHONE CHORDS IN HALF!!!! But I wouldn't get his teeth removed... I reckon this sort of behaviour is part of having a pet. They don't know they are destroying things. Bernie doesn't know why I hate him running on my Dir en grey magazines with his sharp claws or having his claws running on my bare feet... You just can't have a pet without them irratating you in some ways, but often they look cute while they do it.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I've never had a problem with my cat scratching anything. She has all her claws, and we've never had issue one with her shredding or destroying anything.
Did I just get lucky with my cat?
As for de-clawing, I'm not really for or against with any passion either way. Same with docking tails or ears, the traditions were started for utilitarian reasons, back when dogs were members of working ranches and farmsteads and not just pets, though I agree that it is rather pointless for my Aussies to have docked tails, they aren't going to be shown nor are they going to be working any livestock. But, the docking is done so early, that when I went to the breeder it was already done.
I've since seen pics of Aussies with beautiful fluffy tails and think my dogs would have been cute with their tails, but they're also beautiful without them.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote: You just can't have a pet without them irratating you in some ways, but often they look cute while they do it.
That's a great quote. I feel a real kinship with Hagrid, because I know that my pets are also nasty, dangerous, and revolting, but they're just so CUTE!
Drive By once sliced the palm of my hand open when I was carrying her into the other room to see Dr. George. It was deep and bled a lot and took weeks to heal. They have certainly redone my furniture in ways that don't coincide with my tastes in interior decorating, but I just decided furniture didn't matter to me as much as cats. Babies do the same thing to furniture (destroy it, I mean). They pee and vomit on it, chew on it leaving teeth marks in the wood, bang on the piano keys with their Fisher Price toys and leave cracks in the bakelite of the keys, etc. That's called "antiquing". It adds character. <laughs>
Seriously, curtains don't add much to my quality of life. I like for things in my house to be nice, but I really don't like houses that look too perfect, with everything new and everything in perfect taste. They are so dead and soulless that way, I think. I like for a house to reflect the spirit of happiness of the family who lives there. In our house, part of that family is the cats. Sure, their tastes are somewhat different than mine, but we have to work it out together and come up with a solution we both can live with. I buy big slipcovers to throw over my upholstered furniture, and they agree to go into the basement area to use the litterbox.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Isn't a de-clawed cat better than a executed cat? If a family won't adopt a cat unless it is de-clawed, I vote - let the cat's claws go. Painful or not, it's better than having another cat in the shelter or euthanization room.
Posts: 494 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
If the family is insisting on declawing as a condition of adoption, I wouldn't let them adopt. Someone who's that dead set on declawing is probably not going to be open to education on the matter. Although amputating their fingers might get the message through {evil grin}
(and the weird thing is that I didn't even have an opinion on this until I got my two...)
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Ron insisted we have my kitties declawed when we married, because he had a bunch of antique furniture and had brown up with a psychotic cat that routinely attacked people for no reason, often scarring them.
We were young, and didn't have any idea how difficult it could be. The cats seemed to recover well, until we realized that Oedipus had an infected toe. Then we found out he had grown back several of his claws, and they had to be removed again because they would only continue to cause infections and things.
I felt horrible, and I won't have it done to an animal again. We ended up placing them in other homes, because Ron has allergies anyway. Then we had kids instead of pets. *shrug* I basically had to choose between having pets and having a husband. It was a nearer thing than it sounds. Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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Olivet: See, that would be a dealbreaker for me. I can see why that was tough, even though Ron is a great guy.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Working at a veterinary clinic, I get to see the pluses and minuses of having a cat declawed. First of all, you have to decide how you personally feel about it. Many people disagree with it whereas others don't see it as a problem.
Declawing is equvalent to amputating the top part of each of your fingers. It is a fairly painful recovery considering they still have to walk on their feet right after surgery. I would recommend that if you are going to declaw a cat, do it when it is young because they recover much faster and heal better than older cats. Also, I see no need to ever declaw all four feet...just the front two are more than enough.
I have one cat. I hate to say it, but I really wish I had her declawed. We got her when she was just a kitten. I told my mom that if she started scratching people or was really bad at the vets, that we would get her declawed (plus, she already going to be a strict indoor cat). I just didn't want to make her have this painful surgery if she didn't have to.
The whole idea was that if she was good, she wouldn't get the surgery, but if she was bad then she would get declawed so as to reduce the chance she would hurt someone. Well, for the first year, she was wonderful. She even let me trim her claws with little fuss. However, once she turned one, she became a little terror.
I now realize that this is the case with most calicos. She can be real lovey at some points and then, without warning, she will swat at you or try to bite you. Now I have to get help to hold her down and clip her toenails. She fights and cries the whole time and hides for days afterward. I kinda wish I didn't have to do that so often. Also, my sister is semi-allergic to the cat and she has to be extra careful not to let the cat scratch her.
Posts: 306 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Tatiana, by then I was already married, so it became a choice of having pets or divorcing. We actually got the pets together, and lived with just my old furniture until his parents refused to store his stuff any more. Also, neither of us had any idea what declawing meant (neither of us had ever had it done on a pet before). His allergies were mild enough that we didn't realize what they were until it was too late.
But, they found happy, loving homes, so it worked out for the best.
Posts: 9293 | Registered: Aug 2000
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posted
It is precisely because pets seem like so much work that I don't have any. If anything is going to ask for that much of my time, attention, and self-sacrifice, I prefer it be human.
Matt loves pets, though, so I'll bet we have some. It's a really cute trait - they gravitate to him, and he's very gentle with them. Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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posted
Ooo. Get rabbits. Rabbits are the best. As long as they are spayed and neutered and do not make a billion baby rabbits you have to take care of and keep from biting wires in half. But nothing is cuter than a rabbit doing a happy dance all over the house.
Posts: 9942 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:She can be real lovey at some points and then, without warning, she will swat at you or try to bite you.
Raina used to do this. She is biting a lot less, now that I've learned to read her subtle signs. For instance, if I am petting her and she starts thumping her tail, I know she's getting overstimulated and I'd better back off. If I keep petting her, she'll bite me.
Purring does not necessarily mean your cat is happy. Cats purr at other times, too--like when they're in pain. So don't rely on purring as a sign that all is well. Instead, watch her tail, ears, and whiskers. Body language in cats.
Posts: 1805 | Registered: Jun 1999
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