Declawing cats.........

[Michele]

Is this inhumane or a good idea for some?

[HunnyBunnyBoo]

It's painful and invasive for the cat, and there are better ways to keep a cat's claws from damaging furniture, drapes, walls, or people. I think it's not legal in many countries.

That being said, I did have a cat declawed once. My landlord gave me two options: get rid of the cat's claws or get rid of the cat. She managed well in the surgery, healed well, and was an indoor only cat. When we found out that dh was allergic to cats, I found her a good home where she could be the spoiled only cat to a single woman again.

[Clio]

Inhumane, inhumane, inhumane!

[Echo2]

It is inhumane and should be illegal here like it is in many countries.

[kingclick]

Don't know enough about it to call it one way or another.

Yet I've met alot of declawed cats that were just fine without them. Happy and enjoying life!

[Echo2]

I know a couple of people who are amputees and they are happy and enjoying life also.

[kingclick]

I know a couple of people who are amputees and they are happy and enjoying life also.
Me too!

I do find it funny how we "own" pets. And take care of them and feed them and shelter them and pay for their medical bills. They are a possession. But when a person decides to make that pet a better match for their family...they are "inhumane!"

Kills me. If we cared about pets SOOOOOO much we wouldn't be creating them anymore because removing them from their natural habitat is just as inhumane.

[Clio]

I do find it funny how we "own" pets

I've never seen myself as "owning" my pets, I'm just their guardian while they're on this earth.

[Echo2]

If you have to surgicly change an animal to make him "fit" your household then you have picked the wrong animal for a pet.

Declawing a cat is not as simple as pulling out a toenail. It is an amputation of the last digit on each finger of the paw. Cats use their claws for balance, for protection, and sometimes for marking. Cats are as trainable than dogs if you know how to do it. They can be trained not to claw furneture. It is cruel to amputate the last digit of all of your cats fingers becasue you want to make him a better "fit" for your family. What if you had a dog and didn't like his giant paws tracking mud in the house so you made him a better "fit" and amputating his feet.

I am my pets caretaker. They have been bred to be domestic pets and can no longer servive in the wild on their own. I care for them as best I can. They are my responsibility. Amputating body parts to make them a better "fit" is the most disgusting thing I have heard in a long while.

KING - "But when a person decides to make that pet a better match for their family...they are "inhumane!"

My child is too noisy so I am going to have his vocal cords removed to make him a better "fit" for my family. It will be done humanely and he wont even miss them. In fact, I'll bet he will grow up to be happy and enjoy life.

[kingclick]

Yeah. I guess when I neuter and spay my animals I'm not surgically making them fit into my household.

[Echo2]

No, you are not. You are helping to keep them safe from diseases and from wondering and getting lost and from making more unwanted pets.

[kingclick]

They are both drastic medical procedures that are equally inhumane. If one is inhumane because I am imposing my will upon the animal. The other is as well.

Again. I don't know much about the procedure itself. But I've seen a bunch of happy healthy cats that have been declawed.

[Clio]

They are both drastic medical procedures that are equally inhumane

Spaying and neutering is not inhumane. It's like being sterilised or having a vasectomy. Do you consider sterilisation and vasectomies inhumane?

Preventing an animal from reproducing out of control is inhumane. Having a cat walking on what are essentially it's knuckles after being declawed is inhumane.

[GracieMae]

Preventing an animal from reproducing out of control is inhumane. Having a cat walking on what are essentially it's knuckles after being declawed is inhumane.

:claps: :claps: :claps:

[Echo2]

King, are you trying to say that you don't understand the distinction between amputating limbs for the convenience of your furneture and sterilization to control population and save thousands of animals from starvation?

[kingclick]

Spaying and neutering is not inhumane. It's like being sterilised or having a vasectomy. Do you consider sterilisation and vasectomies inhumane?

Yes. Equally inhumane.

Go out to the mall and ask any guy. Do you want your nuts cut off? Or would you rather be declawed?

I'm sure you will get some interesting responses very similar to Cheney talking in the Senate.

And I will bet that women would have a simlar response.

[kingclick]

King, are you trying to say that you don't understand the distinction between amputating limbs for the convenience of your furneture and sterilization to control population and save thousands of animals from starvation?
There is no difference in the INHUMANE part of it. Both are surgically altering something without their consent. Period. If we think we have a right to do one. We have the right to do the other.

[GracieMae]

Ok KL, what about the stray population? Most men don't father hundreds of unwanted offspring and leave them to fend for themselves.

[Echo2]

You crack me up king. Sometimes it's hard to tell when you are serious and when you are just being a goofball because you make the most rediculous statements. I am assuming you are just goofing around here because even you couldn't possibly believe what you are writing. LOL

[kingclick]

Ok KL, what about the stray population? Most men don't father hundreds of unwanted offspring and leave them to fend for themselves.
What about the stray population? I have NO PROBLEM with spaying and neutering.

[GracieMae]

You feel it's inhumane. Isn't having starving and mistreated animals wondering the streets more inhumane?

[kingclick]

No. Not really.

[FireDance]

You can order online or get them at your "pet supermarket": SoftPaws

We've used these for about 3 months now and no complaints (well, except the part where I glued my fingers together). But seriously, they're just caps that go over the nails. How long they stay on depends on how well you do the glue job and the individual cat. (I have one cat that pulls them off his right "hand" and then another that is clueless or perhaps he doesn't mind them as much as he's worn them since he was small.) They do kind of freak out the first time they "tip, tap" across the hardwood floors, but get used to it. I've declawed before and won't do it again. No problems with it, I just don't think it's humane. We're working on a set of "Purple Claws" at the moment. (How un-catlike!)

We have also had them applied at the vet for about $18. However, you can buy a "huge" supply and do it yourself for that price. Helps if you have two people to do it, but not totally necessary. Take a look at their website and see what you think!

[GracieMae]

No. Not really.

So you honestly feel being "fixed" is more imhumane than starving or being homeless? :confused:

[kingclick]

As an animal? No. There are BILLIONS no....TRILLIONS of homeless and hungry animals in our forests every day.

[Echo2]

He's a guy, their entire identity is in their sex organs. I know men that refuse to have their pets fixed for exactly that reason. They somehow associate their balls with the pets balls and get all wiggy about it.

[Echo2]

Wild animals livimg in the forest are not homeless. Domesticated animals living in the forest or on the street are homeless.

[kingclick]

He's a guy, their entire identity is in their sex organs. I know men that refuse to have their pets fixed for exactly that reason. They somehow associate their balls with the pets balls and get all wiggy about it.
Good try at making this personal, but I already said I have no problem with spaying and neutering.

[Clio]

Go out to the mall and ask any guy. Do you want your nuts cut off? Or would you rather be declawed?

I'm sure you will get some interesting responses very similar to Cheney talking in the Senate.

And I will bet that women would have a simlar response.


I'm a woman, and I think being sterilised is the a very responsible method of birth control.

You obviously are extremely uneducated about vasectomies. It's not having your "nuts cut off", although right now that option appeals to me. You lose the ability to ejaculate sperm, that's all. Your precious twig and berries remain unharmed.


I'm at a loss as to why you think that method of responsible birth control is inhumane. I have to ask if you know the meaning of the word "inhumane". Would tens of thousand of men and women opt for an "inhumane" procedure to be voluntarily carried out on themselves?

There is no difference in the INHUMANE part of it. Both are surgically altering something without their consent

Then you have just accused every parent who has ever signed a consent form for their child to have surgery carried out on them of inhumane treatment of their child.

What about the parents who have a baby with a very obvious birthmark on his/her face. They opt for a surgical procedure to have it removed. Are they inhumane? Because by your definition of inhumane...."Both are surgically altering something without their consent"...........they are.

[kingclick]

Yep. Just as inhumane as giving consent for their child to have surgery.

[Echo2]

If you had your son circumsized it would be inhumane. ("you" meant rhetorically of course).

[kingclick]

Yep. Just as inhumane.

[Mabel]

If one is inhumane because I am imposing my will upon the animal. The other is as well.

I can't find where anyone said this was the reason declawing is inhumane - I thought people thought it was inhumane because it essentially leaves an animal walking on their knuckes....

[Echo2]

I think King is just trying to add some spice to the board today.

Just out of curiosity king. I know you are a die hard pro lifer. Is it inhumane for a woman to have a cesarian section. Essentially cutting the child from her body without the childs permission. Impossing her will on an unborn child.

[Clio]

I agree. KL is taking the piss me thinks. No father in his right mind would say giving consent for his child to have surgery is inhumane.

He's just poking us with a big stick today.

[kingclick]

Just as inhumane.

I see them all pretty much about the same. I'm not one to elevate animals above humans.

I had a dog. That dog had back problems. Whined and pissed on the floor because of the back problems. Now if I had chosen to GIVE her something that made her miserable and yelp and piss on the floor, THAT would TRULY be inhumane. However declawing doesn't do that. All it does is change the cats claws. Like I've said. Happy cats without claws. Not crying all day long and whining and pissing on the floor from the pain. But HAPPY CATS.

So in my opinion it's NOT any more inhumane as any other procedure that doesn't create permanent pain.

[Epicurus]

Staying away from the ridiculous discussion taking place in this thread.
I had two cats declawed many years ago at the same time. I would NEVER do it again. I believe it is inhumane. I have seen the soft claws and think they are totally cool. A friend of mine uses them. The only thing inhumane about them was they put hot pink ones on their male cat:) Teenagers.

Anyway, about my declawed cats. They both died as a result of this decision. One fell in the closet and could not grasp anything to stop the fall nor turn upright because of the close quarters. He died with a broken neck. The other cat got out of the house and was mauled by neighbor dogs. She could not climb up the fence fast enough without claws and they killed her most brutally. It was a horrible thing to do to my cats and I deeply regret it. I have a cat now and he does just fine with his claws in the house and out too.

Collette

[Clio]

The only thing inhumane about them was they put hot pink ones on their male cat

:howling:

[kingclick]

Staying away from the ridiculous discussion taking place in this thread.
I had two cats declawed many years ago at the same time. I would NEVER do it again. I believe it is inhumane. I have seen the soft claws and think they are totally cool. A friend of mine uses them. The only thing inhumane about them was they put hot pink ones on their male cat:) Teenagers.

Anyway, about my declawed cats. They both died as a result of this decision. One fell in the closet and could not grasp anything to stop the fall nor turn upright because of the close quarters. He died with a broken neck. The other cat got out of the house and was mauled by neighbor dogs. She could not climb up the fence fast enough without claws and they killed her most brutally. It was a horrible thing to do to my cats and I deeply regret it. I have a cat now and he does just fine with his claws in the house and out too.

Collette
Collette,
Now THOSE are some good reasons not to declaw a cat. I'm sorry for your losses. Thank you for sharing.

[mle30]

While growing up, we generally had either two cats or two dogs as pets at any one time. That's five cats in all, all declawed in their front paws. Never had a problem with behavior, never had a problem with falling, never had a problem with getting outside, never had a problem with biting. The shortest-lived one died at 4 due to liver cancer. The rest lived into the double digits, with the oldest dying at 14.

A little O/T, except that it relates to the fact that declawing entails amputating the first phalanges of each toe:
1. If the choice was between me or someone else being euthanized or starving if I didn't get my digits removed, I'd have them removed.
2. My vet, and many others, believe that declawing, if done properly (my rescue kitty had 2-day in-vet observation, absorbable sutures, analgesics for the next week) and done to ensure the cat has a forever-home, do more good than bad for the cat.
3. I've worked with people who have, due to birth defects, either walked on their ankles or knees. I've had it explained to me that it's not the same as a limbed person walking on their knuckles. With half of what would have made the knuckle gone, there is no sensitive synovium, joint fluid, etc, that would hurt a "normal" person. For example, my friend had no kneecap to hurt when he 'walked'. He always had to explain, over and again, that he was okay, thanks.