Cat about to be declawed.... :(

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Declawing should not be an option. Trim the claws, train the cats or give them to a respectful home that will.

eating meat shouldn't be an option. if you eat meat you clearly don't care about the suffering of animals or respect their right to life. you are cruel inhuman and definetly not fit to have a pet.

I see your point, but let's face it. He is right. Taking a cat in as a pet is a responsibility and it isn't hard to trim claws and train them well. Most people with these problems have the problems because they do little to no training. Declawing is the default option for irresponsible pet owners that don't know what they are doing.

So why is declawing inhumane, but spaying/neutering isn't? Not only are you removing a part of the animal's body, you're fundamentally altering their personality!

 

[SlowSpyder]

Originally posted by: Steve
There is nothing wrong with declawing a cat.

I had a cat that was declawed in the front, he was perfectly happy and fine.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Declawing should not be an option. Trim the claws, train the cats or give them to a respectful home that will.

eating meat shouldn't be an option. if you eat meat you clearly don't care about the suffering of animals or respect their right to life. you are cruel inhuman and definetly not fit to have a pet.

I see your point, but let's face it. He is right. Taking a cat in as a pet is a responsibility and it isn't hard to trim claws and train them well. Most people with these problems have the problems because they do little to no training. Declawing is the default option for irresponsible pet owners that don't know what they are doing.

So why is declawing inhumane, but spaying/neutering isn't? Not only are you removing a part of the animal's body, you're fundamentally altering their personality!

I don't think it is inhumane in comparison to what people already do. I just think this happens to be one of those things which we have much more control over without having to use brute force to resolve the problem. Brute force methods are usually not the best even though they seem easier. Besides, declawing doesn't solve the entire problem here. It is a band aid solution. Cats who are not trained claw at stuff and they bite furniture too. Obviously, you cannot remove the cat's teeth.

More or less, I say you solve the problem at it's core instead of jumping around the issue just because you are lazy and looking for an easy solution which really doesn't work. Train your damn cats.

 

[Wag]

Originally posted by: Deeko
So why is declawing inhumane, but spaying/neutering isn't? Not only are you removing a part of the animal's body, you're fundamentally altering their personality!

Spaying/neutering is humane because there is an overpopulation of animals and left to their own devices they'd copulate to no-end. Also people are irresponsible and let their pets out and they have litter after litter, move and leave their stray cats behind. Bastards.

You will find that most vets will not declaw cats at all anymore. If you get a cat, buy them a scratching post, put balloons on your furniture, screen doors, etc- buy a water pistol and spray them when they scratch the furniture, but cats scratch-that's just how it is- if you get one learn to live with it.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: SlowSpyder

Originally posted by: Steve
There is nothing wrong with declawing a cat.

I had a cat that was declawed in the front, he was perfectly happy and fine.

Agreed. The cats we had when I was a kid were declawed and happy, and of the three I have currently, the one who is declawed doesn't act noticeably different than the others (other than normal personality differences).

Oh, and for the record, I went to high school with a guy who was missing the last knuckle from all his fingers and thumbs, and it didn't seem to affect him too badly. He still played sports and was a drummer.

 

[Deeko]

-untrained cats bite furniture? Where do you get that from? Between my mom and my roommate I have seen a LOT of cats, some declawed, some not, and none of them bit furniture. Or people. I don't know where all this "they'll bite if they don't scratch" comes from
-Sure, a cat will reproduce to no end if unspayed/neutered....so train your damn cat! Or keep your cat inside.
-You want to talk irresponsible, how about letting your cat wander around outside unsupervised, where it can get attacked by dogs and/or other cats and/or stolen and/or hit by a car?

I really don't see why people consider this to be so terrible.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: Deeko
-untrained cats bite furniture? Where do you get that from? Between my mom and my roommate I have seen a LOT of cats, some declawed, some not, and none of them bit furniture. Or people. I don't know where all this "they'll bite if they don't scratch" comes from

I don't know what else to tell you other than my experiences are different. Perhaps it is partially related to breed? I have no idea.

Originally posted by: Deeko
-Sure, a cat will reproduce to no end if unspayed/neutered....so train your damn cat! Or keep your cat inside.

You can't train a cat to not breed. Many people own multiple cats of mixed sex so this becomes an issue. I won't argue that one is less humane than the other though. I can only argue that one has more options to work with than the other and surgical operations shouldn't be the #1 choice in any case where other reasonable options are available.

Originally posted by: Deeko
-You want to talk irresponsible, how about letting your cat wander around outside unsupervised, where it can get attacked by dogs and/or other cats and/or stolen and/or hit by a car?

I really don't see why people consider this to be so terrible.

This is a completely different issue all together so in support of keeping our eyes on the ball here I will not comment more than that.

 

[maxster]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Declawing should not be an option. Trim the claws, train the cats or give them to a respectful home that will.

eating meat shouldn't be an option. if you eat meat you clearly don't care about the suffering of animals or respect their right to life. you are cruel inhuman and definetly not fit to have a pet.

:beer:

Nothing wrong with declawing a cat.

 

[Wag]

Hmm, I wonder if all the people who think it's OK to declaw a cat think it's ok to "debark" a dog?

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: Deeko
Declawed cats are PERFECTLY happy.

 

[maxster]

Originally posted by: Wag
Hmm, I wonder if all the people who think it's OK to declaw a cat think it's ok to "debark" a dog?

Probably not all but surely a portion will think it's fine. I believe it to be fine. I really don't see the difference between debarking a dog and neutering it. Both are surgical procedure that will change a dog's life.

 

[Ramma2]

I asked our new kitten if she was willing to trade her claws for a long, healthy life living in the lap of feline luxury, with a never ending supply of good food and clean water, and tons of love and attention from a family of 4. When she asked what the alternative was, I told her that most likely she'd end up in a mass grave with thousands of other unwanted cats and dogs. She happily chose to have her claws removed, and she's been happy ever since.

If I were given the same options I would make the same choice. Not a tough one to make.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: Deeko
So why is declawing inhumane, but spaying/neutering isn't? Not only are you removing a part of the animal's body, you're fundamentally altering their personality!

My girlfriend and I rescued a stray kitten a couple years back. About a month after we found her, she started going into heat. She would meow incessantly... and meow isn't even the right word, it was an absolutely disturbing noise, somewhere between a houl and a baby screaming. It didn't sound natural, whatever you want to call it. She would approach you, and as you went to pet her, turn around and present herself to you as if to say "fuck me." This went on for several weeks before we finally got her into the vet to be spayed.

So ask yourself this: would you rather be horny your entire life, but never have any release (we weren't going to breed her and she couldn't masturbate)? Or would you live without sexual feelings of any kind? It's a shitty decision, but I know I wouldn't want to be horny all the time and NEVER have the option to make it go away. That seems much crueler to me than removing the sex organs (and thus sex drive).

As far as declawing is concerned, it's completely unnecessary. It doesn't just remove the claw, that's absolutely retarded. Claws grow back, same as fingernails. I lost a toenail on my big toe when some jackass opened a sauna door into it; it grew back in a few weeks. Why would a claw be different? It isn't. In order to prevent the claw from growing back, the surgeons need to remove several tendons and ligaments to basically remove the uppermost portion of the "toe."

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Don;t believe what you hear/read.
Cat claw pic
There is a picture of what they do. As you can see they only remove the claw part. They don;t remove any of the fleshy part that some make you think they do.

Did you even look at the picture you posted? It specifically says the line of amputation severs the 3rd phalanx, ungual process, ungual crest, flexor tendon and dorsal ligaments. It is not just "the claw part."

If you want to stop a cat from clawing furniture, trim their claws regularly with a normal pair of nail clippers. Get them some alternatives; you can get corrugated cardboard scratchpads for like 2 bucks. Spray some deterrant (the apple stuff posted earlier for example) on things you want them to avoid scratching, and use a combination of positive and negative reinforcement to get them to scratch what you want them to scratch (spray them with water when they scratch the furniture, reward them with a kitty treat when they scratch their scratchpad).

It's not that hard to train an animal, but people are so damn lazy they'd rather butcher their helpless pets than spend a few hours training them on how to behave. If you're not willing to take the time to train your pet, maybe you shouldn't have one. Actually, this is a pretty good rule for children as well...

 

[tidehigh]

i put a couple scratch things where my cat hangs out, comes in the door, etc. and he doesn't claw up anything anymore.

 

[Number1]

I don't have a problem with declawing my cats.
If you don't want to declaw your cat, fine it is your choice.


We have a cat and it is declawed. It runs free outdoors and regularly catches birds and squerrell.

We have 2 Jack Russell terrier dogs. When they were born, I took them to the vet and he cut part of their tails by pinching the tail with a pliers and twisting it off. The dogs went yip and that was the end of it.

All our animals are healthy and happy.

What I have a problem with is a bunch of animal activist morons/ bleeding hearts who are going to tell me that I should not declaw my own cat. That somehow there is something wrong with me if I do so.

I say, take that bull and shove it.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Atomic Playboy

Originally posted by: Deeko
So why is declawing inhumane, but spaying/neutering isn't? Not only are you removing a part of the animal's body, you're fundamentally altering their personality!

My girlfriend and I rescued a stray kitten a couple years back. About a month after we found her, she started going into heat. She would meow incessantly... and meow isn't even the right word, it was an absolutely disturbing noise, somewhere between a houl and a baby screaming. It didn't sound natural, whatever you want to call it. She would approach you, and as you went to pet her, turn around and present herself to you as if to say "fuck me." This went on for several weeks before we finally got her into the vet to be spayed.

So ask yourself this: would you rather be horny your entire life, but never have any release (we weren't going to breed her and she couldn't masturbate)? Or would you live without sexual feelings of any kind? It's a shitty decision, but I know I wouldn't want to be horny all the time and NEVER have the option to make it go away. That seems much crueler to me than removing the sex organs (and thus sex drive).

As far as declawing is concerned, it's completely unnecessary. It doesn't just remove the claw, that's absolutely retarded. Claws grow back, same as fingernails. I lost a toenail on my big toe when some jackass opened a sauna door into it; it grew back in a few weeks. Why would a claw be different? It isn't. In order to prevent the claw from growing back, the surgeons need to remove several tendons and ligaments to basically remove the uppermost portion of the "toe."

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Don;t believe what you hear/read.
Cat claw pic
There is a picture of what they do. As you can see they only remove the claw part. They don;t remove any of the fleshy part that some make you think they do.

Did you even look at the picture you posted? It specifically says the line of amputation severs the 3rd phalanx, ungual process, ungual crest, flexor tendon and dorsal ligaments. It is not just "the claw part."

If you want to stop a cat from clawing furniture, trim their claws regularly with a normal pair of nail clippers. Get them some alternatives; you can get corrugated cardboard scratchpads for like 2 bucks. Spray some deterrant (the apple stuff posted earlier for example) on things you want them to avoid scratching, and use a combination of positive and negative reinforcement to get them to scratch what you want them to scratch (spray them with water when they scratch the furniture, reward them with a kitty treat when they scratch their scratchpad).

It's not that hard to train an animal, but people are so damn lazy they'd rather butcher their helpless pets than spend a few hours training them on how to behave. If you're not willing to take the time to train your pet, maybe you shouldn't have one. Actually, this is a pretty good rule for children as well...

you shouldn't own or encourage people to own a pet that requires butchery of their genitals then. you are creating that situation for your own selfish enjoyment. if the natural state of the animal is not good enough, then don't own it right? apply this to your own situation. you shouldn't own a cat.

 

[LegendKiller]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
I asked our new kitten if she was willing to trade her claws for a long, healthy life living in the lap of feline luxury, with a never ending supply of good food and clean water, and tons of love and attention from a family of 4. When she asked what the alternative was, I told her that most likely she'd end up in a mass grave with thousands of other unwanted cats and dogs. She happily chose to have her claws removed, and she's been happy ever since.

If I were given the same options I would make the same choice. Not a tough one to make.

lol. While neither of my cats are declawed, I agree with the sentiment above. Both of mine do not scratch much and take to the scratch post/kitty condo pretty well, although one did have a fetish for my speaker grills for a while (my nice infinity's also), I just moved them so she couldn't get them.

We took both in as strays. One was abandoned by her mom, the other was a hurricane orphan, mother and siblings died. If they had been scratchers I wouldn't have thought twice about getting them declawed. It's better than the alternative, they wouldn't be adopted, would have been euthanized, or gone to a family that treats them poorly.

Both are fed expensive food, have water changed twice a day, live on comfy furniture, and are given lots of love. The alternative is much worse and I think people overblow the whole declawing thing.

As far as them not being able to survive, there's a guy on here or another board who has a a declawed cat that has caught dozens of animals and defends itself quite well.

 

[Aztech]

Originally posted by: Ramma2
I asked our new kitten if she was willing to trade her claws for a long, healthy life living in the lap of feline luxury, with a never ending supply of good food and clean water, and tons of love and attention from a family of 4. When she asked what the alternative was, I told her that most likely she'd end up in a mass grave with thousands of other unwanted cats and dogs. She happily chose to have her claws removed, and she's been happy ever since.

If I were given the same options I would make the same choice. Not a tough one to make.

Sure, but those aren't the only two options. You just don't want the trouble of trimming their claws, or trying any of the deterrents suggested in this thread.

Put me in the "It's sick to declaw" camp. My two cats have torn up furniture and linens and rugs, etc. I just deal with it and try various deterrents. I won't put the cats through that. My toddler destroys a lot of stuff too, but what you gonna do?

 

[Shame]

My pair of Burmese cats are both declawed. They are both half asleep on top of my computer case right now doing some kind of ying/yang thing. They look absolutely miserable! I wished I wouldn't have declawed them so they I could be spray water on them, yell at them, and spray some kind of nasty apple scent all over the house where they like to chill.

If they get cat hair in the case, I may try laser hair removal.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Nitemare

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: Deeko
Declawed cats are PERFECTLY happy.

So are paraplegics.

So are retards, what's the point?

Cats are fine declawed provided they never get let out.

When the hell do cats need front claws to defend themselves inside the house? Declawing the cat will make the owner happy because the cat is destroying far less stuff. The owner shows his appreciating back to the cat and they have a better more caring relationship.

Face it, if your cat destroys a thousand dollars in furniture every year, how much are you going to love it?

yea plus its mind numbing how stupid that comparison was.
if you could give paraplegics the same mobility as a declawed cat you would win a nobel prize.

You idiots are completely missing the point.

People who naturally have some sort of disability, shortcoming, or other missing piece can be perfectly happy and successful. But that doesn't mean that we should deliberately cripple people to make them better fit our wishes.

How about this one: Remember the controversy over this teen hysterectomy? Well, what if the same procedure was being proposed for a perfectly healthy girl, with the same reason:

"By stopping menstruation it's allowing Katie to enjoy life to the full without the problems of menstruation...the mood swings, the tears, the stomach cramps, the pain, the discomfort, the embarrassment."

Sure, she'll be happy. But I have issues with the idea of using surgery to alter other creatures to better conform to our idea of how they should be.

 

[waffleironhead]

Basically you are placing a higher value on an inanimate object than on a living breathing creature. This boils down to what has more value to you. The couch or the cat?

 

[SmoochyTX]

Originally posted by: Wag
Hmm, I wonder if all the people who think it's OK to declaw a cat think it's ok to "debark" a dog?

That makes no sense.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
you shouldn't own or encourage people to own a pet that requires butchery of their genitals then. you are creating that situation for your own selfish enjoyment. if the natural state of the animal is not good enough, then don't own it right? apply this to your own situation. you shouldn't own a cat.

Interesting point. However, I don't think it's fair to compare the reproductive organs of a cat to the claws. If a cat's reproductive organs are removed, it prevents the cat from getting pregnant, right? We're already dealing with an overpopulation problem in stray cats, and many cats end up dying either at the pound or on the streets. Spaying/neutering a cat helps prevent overpopulation which ultimately means fewer kittens end up starving to death.

Declawing a cat protects your couch from scratches.

Which is a nobler reason to maim a cat?

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

Originally posted by: waffleironhead
Basically you are placing a higher value on an inanimate object than on a living breathing creature. This boils down to what has more value to you. The couch or the cat?

Well, the couch probably cost a thousand or more, while the cat was probably a couple hundred...

But really, although my family didn't declaw our cats (despite our shredded furniture and screen doors), I don't think it would really be that terrible for it. Maybe if it could go outside where there is real danger (we have coyotes in the woods behind our house, likely what got one of our cats), the claws would be helpful. But the cat probably won't miss them THAT much if it's not a big hunter. My cats would've hated me for it, though - they were great hunters and VERY smart (they opened doors, stole food, and stayed out for days at a time).

 

[maxster]

Originally posted by: SmoochyTX

Originally posted by: Wag
Hmm, I wonder if all the people who think it's OK to declaw a cat think it's ok to "debark" a dog?

That makes no sense.

He's talking about cutting out a part of the throat such that the dog can't bark anymore. Personally I never even heard of it until today.