Is it OK to Declaw a Cat?

[alkemyst]

What if they do want a leather or antique couch? Or what if they want 0% chance of getting bed bugs? If someone is selling a couch on craigslist and a buyer asks if they've ever had bed bugs, do you honestly think they would admit to it if they had?

If having a crappy couch is required if you want to have a cat without being a terrible human being and amputating their most of them then I'll continue on not having a cat.

What if I just want to know that my couch wasn't sat naked on by a bunch of people or worse.

Take a black light to a thrift store and have fun with their used couch selection.

 

[SP33Demon]

You do realize that some people buy furniture new, right? Or, are you an idiot who thinks that everyone gets furniture from Craigslist? Your argument is akin to saying that no one spends more than $10k on a car, because on your local Craigslist, all the used cars are under $10k.

You can actually buy "like new" furniture on craigslist. Just make sure you steam clean it when you get it, I've had zero problems going this route. In fact, the $250 couch I got was so nice (snow white microsuede) I put a sheet on it to make sure it doesn't get dirty, and then just wash the sheet every week. The cat initially clawed it before he had his scratching post, but I don't see any damage.

If you want to buy brand new furniture then that's fine, but you're just throwing your money away when you can get perfectly good recycled furniture that people can't take with them (moving). If you want to buy antique furniture or nice leather, then you should cover it with a heavy blanket or lock it in a room until the cat has their scratching habits down. It's not that big of a deal if the proper precautions are taken, as with anything.

 

[SP33Demon]

My first couch in 1995 was about $10000 for the set. I was just upper middle class. I'd have expected it to last 5-10 years.

I had two good cats at the time, and then a third. My idiot ex-wife got an Akita and thought crate training was cruel and even telling him "No" was not right.

One day we came home and the $10,000 in couch/love seat combination was in the middle of the floor as a pile of leather, stuffing and wood.

My last set of furniture I had to buy all at once, the living and family room was just Rooms To Go specials and that was over $3000 for sub par stuff. The living room was just really decoration, but the family room set began to wear out after only a couple years of use.

No matter how rich you are, you don't want to see your furniture ruined no matter what the price.

10K for a new set? Why would you spend that much with a large Akita in the house? 3K for a new entire set, that's more reasonable. As long as you're not just getting a single couch for 3K, which some are in this thread are claiming. Note that in the diamond ring thread, some were complaining that 5K was too much to spend... well now we know why. The furniture payment and car payment are probably killing them. Take those unnecessary costs out of the mix and a ring is now affordable. My 1990's sedan is still holding up just fine with 150K miles on it, make friends with a mechanic. Anyway, I do agree that nobody wants to see furniture ruined but my point is that it will take some elbow grease at the beginning.

 

[Adul]

I would not declaw a cat.

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/declawing.html

 

[Watwatwat]

Except its not.

We violate animals by spaying or neutering them. If I spayed or neutered your child it would be considered as horrific as something hannibal lector would do, extracting someones ovaries or testes, that's pretty horrific, but that is what we do to pets.

I ask you, would you want to lose some finger tips or your balls.

Fact is indoor cats do not need claws, and for the price of losing their testes and or claws they receive the benefits of a sheltered coddled life.

I swear the people who have become insanely anti declawing are the lefts version of the anti abortion crowd where they claim any abortion scars a woman mentally for life. And every cat without claws becomes a mentally deranged cripple. This is the extreme exaggeration they have to believe to demonize something this much when based on the facts it isn't really harmful at all.

And so much moral outrage over nothing when so many animals are simply put down due to over population.

 

[SP33Demon]

Except its not.

We violate animals by spaying or neutering them. If I spayed or neutered your child it would be considered as horrific as something hannibal lector would do, extracting someones ovaries or testes, that's pretty horrific, but that is what we do to pets.

I ask you, would you want to lose some finger tips or your balls.

Fact is indoor cats do not need claws, and for the price of losing their testes and or claws they receive the benefits of a sheltered coddled life.

I swear the people who have become insanely anti declawing are the lefts version of the anti abortion crowd where they claim any abortion scars a woman mentally for life. And every cat without claws becomes a mentally deranged cripple. This is the extreme exaggeration they have to believe to demonize something this much when based on the facts it isn't really harmful at all.

And so much moral outrage over nothing when so many animals are simply put down due to over population.

You need to read the thread. You can train cats not to scratch, but you can't train them not to breed. You're comparing two completely different things.

 

[Riparian]

You need to read the thread. You can train cats not to scratch, but you can't train them not to breed. You're comparing two completely different things.

By your logic, you can prevent a pet from ever having the opportunity to breed, so why spay or neuter?

 

[Watwatwat]

You need to read the thread. You can train cats not to scratch, but you can't train them not to breed. You're comparing two completely different things.

One can't assume all cats are the same or that it matters, one can't choose to draw the line arbitrarily when you will violate them in the most intrusive ways to make them a viable "pet", so lets not pretend this isn't just an arbitrary line.

 

[Ichinisan]

No, you don't have to be home 24/7 but spend time with them every day. BTW if you have a $3000 couch then that's your fault, try $500 or less off craigslist, nobody I know is dropping 3K on a couch. Dam high maintenance people.

Spraying the cat is a deterrent for him jumping on my computer desk, I don't use it for scratching which requires different deterrents like scent, barriers, cat posts in the same room, and treats for when they scratch what they're supposed to.

Bedbugs can be quite costly.

 

[Ferzerp]

You need to read the thread. You can train cats not to scratch, but you can't train them not to breed. You're comparing two completely different things.

No you really can't. Some cats will and some cats won't. Some you can change, and some you can't.

Unfortunately, other than insisting you can train them, you've offered no evidence that this is the case. Saying a thing over and over does not make it true. Cats are not dogs.

 

[JM Aggie08]

We did not declaw our cat when we got her at 2 months old, so we began disciplining her from the start (after she came out of the wall). Sure, there are a few nicks on the couch where she jumps up to get to us, but for the most part she knows what she can and cannot fuck with.

A spray bottle does wonders.