My cat is getting fixed. Declaw Too?

[LegacyGirl]

Wow I wonder if I can get my cat to use the potty!

 

[CrookedRock]

Ok now you are officially stalking me!

But at least you aren''t rude like my other run by poster on this site!

JK... You''re adorable and I would love to meet up some time. Actually I am originally from Vero so maybe next time I head that way, I could take the quick drive over to the middle to meet you. But of course not til the BF hands the goods over!

The potty training thing is easier the younger they are but I have read that if you are willing to put time into it you can train an older cat, it''s just harder to break their habits! Paitence will def be needed!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 3/26/2008 4:06:41 AM
Author: D2B
With respect to children, commonsense and teaching children not to hurt/annoy animals, proper supervision when the child is young, as well as getting an appropriate domestic housebreed cat, will eliminate most risks.

I have never heard of a cat hurting a child, our cat always hisses and warns my DS if he is getting too annoying, and my DS needs to learn to respect the cat and leave it alone. I think as a child I have had one scratch, with a few warning hisses at most, (all deserved as I was annoyig the cat), and all part of normal childhood growing up lessons. Babies should never be left alone with any animal anyway. Again, using common sense,you never leave an age innapropriate child alone with an animal or alone in general. Being an animal owner takes a certain level of committment and responsiblility, if you havnt got the time to train, supervise etc then maybey a cat is not the solution for you (or others thinking about this). To maim an animal to fit in with our lifestyle is innapropriate.

However, it is good to have an open discussion about this. It is certainly not something that is done in Europe (or at least where I have lived) nor in Australia.

I have lived with a total of 7 cats for any real length of time. Of those, only the one without claws ever managed to hurt me. I was holding her and cuddling her against my face when I was 10. She pushed off and her back claw caught my lip and tore a piece off. I needed 3 stitches and you can''t even see the scar unless you are REALLY looking for it, but because she had no front claws, she had to defend herself with her back ones. I still love her dearly, but declawing does not remove the risk.
She also bit my grandma but that was grandma''s fault (they are in a blood fued to the death. It is the only time I have ever seen a cat truely hate someone. It is actually really funny but a LONG story).

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

Growing up my mother declawed two of our kitties and boy oh boy did they ever learn to bite! One of her cats got particularly nasty and bit my father so horribly he had to be taken to the ER!

Several years later, I have two kitties of my own and can find no reason to declaw them. I keep their claws well trimmed and have provided them with multiple scratching surfaces. It''s amazing what a little praise will motivate a kitty to do. Every morning both of my furbabies rush to their mega post (a custom made post that is almost 5 feet tall) and scratch away while I pet their heads and tell them what good kitties they are.

My mom adopted the brother of my newest addition and part of her contract with the rescue organization was to not declaw. Unfortuantely she is having a difficult time learning to trim the nails herself (I think she doesn''t do it frequently enough so her kitty isn''t used to it) but she has had great sucess with the softpaws. If you can avoid declawing, please do especially if your kitty is gentle.

 

[VegasAngel]

Date: 3/26/2008 4:04:20 PM
Author: AmberGretchen

Date: 3/26/2008 12:36:43 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Just about every cat I have ever owned has been declawed so obviously I'm ok with the procedure. If you have a cat that leaves furniture alone, uses a scratching post & doesnt claw you then dont get them declawed but if they are ruining stuff & wont use a scratching post then for me it's a must. I refuse to let any animal destroy my home. If you are thinking about it, get it done at the same time as being fixed. Declawing is much, much easier the younger they are. Actually I dont really recommend getting older cats declawed because it is more trumatic with age. For what it's worth my cat is declawed & she can climb trees like a champ, brings me presents etc. her pads are rock hard & she has quite the grip.

Vegas Angel, I don't want to threadjack CrookedRock's thread, but your post makes me profoundly sad and upset, as did the posts from others on this thread saying that they think declawing is OK, without really giving any compelling reason why, except (very limited) anecdotal evidence that they know or owned cats who had had it done and 'were OK.'

I wonder, have you all really taken the time to educate yourselves about what declawing does to the cat? If you have and truly feel you are making an informed decision on this, then there's nothing I or anyone else can do about it, since the laws in this country still permit this inhumane procedure, but I wonder why you don't seem to consider the possibility that it is, indeed, inhumane and unnecessary - if most European countries have banned it and so many loving pet owners here are so strongly opposed to it, I would think that that point of view would at least deserve consideration and that your pet cats are important enough to you that you would at least take the time to educate yourself about the procedure and what it actually involves as well as the potential side effects.

Well, I worked at VCA so I'm quite aware of what happens during the procedure. Like I said before I will NOT EVER have a cat or any animal destroy my things. Any cat that will not use a cat post & decides my carpet, furniture etc.. is fair game for clawing will get front claws removed. Cats that are declawed as soon as they are at the acceptable age tolerate the procedure perfectly fine. Yes, the older the cat the more likely they will have problems adjusting-Which makes perfect sense. If my cat is traumatized from being declawed she certainly doesnt show it.

 

[FireGoddess]

Date: 3/26/2008 6:42:48 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Well, I worked at VCA so I'm quite aware of what happens during the procedure. Like I said before I will NOT EVER have a cat or any animal destroy my things. Any cat that will not use a cat post & decides my carpet, furniture etc.. is fair game for clawing will get front claws removed. Cats that are declawed as soon as they are at the acceptable age tolerate the procedure perfectly fine. Yes, the older the cat the more likely they will have problems adjusting-Which makes perfect sense. If my cat is traumatized from being declawed she certainly doesnt show it.

If my cat, after ten years of scratching my bed, could immediately go for the cat tree as soon as I bought it, then I think it's more about the owner taking the time to provide the appropriate and cat-preferred places to scratch rather then the cat 'deciding' to ruin your 'stuff'. It's worth taking the time and effort to provide the appropriate medium for your cat to use if you're going to adopt an animal.

Many cats, even if yours isn't one of them, exhibit significant behavioral changes after being declawed, including more biting. That's worse. Maybe not for your 'stuff', but my cat is worth more to me than my 'stuff' is.

 

[Selkie]

Date: 3/26/2008 6:42:48 PM
Author: VegasAngel
Well, I worked at VCA so I'm quite aware of what happens during the procedure. Like I said before I will NOT EVER have a cat or any animal destroy my things. Any cat that will not use a cat post & decides my carpet, furniture etc.. is fair game for clawing will get front claws removed. Cats that are declawed as soon as they are at the acceptable age tolerate the procedure perfectly fine. Yes, the older the cat the more likely they will have problems adjusting-Which makes perfect sense. If my cat is traumatized from being declawed she certainly doesnt show it.

Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing here, but that is a little like someone saying that if a child "decides" that the carpets and furniture are fair game for spilling drinks on and making messes then it is justified to cut off their fingers, AND they won't care because if you did it young enough they'll adjust.

I mean a young child that doesn't know any better, not one who can rationalize.

 

[zoebartlett]

Date: 3/26/2008 12:34:11 PM
Author: CrookedRock
You all will be happy to hear that we have decided to hold off on the declaw. I ordered the softpaws and they should be here in a few days. I also went out and bought Mason a ramp scratcher thing, and as I started typing this post I looked up and this is what I saw!!

Just so you know, Softpaws is also available at Petco. That''s where we got ours when we tried them with Zoe. I think there are similar sounding brands out there as well.

Also, how big is Mason? I noticed how stretched out he seems to be in the picture -- he must be very long/tall!

 

[CrookedRock]

Hey Zoe~ I did see them at a Petstore but they are about $5 cheaper online (well I guess with shipping only $1), I am such a pathetic bargain shopper!

Mason Is 7 months old and just over 13lbs. I would guess he will probably gain another 5lbs when he is full grown. What really amazes me though is how tall he is. He likes to stand up and look on the kitchen counter, and he can actually see! I will have to try and get a pic!

 

[VegasAngel]

We are are going to have to agree to disagree because I'm not going to change my opinion on declawing & I'm not interested in trying to change yours. If you are happy with your cat ruining your stuff (If it does so) stuff that is fine it's not my concern. There are lot of procedures people do to animals that are cosmetic like ear cropping, tail docking, debudding etc. which countries are those banned in?

 

[zoebartlett]

I know some people think declawing is okay (I''m one who said that) and others don''t. I don''t see someone who chooses to get his/her cat(s) declawed as being inhumane or cruel to animals. I''ve gotten a previous kitten I had declawed at the same time he was neutered, and he was fine afterwards. I watched him carefully and if further medical care would have been needed afterwards, I would have taken him in.

I just wanted to say that those who have chosen to do this can still very responsible and loving towards animals. I know some might not agree with this though.

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

Date: 3/26/2008 8:06:22 PM
Author: VegasAngel
We are are going to have to agree to disagree because I''m not going to change my opinion on declawing & I''m not interested in trying to change yours. If you are happy with your cat ruining your stuff (If it does so) stuff that is fine it''s not my concern. There are lot of procedures people do to animals that are cosmetic like ear cropping, tail docking, debudding etc. which countries are those banned in?

Actually, a lot. All of the major cosmetic procedures on dogs are illegal in Australia, the UK, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungry, Iceland, Isreal, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovokia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Virgin Islands and some of the US states have proposed the same.

Oh, and declawing is illegal in most of Europe, Brazil, New Zeland, Japan, Turkey, parts of Australia, Califoornia and parts of Virginia. The ban is being discussed in many other US counties.

 

[Ali]

Everyone, please remember to stay on topic and make sure to post only facts, not judgements.

 

[icekid]

Date: 3/26/2008 8:06:22 PM
Author: VegasAngel
We are are going to have to agree to disagree because I''m not going to change my opinion on declawing & I''m not interested in trying to change yours. If you are happy with your cat ruining your stuff (If it does so) stuff that is fine it''s not my concern. There are lot of procedures people do to animals that are cosmetic like ear cropping, tail docking, debudding etc. which countries are those banned in?

If you''re so particular about your STUFF, then perhaps pets are not for you. My dog was sick last week, and twice vomited on my carpet. Shall I remove her stomach? I cannot personally see how a person could do this to a pet they love. I find it to be cruel and unusual punishment.

 

[VegasAngel]

I am so over this thread.

Like I said we are going to have to agree to disagree.

 

[Ali]

I will add the friendly reminder again in BOLD type so that it will not be missed.

Everyone, please remember to stay on topic and make sure to post only facts, not judgements.

We want to keep Pricescope an educational, safe and fun forum. Everyone should feel free to ask and post advice without being judged.