NEVER adopt a declawed cat (?)

This is a place to gain some understanding of cat behavior and to assist people in training their cats and dealing with common behavior problems, regardless of the method(s) used. Keep in mind that you may be receiving advice from other cat owners and lovers...not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a trainer or behaviorist!

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Kitty (miss- you you lil- rebel!

Purring Dictator

Purred: Wed Sep 23, '09 5:32pm PST


	I'm reading a book called "Cat Be Good". It's fairly good, but there is this statement that bothers me... “As a cat lover and Cat Owner Consultant, I have moral, ethical and legal obligations to make only safe and sound recommendations to people regarding cats. I will always advise people to never bring home a declawed cat because I know these cats are dangerous and expensive. I would be liable, negligent and fraudulent to recommend cats that frequently bite people, urinate on sofas, destroy floorboards and lose security deposits. People are better off owning clawed cats.” So declawed shelter cats is better off dead? She also put down her declawed cat peed on the floor, so he could be "out of his misery". I in no way support declawing, but this seems very harsh.

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Sarge (In- Loving- Memory)

Hey you, pay- attention to me!

Purred: Wed Sep 23, '09 7:25pm PST


	NO NO NO!! My old family had me declawed all the way around. Then they had to give me up. We don't know why. I waited for 6 months before my new Daddy came and took me home. He knows what an awesome cat I am. We hang out a lot. I greet him when he comes up. At night when he's in bed, I'll sit next to him and rub his head. The idea that I should be put down because of what some silly human did is crazy. Some cats might think they're less of a cat without claws, but I more than make up for them. My vet fears me more than my youngest sister who's fully armed.

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Boris

I'm cute and I- know how to use- that :)

Purred: Wed Sep 23, '09 8:22pm PST


	That's ridiculous. It's not like the declawed cat asked to be declawed and then abandoned. Nor can s/he help it when s/he is in so much pain from using normal litter than they pee elsewhere. Do declawed cats have behavioral issues? Yes. Can they be a challenge? Yes. Do they deserve to be put down for them? Absolutely not. That really irks me. My SIL adopted a declawed cat who had been declawed and then dumped when a child from her previous home became "allergic" to cats. When she came home, she was high strung. She would get mad if not paid enough attention, and would pee on my SIL's bed to make it clear that she was mad. Rather than returning her to a shelter and a certain death sentence, my SIL worked with her. She went on medication and was eventually well enough to go without. It takes a lot to win her trust, but once you do, she is such a sweetie. No one in our family can even bear to imagine what would have happened to her if my SIL had given up on her easily.

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♥- Suey- ♥

Loved

Purred: Thu Sep 24, '09 3:07am PST


	What an incredibly sad comment for her to publish. I've known quite a few rescue kitties with issues, and since declawing is illegal here there are obviously many causes. Following her logic, should a kitty who has been abused, left to live on the streets, or starved not be given the chance to go to a forever home? There is a reasonable chance their behaviour may have been affected by their experiences. Heck, there are kitties who have had a close to perfect upbringing who have issues. It's just horrible.

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Princess

Don't touch me.- Give me food and- leave!

Purred: Thu Sep 24, '09 5:17am PST


	that lady is nuts. Princess was a hand full when we got her last year, but what animal isnt? She wasn't nearly as bad as some of the other animals I've rescued or adopted. And for a cat that was declawed, being abused and neglected, she is awesome.

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The Cat

Rrrrraaarrrrr!!!

Purred: Thu Sep 24, '09 1:18pm PST


	Our first family cat was declawed when we found him, wandering around the camp where we were taking swimming lessons and nearly starved to death. That cat had a personality and a half, but the only behavioral problem we ever had with him was that he would go into the neighbor's yard to fight THEIR cats (and win btw). Then he'd sleep in their barn and let his fur get all matted (which he wouldn't let us brush out) so we'd have to take him to the vet to be shaved every summer. Once he started getting old and didn't want to be outside anymore, but didn't want to be in the house because he hated having to share the house with our other cats, we gave him to a friend in the city. He spent the next few years a happy and pampered indoor kitty with his new house and new daddy all to himself. To be perfectly honest, I really don't think declawing has much at all to do with a cat's personality unless maybe it was a botched surgery. Not that I think declawing is right, just that if a cat has issues, it is not at all related to being declawed. The woman who wrote that has every right to her opinion. Just as I have every right to the opinion that she is a complete nutter.

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Atrus

Fluff butt

Purred: Thu Sep 24, '09 7:12pm PST


	Many declawed cats have no complications from the surgery at all, nor behavioral problems. I do not like declawing or promote it, but I think people greatly exaggerate the consequences of declawing (besides, you know, not having claws). I know people do so in order to scare people away from declawing their cats, but it's still lying even if you have good intentions. Some declawed cats may bite, or have litterbox problems, or chronic pain, but many don't. Declawed cats are often excellent pets and certainly aren't "broken" or beyond help. If you're going to make the argument that declawed cats shouldn't be adopted because they might have behavioral problems, then this person should also be saying that all cats in shelters should not be adopted and be put to sleep because they may have behavioral issues because they did not spend 12-16 weeks with their mother and littermates, were improperly socialized, may not have had a proper vaccination schedule, etc etc.

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Persia

What Breed am I?- A dog in a cats- body?

Purred: Thu Sep 24, '09 9:34pm PST


	What Atrus said is very true you can adopt very good cats that have been declwed just as well as cats that have not. Just understand that if you have a cat that has been declawed and you adopt them keep in mind the pain they may feel and do what you can to help them out. they will love you more for it. I am totally against declawing. I think it is cruel and unusual punishment i pay 10 dollars to get my cats nails cut and she is just fine.

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BooBoo

headed for the- light.

Purred: Fri Sep 25, '09 3:16am PST


	I think that all too often, the behvior problems a declawed cat may have are automatically blamed on the declawing, without considering anything else that may have happened, or that the cat may just have a weird/cranky/shy personality, and that it would have developed as the kitten grew up anyway. Meowma has gotten a total of 7 adult, declawed kitties out of the shelter, for herself and others, over the past few years, and none has had intolerable problems (one did go back because she was for some reason afraid of Meowma, and would not get over it, go figure) So, we say this author is irresponsible, mean spirited, and likes her crusade to stop declawing more than she actually likes kitties. If she comes here, I will poopie on her, and let her blame it on my missing toenails. (Note--Meowma never has a baby kitty declawed, but her first adopted kitty was that way, and she's found that these poor kitties often sit in the shelter even longer than other grown cats, due to bad publicity such as this....and we are not bad)

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♥- Suey- ♥

Loved

Purred: Fri Sep 25, '09 4:22am PST


	I completely agree with you, BooBoo. I think it's another case of people looking for the easiest answer or explanation. I have learned a lot from Vicky Halls, a cat behaviourist from the UK. I've been amazed at just how minor some of the events that trigger behavioural problems can seem. For example, if a kitty sees another kitty through the window, and they can see out of that window from the litterbox, it can be enough to make them think the litterbox is no longer safe because the outside kitty can see them. Moving the litterbox can be enough to fix the problem. It's the kind of thing you'd really have to pay attention to in order to understand what the problem is. I also agree with Atrus. I foster kittens, first for a shelter and now for a vet. I do my very best with them, but I am sure they would turn out to be better rounded kittens if they had been in a safe environment with their mum. The kittens I've had with a mum were the quickest to learn about using the litterbox and cleaning themselves. Others were still struggling at 3months old.

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