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Is it true that in America some cats are de-clawed?
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I'm with you Khina-if you need a declawed cat for medical or other extreme reasons then please adopt one that is already declawed. Declawing an otherwise healthy paw is never for the cat's benefit. If your human becomes immune compromised then maybe adoption to a good home is better than making a cat lose part of its toes.
If you want to change the law in your state contact the local humane society--they usually have lots of experience in these things. Our meowmie regularly gets paw-mails about dumb laws that are up for consideration (and sometime smart laws) from the local Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Uh, Kit-Kat (cute name, BTW), Loki's P.S. and my response were just jokes. It was 6 am and I was feeling manic. Looking at my post now, I realize that a jokey post was inappropriate on this thread. Both Loki and I realize that declawing is NOT "trimming" the nails. And the "clean toofies Smiley" was referring to a thread of mine. Sorry if my comment offended anyone...
For the record, I am against declawing cats. I was against it even before learning (from this Forum, which has provided much useful information) what it really entails--mutilation. At first, I thought that if it was a way to keep cats out of shelters, there might be an excuse for it, but it appears that there are many declawed kitties in shelters, either because owners who declaw are also more likely to get rid of Fluffy for trivial reasons, or because the declawing itself causes other behavioral problems that cause owners to get rid of her.
The only case in which I can see that declawing would be condonable is if there is an immunologically suppressed person in the house--assuming that what I've read on this thread, regarding the necessity of declawing cats in such cases, is true. One could argue that rehoming is a more humane option, but what if the immunologically-suppressed person in question is greatly comforted by the presence of the cat in his/her life? What if the cat is the only "family" or friend the immunologically-suppressed person has? In that case, I would probably find it reasonable to declaw the cat. On the other hand, I can also understand the argument that mutilation of a cat cannot be condoned, no matter what the circumstances.
Obviously, I don't know exactly how I, personally, would act in such a case, because I have yet to have such an experience. But if I put myself in my cats' places, I think that Spot and Harvey would probably rather be declawed than have a different Meowmy, especially Spot. Spot went from almost being eaten by a crow, to a cage at the vet's, to sleeping every night under the covers with me. As far as he's concerned, I'm the center of his life; I think he would understand if he had to make such a sacrifice for me. On the other hand, if such a time came, I may not want to ask him to make such a sacrifice.
Ah, Harvey, this thread needed a little lightness!
My primate cuts my nails at the same time she does her own, then I get treatses so I don't mind. I kinda like the paw massage that comes with it.
But I don't get my toofies brushed. I only eat kibble except fur holidays and chicken once a week or so and hairball treatses so Dr. Spoo says that's why we have excellent toofies and gums.
My sister brushes her toofies by chewing on cardboard. She's weird.
But back on topic, I am with you on not knowing what I would do if my primate had to have a transplant or something. Sometimes it's hard to find a good home. I hid under the dresser fur 3 days after I was fixed but I got over it. I don't know if I would get over having my toes amputated.
Hopefully my primate will never have to face that decision.
No one should ever have to consider that to live someplace. Those landlords are stoopid. They should just ask fur a bigger security deposit.
While I am against declawing, I would hardly call a declawed cat "disabled", Loki. I have lived with 4 declawed cats - three declawed out of ignorance, one came that way - all four paws for her, and none of them had any trouble running or jumping. There is really no difference between them and their non-declawed housemates. They even "scratch" at the scratching post.
And while it certainly is unnecessary surgery, and no doubt painful to recover from, I think calling it "torture" is going a bit too far.
And yes, Alaidh is declawed. I'm not proud of it and I wish I'd known more about it when it was done because I would not have had her declawed, but I can safely say it has not held her back at all. She is happy and healthy at 19.
While de-clawing is still legal in America, many counties and regions are coming out with laws that prohibit it.
I live in very animal friendly community (seriously, the main street is as follows: Starbucks, Vet, Starbucks, Grocery Store, Vet, Movie Theatre, Vet, Starbucks...). The majority of the vets out here flat-out refuse to do the de-clawing surgery. I know this only because I had a friend who got her cat de-clawed some years back (The cat named "Trouble" was way worse after the de-clawing then he ever was before. And, was every bit as destructive. KITTY ISSUES!).
Anyway, it's not an issue I really preach about. However, I do use my kitties as an example. They're NOT de-clawed. But, their nails are kept trimmed and filed. They've got scratching posts and we do everything to discourage couch/chair scratching. When people ask if they're de-clawed my answer is always the same: "No way! I didn't bring two kitties into my family just to chop off their toes!"
When my mom rescued me from "outside" with my sibs, she had no idea why I cried sometimes when playing. I walked funny but she didn't really seem to notice. Then one day after playing, she saw my feet were bloody and took me to the vet. Then she had a very hard choice to make. See, most of claws didn't grow right and I walked funny to keep from hurting myself but when I jumped I was stabbing myself with my claws. I had an appt scheduled already to be fixed and Mom decided I needed to have my claws removed so I didn't hurt myself anymore. The vet never told her about nail caps and she wishes someone had told her about them so she didn't have to have my claws removed. Mom has had lots of cats & I have 2 brothers right now & I am the only 1 ever declawed. But at the time, Mom didn't know another option existed. Vets need to tell people about options to declawing, even when we as cats, have something wrong with our paws. Mom has told me more than once she wishes she had known about nail caps cause I'd had pretty purple nails all these years. But Mom is also very careful that I am only inside, unless I am in my carrier or Mom has me on the leash.
I love to hear the leash jingle because it means a trip outside
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Vets need to tell people about options to declawing, even when we as cats, have something wrong with our paws. Mom has told me more than once she wishes she had known about nail caps cause I'd had pretty purple nails all these years. But Mom is also very careful that I am only inside, unless I am in my carrier or Mom has me on the leash.
