If you really love your cat....?

Question

then how can you put it through so much pain and suffering like declawing when there are humane alternatives to it?
And how can you say you love them and allow them to roam when you know there are many dangers outside of your home that you cannot protect them from? Even in the country cats have predators like coyotes to deal with.
It is my opinion that you should be ashamed to admit to any of these crimes. There is no excuse for irresponsibility!

How do you know that it is not painful? Did you watch the surgery and aftercare? Did your cat tell you that she didn't mine having her toes amputated?

If you agree, please give me a star. :)

Answer 1

People are ignorant!! We are all ignorant about something. Education is the key!!

They don't realize the reality of these issues.

People need to be responsible pet owners and spay/neuter their pets!! There is a huge pet overpopulation because of irresponsible pet owners, pet stores, puppy/kitten mills, and back yard breeders.

If only they knew what really is happening, they would probably change their ways.

Not to mention all of the dangers that can happen to their cat when they let it outside. (Neighbor's dog hates and kills cats, get hit by a car, cruel people with cruel intentions find their cat, etc.)

If you continue to let your cat outside, then at least microchip the cat. This way it has a 50% chance of finding it's way home again. Very important to spay/neuter your cat!!

http://www.mypetnanny.info/pd/index.htm View the video about our pet overpopulation problem. Click on the golden retriever. You can help solve this problem!!

Declawing a cat is like cutting off the end digits of your fingers!! Not recommended.

Answer 2

Many people don't know what declawing does. The common name is misleading, as if just the nail is taken away. Some vets even offer a kind of 'package deal' for new cat owners, spaying/neutering, declawing and shots. If you've never Google'd it, if you don't do your research, then you could easily think it's just the normal thing to do. A good vet should tell their customers what the procedure entails, including the risks; pain, infection, cats not using the box, cats changing their personality, cats turning into biters, cats getting problems walking later on in life... but far too many vets don't do that.

People also argue that it's 'either declawing the cat or getting rid of him' but again, there's a big risk he'll turn biter and/or stop using the box, two serious problems that cause lots of people to get rid of the cats doing it...

As far as keeping cats indoors I don't fully agree, I wouldn't let my cat out if I lived near a busy street but here it's all residential streets, the streets are pretty much littered with speed bumps and the speed limit's 30km/hr (that's not even 20MpH). There are no wild animals that are dangerous to cats in the country, no snakes, no coyotes, no large predators anywhere.

Cats that are used to staying indoors do well but in my experience it's a lot harder to re-train a real outdoor cat to life inside than to train a cat to use a scratching post! I had an indoors cat first but later I got a rescue, found her at work where she was a stray with four kittens. I had her indoors for months but she just was not happy, she kept trying to get out, she kept moping, she was getting overweight, she didn't want to play with toys no matter what I got her... I've never personally known a cat that couldn't be taught to use a scratching post but I have known several like her, cats who've lived for years outdoors and couldn't get used to coming in.

Since our neighborhood is indeed low-risk I installed a cat flap, it was not a decision taken lightly but I've only heard of one cat ever got hit by a car in the neighborhood in the 22 years I've lived here & that was long before the speed limit got lowered & the speed bumps were installed. If I'd lived in the city my choices would've been keeping her inside after all or re-homing her out in the country. I see cats on busy city-streets sometimes and that I agree is way too dangerous, not sure what those people are thinking! Besides what good does it do a cat when there's only a sidewalk and cars and perhaps a few large trees, with not a single patch of grass or bushes or nothing?

Answer 3

I am a firm believer that, if you're going to have a pet, it should be where it can spend the most time with you. If you come home from work and do mostly indoor activities, you should have indoor cats. If you live/work on a farm and spend the majority of your time outside, then have outdoor cats. I do think that all cats that are allowed outside need to be spayed or neutered. There are way too many poor unloved kittens in the world.

If a person is going to have an outdoor cat, it needs to keep its claws in case it would need them. It should also have always been an outdoor cat and nothing but.

Now it sounds like I'm all for outdoor cats, but in fact I find them rather annoying. My neighbor's cats would sit on our step right outside our patio door and drive my poor dog up the wall! Getting woken up to cat fights wasn't fun either.

On the declawing issue, I'm for it simply because I think that, without it, there would be many more cats dumped out in the country, breeding rampantly because the ignorant owner didn't want them after they shredded the corner of their $8,000 sofa. If it means a happier relationship between cat and owner in a happy home, then maybe it's for the best. Kind of like when I was a kid and they brought me in to have some of my teeth pulled and braces put on. It hurt like hell the first two weeks, but now I'm thankful for it.

Answer 4

I am totally against declawing cats. I have had a number of surgeries in my long lifetime and by far and away the most painful was surgery on ONE toe. Stubbing toes and sometimes breaking them has also happened to me many times. I accidentally slammed the dishwasher door on my thumb last week and thought I would go through the roof with the pain.

So I think that are fingers and toes are the most sensitive parts of our bodies as far as pain goes. To take a cat to a vet, anesthetize it, and have it wake up to that excruciating pain is one of the cruelest things I can imagine doing to a cat.

Answer 5

This is what could happen, when you love your cat to much.

#1.Give the cat wet food 2 or 3 times or more a day.

#2.Pet the cat for a long periods of time.

#3.This is silly: putting clothing on a pet cat.

#4.Have a special/lovely carrying case for the cat,

So you can take the cat anywhere with you.

(I'm not talking about the normal plastic carring case(s))

#5.Give the cats the same hair style as you do.

#6.Give the cats the same dinner ware as you do.

#7.Let the cats sleep in its very own small bed with: pillows, covers, and curtains.

I'm a person that likes cats :)

Answer 6

Declawing should be illegal, it is in many countries so is ear cropping and tail docking in dogs. Eventually it will be illegal here as well because it is animal cruelty.

Cats who live indoors and do not go outside have over twice the life span as cats that go out. It is just common sense that no one should allow thier cats outside. Do you know how many calls I have had to report missing cats where the people say "She always comes back, but this time she didn't" It is hard not to say "well that's because she either got hit by a car, eaten by a predator, or tormented and killed by a pschopath and it is ALL YOUR FAULT for letting her outside"

No ones cat has ever been hit by a car while sitting in the house.

Answer 7

I absolutely agree with you.
For anyone who is in favor of declawing, have your fingersnails pulled out, and see how you like it.
And another thing, you don't know when the cat actually might need his claws. He or she could be in danger one day and need his/her claws.
A lot a people declaw for the sake of their furniture, so in other words they like their sofa better than their cat.
I still say, anyone who declaws should have their nails removed too.

Answer 8

I agree with the fact that if they were born with claws, then declawing is against nature itself! Let's "declaw" people too!!That would not be nice, would it? As another person just "said" if you teach your cat where he/she can sharpen his/her claws, then there is NO need for such a crime against the poor felines. And I disagree: It has got to be painful!!! I was a ballet dancer and would lose toenails as a result of friction of the shoe and I recall the pain. Cats are living things and deserve as much respect as anyother one on this planet.

Answer 9

Because some people seem to care more about a couch or a chair than they do a living, breathing creature that has feelings.
They are simply to lazy to buy a scratching post and take the time to teach the cat to use it, or to buy "soft claws"..or "soft paws"...sorry I can't remember the name of the product you can use to cover the cats claws.

Some people have the misguided assumption that cats NEED to go outside which is NOT true at all.
The average life span of indoor only cats is late teens or early twenties.
The average life span of an indoor/outdoor cat is somwhere between 5 to 7 years.
The average life span of an outdoor only cat is 2 years...IF they're lucky.

There is just no gettting through to some people, believe me I've tried.
I've told them stories of some of the things I've seen in my life...I help to rescue and find indoor only homes for stray and ferel cats...but some people just close their ears, maybe because they don't want to face up to the reality of just what can happen to a cat left outside to fend for itself.

Answer 10

I agree that it is cruel to have your cat declawed. I feel so sorry for them, most people don't know that they actually take their toes off at the first knuckle. It has to be painful. My cats all have their claws, you just need to get them a scratching post. Plus they can't defend themselves if they don't have any claws and can get really hurt or killed.

As for the letting them outside thing...I have two cats that are strictly indoors. But some housecats I've had were free spirits and liked to go out on occasion. I don't see a problem with this but there are lots of dangers. But if they really want out then it's kind of cruel not to let them explore.