Cat lovers............?

Question

How can anyone who claims to love cats declaw them?

Answer 1

Good question! Declawing is terribly cruel, and completely unnecessary, since cats CAN be trained to scratch only acceptable surfaces such as scratching posts & cat trees, if they're properly chosen & placed. Now, with alternatives such as softpaws available, there's no excuse for declawing!

Answer 2

I agree but I am guilty (well at least my family is) when I was younger we got 2 kittens and had them declawed and after that I told myself I would never do it. I think some people might not be aware of how excally it is done. I heard about it from a friend that worked at a vet's office. And well thats not the only reason I wont do it....I had a cat that ran outside on accident (he was a indoor only cat that got out) and he got into a fight. It caused a "fatty liver" and we had to put him down. They can't protect themselves. So now I have a simease that claws up everything including my hand (scars to prove it) but I WILL NOT declaw him!!!

Answer 3

I think a lot of people don't know any better.. It seems like there is more information out there now than there used to be... or maybe I'm just aware of it because I give a damn.. my childhood cat was declawed... and I think I must have blocked out the memory because I don't remember much about it. Some people don't think of pets as having feelings (ie my mom) ... They don't realize how tramatizing and painful it all is. A friend of mine is thinking of getting a cat.. but wants it declawed... I showed her the pictures, and that talked her out of thinking of it as "just a surgery" If you MUST have a declawed kitty... find one that has already had this horrible thing done and adopt.... OR try soft claws... they work wonders when used correctly

Answer 4

I have three cats, all declawed. Yes, it was awful doing it, but it was either that or get rid of them, and that wasn't an option. My oldest was adopted from the shelter as a very sick kitten, he was still on antibiotics when we got him, he'd gone thru a lot of trauma before we got him, and he's been psycho ever since. Not only did he tear us up, he tore our dog up to the point of getting stitches a couple of times. We built a house and my hubby gave me the option, cause the cats had a tendency to shred the woodwork, especially him. So basically, when it was "get them declawed, or get rid of them", declawing was the only option. No one would have adopted him. He's 15 now, he's still nuts, but at least he's calmed a bit, and we only get bloody when he bites us now. We couldn't declaw only him and not the others, their playing would have been very unfair, so we did what we had to do. Another one was a bottle baby, also had a lot of trauma, but she didn't become evil like he did, she became withdrawn and turned into a one-person cat with a heart condition. She was also unadoptable. I don't really care if a bunch of people I don't know think I'm a horrible person, cause I've still got my cats, they're alive, they're happy and so am I. So you guys can just judge me all you want. By the way, they don't even know they don't have claws, still try to scratch the sofa and chairs, woodwork, and psycho cat still tries to scratch us.

Answer 5

Well, I agree declawing is a very painful operation for cats. It's like a human losing the whole first didget of each finger, not just their fingernails. People have all kinds of reasons and the vet I use to work for did the surgery for cats if the owners would put them down if it wasn't done. He felt it was better for the cat to remain alive and not abused and be declawed and I agreed.

Answer 6

Well, if reincarnation is true, then maybe these people who get their cats declawed (becuase of the furniture, the ferret, the this the that, at least it has a home... ad naseum) will return in the next life cycle as cats whose owners will have them declawed (becuase of the furniture, the ferret, the this the that, at least it has a home... ad naseum). That's the only way I think any of them will understand.

Declawing is illegal in many countries.

Answer 7

I wonder this myself. I think it is cruel to declaw them. I have 10 cats and they were all strays that I took in. Unfortunately one of them has been declawed front and back paws. It is so sad. What really bugs me is that someone had her declawed and then just left her to fend for herself. She was sick when I found her underneath my car, that was three years ago, she is a great cat and very pretty. I think when you declaw a cat, it is like cutting a persons fingers off at the knuckles, maybe even worse...

Answer 8

I never understood this either. If people are 'that' worried about saving their furniture, DONT get a cat.....and dont, get the poor thing declawed !!! ( they wouldn't like their finger-nails ripped out !!! ) TEACH THE CATS NOT TO CLAW the furniture !!!! There's ways to do this, without doing such a horrible thing such as declawing. I bet most people dont look into just what takes place, in a declawing.... it's horrible, and so un-needed. Like i said... i'm sure these people, wouldn't want to have their finger-nails, and tips of their fingers taken off !?!?

Answer 9

I love my cats very much and I want to keep them just the way they were born, claws and all but, I may end up having to have them declawed or getting rid of them due to land lords policy or if they can't (the younger one is especially bad about this) learn to be a little more gentle with me when I pick them up or they climb into my lap or I am playing with them.

Answer 10

That people do this sickens me. These people shouldn't be allowed to have any pets, period. They care more or only about themselves, treating the cats as objects instead of living creatures and companions.

Additional: People who say that they do it because they have to are making excuses. I've had plenty of cats and they can be taught not to do certain things, just as a child can be taught. So cats can learn to only scratch on a scratching post and not to claw people. People are too lazy to teach them. If they're not going to make a commitment to their pets, then they shouldn't have gotten them in the first place. People don't declaw their cats because they love them, they do it because they want to keep their cat and to them this is the easiest option. This is completely selfish and cruel. It's like beating your kids with a bat and saying that you do it because you love them, when in fact it's just because you're too lazy, selfish and cruel to have taken the time to teach them better.