Opinions on declawing?

Question

Are you for or against it, and why?

Thanks for the responses guys. I just adopted a young cat I'm leaning against it too, like most of you. When I was a child and my parents got me a cat they insisted it HAD to be declawed before it would come in their house. I was just curious to see what the overall opinion is from people who really love their cats.. And if you're all here in the cats section, you must care a lot. :) So thanks very much! I will not declaw.

Answer 1

Against. Claws are natural to cats. A cat isn't a cat w/o claws.

Answer 2

I am whole-heartedly against it. There are no benefits for a cat to be declawed, the only reason for it is owner convenience.

For one, cats are digitigrade, and walk on their toes. In the process of declawing, the front portion of the toe is removed, resulting in the cat having to readjust its walk into an unnatural position.. which can cause back pain and lead to arthritis. Two, when a cat scratches, it's the only way it can stretch and tone the muscles of its back and shoulders. As well, the process of scratching allows a cat to relieve stress and reduce anger, as punching a punching bag does for humans. To deny a cat the ability to do that is simply cruel to me.

I have never, in all my time of having cats, had one that scratched my furniture -- and they're full-time indoor cats. Provided with various posts, they've always preferred to use them over my furniture. And to be honest, I believe it's only sheer laziness on an owner's part that they do otherwise. After all, when someone can just get their cat declawed, why bother actually putting effort into training -- regardless of the consequences it may have on the cat.

It saddens me that declawing is such a commonplace procedure that the first question people ask me when they see my kitten is, "Is it declawed yet?" or casually remark that their own cat is declawed, and I need to get it done to save my furniture. I find absolutely no reason for the procedure, and quite frankly, if people aren't willing to deal with training a cat where or where not to scratch, they don't have any reason to be owning a cat. After all -- I wouldn't own a dog and have its teeth removed because I feared it chewing up my possessions.. I'd work on training and teach it what is appropriate to chew. I have no doubt, however, that if such a procedure was feasible and available, that many people would flock to have it done as well.

I also find it sad that so many vets offer the procedure -- when their whole job is focused around doing what's best for the animal, I cannot fathom any reason they'd do declaws other than the motivation for money... exactly the reason I switched to a vet that does not offer declaws or ear crops. When a vet forfeits the paychecks that those unneccessary procedures bring in, you do know they're in it for the animals' sake, and not their bank account's. And at the end of the day, that's the thing I'm most concerned about.

Answer 3

I don't see any reason for it. People say the cat won't stop scratching no matter what. But if you get the truth, they never tried the soft caps over the nails, they had one small scratching post in a different room from where the cat scratches... etc. I have had cats my whole life, the one cat my parents did have declawed was never right again, and I have heard many horror stories about what can and does happen. I have cats now, they have a large cat tree in a separate room by a window, they LOVE it, and it has saved all my furniture. If the cat ever does try out nails on a couch a quick "NO!" or squirt with a water bottle quickly ends that temptation.

Answer 4

I am against it. Look at your fingers. See the final bone that holds your nail? If you were to be declawed, that portion of your fingers would be removed. That's the "declawing" surgery in a nutshell.

I think a prospective cat owner needs to decide what they are going to care about more--furniture or cats?

The only time I support declawing is in the case of cats in areas where there are few people to adopt them. In the case of an incorrigible furniture-clawer, declawing may be necessary to adopt out the cat in order to keep it from being euthanized.

In that case the surgery is best performed by laser. Laser surgery on a young cat gives the least painful and fastest chance of post-operative recovery.

Answer 5

I'm against it. Why? Because it's unnecessary and inhumane to the cat. Declawing is only to keep the human happy and I feel it is an extremely selfish act to think about one's self over the cat. There are plenty of alternatives to declawing, including SoftPaws which I highly recommend!

Declawing is literally the amputation of the last digit in the paw. It can be a very painful experience for the cat. There are also a lot of other complications that can risk your cat's health and life.

In the UK and many other countries it is considered animal cruelty and is banned. For more information you might want to check out http://www.declawing.org

Answer 6

Oh man.... isn't THIS a touchy subject?!

Declawing is NOT inhumane. What IS inhumane is taking in a cat with claws, falling in love with it only to have it rip your house to shreds and then having to give it away or send it to a shelter where they'll just put it to sleep. THAT'S inhumane.

I've had over 20 cats in my life thus far, and every one of them were declawed, either by my decision or the previous owner's, and I have NEVER seen a cat "go insane" or have "mental anguish" over being declawed. Have any of you heard of someone going bonkers after having their wisdom teeth taken out? I didn't think so.......

If the cat is going to be an outdoor cat, then no, I don't think it should be declawed. But, for me, I personally like the idea of having a sweet, indoor, flealess, disease risk-free kitty to cuddle 24/7.

The procedure is not what everyone thinks it is. Of course the cat is going to act a little unnatural when it gets home for the first couple of days. Wouldn't YOU act unnatural too after surgery and anesthesia and painkillers?!

Saying they RIP the claws out is completely false and not based on any type of factual evidence. If this were so, they wouldn't allow declawing in the first place. Geez, people, its common sense. Vets usually go into the practice because they LOVE animals, not because they want to RIP OUT CLAWS and watch the animal suffer.

I just adopted a 4 month-old stray, and spoke extensively with my vet about getting her declawed at the same time of her spaying. He said that is usually the best way to do it because its less time the cat has to experience surgery. The cat doesn't even remember the surgery, much less the pain simply because animals are quite different than humans when it comes to that aspect. And having them declawed at an early age is also a better way to go about it.

So, before everyone jumps to conclusions about inhumane declawing, maybe everyone should seriously talk to a vet EXTENSIVELY about the EXACT procedures and protocols. I'm sure everyone's opinions will change after that.......

Answer 7

The vets have a new "laser" proceedure to declaw cats. It is less painful, less bloody, and has a quicker recovery period.

Personally, I prefer to let my cats keep their claws. Each one is so different, that you cannot make a "blanket" statement about all cats. But I find that if you allow the cat outdoor time, and/or lots of climbing AND "allowable" scratching surfaces, they will stick to them and leave your furniture and curtains (and legs?) alone.

Some can be trained to have their nails clipped, some just won't stand for it. The key to clipping, however, is to be able to just snip 1 or 2 at a sitting. It doesn't test their patience as much, and over time, you will get to all of them.

There are those "covers" for claws which are glued on. There's pros and cons to those, too.

I remember my Angel... I adoped him as a kitten. I made an agreement with him. I said, "If you leave my furniture alone, I'll leave your claws alone." I truely believe he knew what I was talking about and he never scratched the furniture!!

Have a meow-y day!

Answer 8

I personally think declawing is inhumane. I grew up in the UK and it's never been legal here to declaw cats or dock dogs ears. In fact UK legislation refers to both procedures as "mutilation" which says it all really.

In the UK it's taken for granted that scratching is perfectly natural behaviour for cats, so we simply offer them an acceptable alternative item to scratch. In fact most people in the UK are probably unaware that declawing even exists. I know I didn't till I joined YA.

I don't believe that cats in America or Canada are more naughty than those in the UK. So if literally millions of us can manage to train our cats to have good claw manners - why can't everyone do this? For those who really struggle to train their cat, why don't they hire an animal behaviourist to help them instead of spending money having the cat declawed?

I'm horrified that anyone would want to do this to their pet. If you truly love your cat, why would you want to hurt or maim it?

Answer 9

NO way. That is so mean to do to your cat. If you see it clawing the furniture, just spriz it with water and that will train the cat to not do it anymore. It worked on my cats (i have 4). SO do NOT declaw your cat!

Answer 10

Against it. We had a cat declawed and later on she sort of flipped out mentally and was attacking everyone then she stopped eating because another cat was in the house and she pooped on my moms dresser. We wanted to make her an out door cat as opposed to putting her down because she was starving herself. But she wouldn't have been able to defend herself when she was outside.
I also think its a cruel process. They rip the nails out.

Answer 11

I am definitely against declawing a cat.
Declawing might sentence your cat to death if he/she should happen to fall from your balcony or an open window.
He/she would be unable to protect himself/herself from dogs or climb a tree to get away.
Or, what if an illness would force you to give your cat away and the new owner cannot keep him/her inside his/her home all the time?