2009.10.12
Declawing discussion 2.0
Today's Happy Wag column was based on the blog entry I did last month about declawing cats.
I was talking about it with my husband this weekend and he knows I regret declawing Thai, but he pointed out that Thai still runs his front feet over every surface in our house. If Thai still had claws, we would have no rugs, carpets, furniture, bedding, window coverings or even doors that would be unscathed. How long could we have reasonably co-existed with him if he destroyed every flat surface in our home?
And believe me, Thai is virtually immune to behavior modification techniques. He's a sweet loving kitty with a Frank Sinatra attitude: He does it his way.
If I had it do over, I don't think I would have declawed him before at least trying to train him to channel his inner Shredder in a positive way. But if declawing keeps a cat from being turned in to animal control, it may be the best alternative.
The discussion continues.
Sorry, I do not condone such mutilation for the benefit of one's furniture or home. Taking on a pet means some pretty significant effort and time. Mutilation and that is what we are talking about is cruel, unnecessary and selfish IMO. I have had many cats, loved them all and my home has the "scars" to prove it.
May God keep Thai and other such cats safe in the event of a catastrophe as you have removed the main line of defense.
I have a cat with one kidney and she is catered to and accepted for who she is, The Queen. The cabinets can be refinished, she cannot.
Comment by Sandi Saunders — October 12, 2009 @ 12:46 pm
I had our cat declawed and never knew what it actually was. I was naive and thought they "de" clawed the cat, not amputate the last digit of each finger on their paw.
I used to live in Australia and it is illegal there to declaw. I will always feel sad and sick that I did this to our sweet cat. Lessons learned...
Comment by Shellie Leete — October 12, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
I know this is a "cat" thread, but I have always wondered about dog's dew claws. Some advocate removing them and some don't. Thoughts?
Comment by Julie — October 12, 2009 @ 3:46 pm
Leaving a cat defenseless is inhumane.
Comment by Art Hill — October 12, 2009 @ 5:34 pm
I know a lot of people don't understand what declawing a cat means, and I am glad there is an open discussion and awareness happening.
Also, for those interested in a declawed cat, you can find them up for adoption! At Angels of Assisi, we mark the cats that are declawed right next to their name.
Comment by Lisa — October 13, 2009 @ 11:26 am
My cat has his claws. But when he attacks, and he attacks a lot, he attacks with his teeth. I have the scars to prove it. I had a previous cat when I was a child who was declawed, he too was semi ferral and attacked a lot. He could climb trees (when he snuck out) and could pretty vicious even wihtout his claws. So whereas I don't necessarily condone declawing, I wouldn't say a cat is defenseless because of it.
Comment by Dana — October 13, 2009 @ 12:09 pm
Growing up I always had cats in my life. We never had any of our cats declawed. But we learned conditioning. We learned how to handle a cat with care so that it wouldn't scratch us, even though there are moments when a cat can still turn on a dime and have a moment of unexpected behavior, or perhaps the human holding it didn't read the true emotional attitude of it and was given a reminder to pay attention. One of the great lessons in life that a cat can provide. As for the furniture, we learned which cats paid attention to "Pssst" sound, which ones ignored it, and which ones reacted to the threat of a flying throw pillow (tossed near the cat, not for impact). Giving them an alternative scratching item was always a trial and error thing but every cat is worth a shot at it. In fact, I'm stopping on my way home this evening to find our O'Malley an alternate to the living room rug. Cats can be trained, and so can their humans; it just takes a lot of trying and persevering, and constant reminders.
Comment by Heather Froeschl — October 13, 2009 @ 12:22 pm
I live with a de-knuckled cat that I pulled from a shelter who has caused severe urine damage to my home because his painful, arthritic paws cannot dig litter (arthtitis is a common consequence of de-knuckling esp as the cat ages). So he pees on my floors & counters instead.
He is a purebred cat whose first family de-knuckled him purely for their own convenience, then dumped him when he didn't turn out to be the maintenance-free pet they wanted. If you look thru shelters, newspapers, & craigslist, you can see that this is a daily trend - declawed cats abandoned & homeless, many with issues. In fact, as a founder of a cat rescue network, I get many such requests.
As far as I am concerned, there should never be a homeless de-knuckled cat if the surgery really did what the vets fraudulently claim - it makes "better pets" & it "keeps cats in their homes". Breaking & crippling an animals fingers in order to get them into a home is both sadistic & against our moral & civic values.
We actually refuse to adopt to individuals that de-knuckle their cats. For us, it's a red flag that there is a disconnect between the person & understanding natural, healthy cat behavior & an unwillingless to accomodate it. We want people that allow the animal to be an animal & not put on trial in the home.
That doesn't mean allowing damage, it means putting time & effort into the animal. I have had 100's of cats fostered in my home and have always been able to avoid furniture damage by trimming nails so they can't snag fabric or flesh, buying cheap cardboard scratch pads, temporarily putting Soft Paws on the cat until they are trained, sisal mats, & tall sisal posts. It's not rocket science.
Cats use their claws everyday for communicating (scent glands in their paws leave msgs when they scratch), raking litter, grooming, catching cat-nip toys, climbing cat towers, walking on a complete paw (with their knuckle-bones & tendons) & they can & will save the life of an indoor cat that escapes outside. These aren't optional, but integral tools, for cats.
De-knuckling is already illegal or unethical in more than 35 countries (& W.Hollywood, CA), and in ALL of these places they have indoor-only cats, nice furniture, children, elderly, & thin-skinned-sick people just as we do. Casually carving up pets for convenience makes me ashamed to be an American.
Comment by De-knuckling Is Disgusting — October 16, 2009 @ 6:20 pm
OK, so I have two cats that are not declawed, and I love them very, very much, but one of them has already shredded a small section on the back of our semi-new overstuffed chair in the living room. I'm not sure when she did this because I have never caught her doing it. If I had, the squirt bottle would've come out and I would've tried to find a way to cover that particular edge with plastic or something.
Now that it's damaged, what do I do about the furniture? I know this is not directly related to pets, but it certainly is indirectly related. Can you get something like that patched? Do they make any kind of plastic cover for the edges or arms of sofas and chairs, since that seems to be where the cats love to scratch?
If anyone has advice, I'd love to hear it.
Comment by Lindsey — October 19, 2009 @ 10:26 am
You could probably get it repaired, but it may cost a hefty sum to do it. What we did when the cats kept scratching at the same spot on our loveseat was to put clear packing tape over the area, and that discouraged them from using that spot...but they have gone on to others. About the only thing to do would be to get a very thick, durable slip cover that you don't mind being sacrificed. We try to trim our cats' nails back about every week or 2 before they get too sharp, that helps cut down on the damage.
Comment by Other John — October 22, 2009 @ 12:39 pm