dear internet,
I just got a kitten, she's about 8 or 9 months old. I got her to entertain my 8 year old cat, and to rescue her from where she was living. I'm going to be getting her declawed, but I was just curious as to what your opinion was on the declawing of cats.
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What? Why would you do that? That's just mean.
It's more than mean, it's an unnecessary evil, and it is evil.
A well cared for cat will only scratch in self defence, and will only attack furniture if it's bored or insecure. Another cat/things to do/being well brought up will prevent claws being a problem.
And you should no more declaw a cat than cut off a bit of a person.
You should clip claws if they get too long.
She has to be declawed or I can't keep her, and really her other options aren't so good. (Either living in a rabbit cage with her last owner or going to the humane society and the one in this area has been known to kill animals after they've only been there a very short period of time.)
Plus, my 8 year old cat is declawed (in the front only, as she will be) and so it would be unfair to him if she kept her claws.
On top of that, in the pet agreement for my apartment it says that all cats must be declawed.
I do hate to do it, but she will be an indoor only cat and pampered her whole life, so hopefully she'll forgive me.
Oh this is vile! Sorry, fiercenailbunny, nothing against you personally. Despite possessing a cat on various occasions, I never heard of declawing before this; and all I can say is that I equate it with having fingernails removed and my teeth are sensitising just thinking about it!
But as you have pointed out, it does seem the lesser of the evils (death and living in a rabbit cage)... however, in regards to the actual concept: yuck!
sucks about your pet agreement! Can't you just not, and say you did (train your cat to pull them in if she's inspected...) I hate the idea, and it think it's highly unnecessary... If a person's overly protective of their furniture, just get a scratching pole and train the cat to use it... But sounds like you're in a tight spot...
I really hate that you're in the position of having to declaw her. Because that's the case, I'm not going to try to dissuade you (none of my business and you are saving her life).
However, since you asked for opinions.... Mine is that, as a whole, declawing is a disgusting act of mutilation performed in the name of convenience. Why such strong wording? Any google or yahoo search will reveal that it's not really the feline equivalent of fingernails being removed, it's their entire first knuckle . The claws that grow are directly attached to bone, and the knuckle itself must be removed to achieve declawing. There can be physical complications stemming from the fact that it changes how they walk, and behaviorists have noted psychological differences in declawed cats as well. This is not to say it's true for every cat. I'm just saying that the procedure really cannot be likened to something simple like removing our fingernails.
So, yes, ditto what Littlewolf said. And I hope your new kitty adjusts well. (Bad karma for whoever wrote your apartment's pet agreement.)
Oh, this is a bastard. For me the claws are an integral important part to and for the cat - to take them away lessens the cat and then I can't help thinking of all the cats that are born and killed straight away every day - because no one can care for all the cats being born.
But of course once you are attached to one particular one, that must sound totally heartless.
I struggle with the whole idea of pets, and that they get moulded around "their humans" life. I am sorry, really sorry for you fiercenailbunny, but I would rather put a kitten down than to deprive it of its claws!
I think I'll have to agree with Yuri actually... It seem like such a cruel thing to do. I hadn't heard of it before this question and I doubt very much it's legal in Sweden. I can't see how it can be legal anywhere else either, or how it can be required.
Would you consider trying out softpaws first? They go over the kitties claws so that kitty can't claw (win for you) and kitty gets to keep all her bits (win for kitty).
http://www.softpaws.com/
They may take a little effort/getting used to, but I think maybe you should give it a shot for the little kitten face. And they come in lots of colors!
I'm sorry Johnny but you're facts read like propaganda to me and I doubt very much that cats without claws can hunt, climb and balance like they should be able to. One of our cats has misshaped front paws and can't balance or jump as well as our other cats, she can't climb trees at all or catch mice or even insects so I don't see how a cat without any claws at all could do better than her.
Also, I think the bit about declawing allowing owner and pet live "harmoniously" together is bull. Sure, some furniture will get scratched up but if you can't take a little damage you shouldn't be keeping pets (or have children, for that matter). I do feel that declawing is a barbaric sort of torture that only favours the owner, whereas neutering in some ways favour the animal (and I could talk about that for ages but it's really not relevant to this discussion). I don't see how removing the claws would make things more tolerable for the cat.
I don't personally believe in keeping most animals as pets, no but there's a different in dragging home a moose or keeping a pony, having hens strutting around the house or keeping an owl in a cage...