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Cats would never willfully submit to those painful procedures if they had the choice.
It's completely hypocrisy.
No it's not. Once the incisions from a spay or neuter heal there is no pain, unlike when part of a weight-bearing part of the body is removed (ever hear of "phantom pain?". Added bonus is that they don't suffer from feeling sexual urges that they cannot satisfy (and it is extremely irresponsible to allow unfettered mating due to the enormous cat population that already exists), their behavior/nature is a lot calmer and more conducive to household living and they are not always trying to escape to find a mate, and several cancers are prevented.
This thread is one of the most hypocritical I have seen.
If cutting off your pets' balls for your own pleasure is perfectly acceptable, I don't see anything else you do to your pets can be any worse.
As has already been EXPLAINED to you several times, it is NOT for the human's pleasure that s/n is practiced. There is already a huge cat and dog population in this country that doesn't need to get any bigger. It is also healthier for the animals, as their are several cancers of the reproductive system (and mammary cancer in females) that is prevented by s/n. They don't miss the organs that are removed, and they are a lot happier not having to go through heat cycles (or if they are males, trying to locate the females who they sense that are in heat) without being able to relieve their sexual urges.
Stop being so deliberately obtuse and educate yourself on the subject!
Of course, I like to tweak the noses of the folks from the UK I meet in these discussions and remind them that they think it bizarre to keep cats indoors. If they were to come visit some American cities they wouldn't think it so bizarre. There have been some horrific cases of animal abuse in my area alone, say nothing of the rest of the country. Buster's Law, the law that makes aggravated animal cruelty a felony in NY State (one of the first laws of its kind in the country) was named after a stray cat that was set on fire.
I know plenty of people who treat their pets like crap and don't declaw them. Or give them proper veterinary care. Or feed them the best foods. Or give them a safe, comfortable home free of drugs, violence, and drama.
I think that people should mind their own business unless these animals are in true danger.
Yes, it's better to avoid it if you can, but it's hysteria to think that it's a sign of abuse or neglect.
I'd rep you if I could but I have to spread the love.
You are correct. There are much worse things than declawing to get worked up about WRT pet caretakers. A friend was complaining to me just last night that she was over a friend's house that just reeked because the cat's box had not been scooped in weeks. That friend was complaining to her that the cat was pooping in the hallway and talking about having to get rid of the cat.
When I lived in Detroit there was a family that was always getting kittens and then throwing the animals out when they got pregnant. I've seen dogs left chained in yards. Every day people dump unwanted animals and leave them to fend for themselves without the skills to make it in the wild. My cat may be declawed but she is well fed, she gets vetted on a regular basis (she needs medication twice a day so she sees the vet twice a year for blood work), she's warm and dry and loved. She's much better off than the cat i'm getting in two weeks who is lucky my niece found him. She found the cat I have now the same way. She was a stray. She started feeding her and got her acclimated to being around people and then I took her.
So teach the little brats how to properly treat animals and they won't have to worry about being scratched! Any kid who pulls a cat's tail or otherwise treats a cat like it is a stuffed animal that moves and breaths on its own deserves what they get back.
Eh. I was afraid of cats as a kid, so I certainly wasn't petting them, let alone pestering or even touching them, and I nevertheless have an arm and shoulder full of faint old claw scars from a nasty housecat ambush attacking me when I was 5 or 6. It's not like they're the most predictable animals.
Would we all like to have our fingernails removed? Might need some painkillers for that. Claws mean more to cats than fingernails do to us. They make some kind of caps you can attach to the claws so they aren't sharp. Or trim them.
Also, docking dogs tails and ears, I can't believe they still do it.
My foreskin was removed without my consent, and without benefit of fentanyl. Let's worry about maiming humans before we worry about cats.
Of course, I like to tweak the noses of the folks from the UK I meet in these discussions and remind them that they think it bizarre to keep cats indoors. If they were to come visit some American cities they wouldn't think it so bizarre. There have been some horrific cases of animal abuse in my area alone, say nothing of the rest of the country. Buster's Law, the law that makes aggravated animal cruelty a felony in NY State (one of the first laws of its kind in the country) was named after a stray cat that was set on fire.
"The expected lifespan of an indoor-outdoor cat will depend on several factors, including the type of neighborhood you live in and sheer luck. But, on average, cats who are allowed to roam outdoors often don't live to see age five. Cats who are always kept safely confined can live to be 18 to 20 years old."
That is so weird. Get your panties in a wad over declawing which does not impact life expectancy and leave your cat outside to get in fights, get hit by a car or become lunch for some other animal. Perhaps the reason we declaw and they don't is we keep our cats safely indoors.
I'd rep you if I could but I have to spread the love.
You are correct. There are much worse things than declawing to get worked up about WRT pet caretakers. A friend was complaining to me just last night that she was over a friend's house that just reeked because the cat's box had not been scooped in weeks. That friend was complaining to her that the cat was pooping in the hallway and talking about having to get rid of the cat.
When I lived in Detroit there was a family that was always getting kittens and then throwing the animals out when they got pregnant. I've seen dogs left chained in yards. Every day people dump unwanted animals and leave them to fend for themselves without the skills to make it in the wild. My cat may be declawed but she is well fed, she gets vetted on a regular basis (she needs medication twice a day so she sees the vet twice a year for blood work), she's warm and dry and loved. She's much better off than the cat i'm getting in two weeks who is lucky my niece found him. She found the cat I have now the same way. She was a stray. She started feeding her and got her acclimated to being around people and then I took her.
I think the big-picture issue is "does the pet owner take good care of this pet and love it." Period.
I have seen people who could not afford pets with several chained out in the yards or with cats that roamed the streets to wind up dead due to cars or larger animals. People who euthanized animals immediately instead of getting them surgery that could cure their illnesses/injuries because they could not afford treatment... the list goes on.
Our elder cat racks up a hefty vet bill every month. She's had more tests and screenings than a good many human beings I know and she's treated like a princess. If someone just saw her and knew nothing about us and saw that she had no claws, they might make a wide variety of assumptions about her and about us and none of them would be accurate unless they were complimentary because you'd be hard pressed to find an animal treated better or cared for with more love and attention. We lost our youngest cat a little over a year ago to an acute episode that had gone undetected (she was never sick and then, suddenly she was very ill) and the surgery and emergency care went into the 10s of thousands before we were done and we didn't stop until there were NO other options.
So, yes... I guess, by the rationale in this thread, since we own a cat who has no claws, we should never have owned any others because we are abusive (even though the choice to declaw her wasn't mine and I met her after she had no claws... though I would declaw a cat under the right circumstances), but when the head of a prominent vet school tells you that you have done more than over 99% of pet owners would EVER do to try to save your 3yo cat, I dare a judgmental jerk to tell me we are not good pet owners.
Our pets are part of our family and we love them dearly. I see people on the internet all the time wanting to ditch a cat or rehome an animal who isn't behaving up to their standards or isn't cute because it's no longer a kitten. And those cats all tend to have claws.
So, yeah... until everyone learns to be a better pet owner, I think we have larger issues than declawing to tackle in this country.
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My foreskin was removed without my consent, and without benefit of fentanyl. Let's worry about maiming humans before we worry about cats.
I think we could safely get rid of all forms of genital alteration/mutilation done to children minus a religious exemption, perhaps for Jews who have this as part of their culture since the procedure in and of itself doesn't render a man unable to enjoy sex (as is the case with FGM). That might be a good start.
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