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Anyone who wants to declaw a cat should have their fingers and toes cut off at the first joint.
I agree but let's be precise. Not all cats have problems after, that is a fact. Let's not make potential adopters of de-clawed cats decide not to.
Being aware of possible problems is one thing, telling people to be SURE of them is another. My beloved Princess was an adopted de-clawed cat and she was THE BOMB. No one could ask for a better cat.
I agree but let's be precise. Not all cats have problems after, that is a fact. Let's not make potential adopters of de-clawed cats decide not to.
Being aware of possible problems is one thing, telling people to be SURE of them is another. My beloved Princess was an adopted de-clawed cat and she was THE BOMB. No one could ask for a better cat.
That's wonderful that she was but you're fooling yourself if you think she didn't have chronic pain all her life. She did, I assure you. Cats hide pain. They don't show suffering until they are in agony. I'm sure Princess had a good life with you, but that doesn't mean she wasn't in pain every single day.
You are thinking of it from the human's point of view. "great cat". We're thinking of it from the cat's point of view "crippled by humans for convenience then dumped anyway, forced to live her entire life walking on bones that were never meant to support weight, pain in back and legs, never able to stretch properly" and so on.
I agree but let's be precise. Not all cats have problems after, that is a fact. Let's not make potential adopters of de-clawed cats decide not to.
Being aware of possible problems is one thing, telling people to be SURE of them is another. My beloved Princess was an adopted de-clawed cat and she was THE BOMB. No one could ask for a better cat.
That is not the point. The message here is to educate the public that declawing is cruel and dangerous. END declawing.
Make some signs and march around in your P ***Y hats !!!
That is not the point. The message here is to educate the public that declawing is cruel and dangerous. END declawing.
Make some signs and march around in your P ***Y hats !!!
Yes, and like catdad said rather than deterring people, it helps people to know what to potentially expect with a cat who has had his or her toes amputated.
Always better, for kitty, if the human knows that kitty may need special care. If the idea of special care puts someone off, kitty is better off not being with that person.
Yes, and like catdad said rather than deterring people, it helps people to know what to potentially expect with a cat who has had his or her toes amputated.
Always better, for kitty, if the human knows that kitty may need special care. If the idea of special care puts someone off, kitty is better off not being with that person.
Exactly! If reading posts on a forum (and not doing their own research) puts someone off adopting a declawed cat, the cat is better off.... by far.
Pretty sure most here care more about the cats wellbeing than new owners possibly being turned off by a cat with physical limitations. There are plenty of those who already dumped a less-than-perfect pet...
Saying it might turn people off when the cats are "perfectly fine" is like saying it shouldn't turn people off because a pet is blind, deaf, three-legged, etc.... not everyone CAN handle limitations. Definitely prospective owners need to know, and be prepared for the possibility of a cat with handicaps.
Being declawed is a HANDICAP, know it, speak the words, do not pretend it is "fine" and all cats are happy and healthy into their teens missing digits... until it quits being a "normal" procedure to John Q Public, it will continue. We can best help other cats by speaking out against it "for their sake". Educate the public, every person who is made aware helps to spread the word.
And of course they can be the best cats ever..... absolutely they can be well-loved, not one cat lover here has said anything to oppose that. Still.... it doesn't mean everything was hunky dory for them, or their owners for life.
It would not stop me, or many others from adopting, IF we could provide properly, but we would need to know going in, that we "might" have issues.
Same with a deaf, or blind pet. We would need to know that we could provide, and make concessions for the animal forEVER before we went into it. Plenty of owners dump, or euthanize handicapped pets because they "can't handle it".
That's wonderful that she was but you're fooling yourself if you think she didn't have chronic pain all her life. She did, I assure you. Cats hide pain. They don't show suffering until they are in agony. I'm sure Princess had a good life with you, but that doesn't mean she wasn't in pain every single day.
You are thinking of it from the human's point of view. "great cat". We're thinking of it from the cat's point of view "crippled by humans for convenience then dumped anyway, forced to live her entire life walking on bones that were never meant to support weight, pain in back and legs, never able to stretch properly" and so on.
No, there is no proof of that. That is you, again, being hyberbolic to make your point. The reason I said she was a great cat is she didn't have any behavioral issues from being de-clawed.
'They don't show suffering until they are in agony' is not accurate either. They show subtle signs of it or else Vets feeling certain areas looking for a pain response would never get one.
When my anxious kitty first had FLUTD or idiopathic cystitis the Vet saw a pain response and gave pain meds. Later on it subsided and went down to a lighter pain med.
Her Highness didn't mind her paws being handled. She could jump and climb and kill a rat and bring it to me as a gift, all things you say they CAN'T do.
I am 100% against de-clawing and would never do it to a cat. I lost my love seat to my cat in college when Her Highness was my roomie's cat.
She at that time was aloof, but that has more to do with having a cold mama (the woman who de-clawed her) she came alive with me and my kitten.
She never hid or did any behavior like I've seen cats do when they hurt. My little kitten love hid when her ear infection came back, telling me it had come back.
If they are all in AGONY *every day of their lives* why don't we euth all de-clawed kitties in shelters and rescues?
Cruel to keep them alive, isn't it? AGONY every day all day forever? ****. A soon as she was handed to me I should have had her PTS?
You need to read my posts better if you are going to quote me without directly quoting. You like to make up stuff that I never said, or apply your own skewed interpretation of it. I've noticed that, a lot.
Amputating the toes alters the cat's entire alignment. The cat can never walk correctly again. This kind of disability causes chronic pain in other parts of the body besides the amputation site. The cat has to walk on bones that were never meant to support weight, or her wrists.
How can you think that doesn't cause pain? Seriously?
The legs, the back, the hips, et cetera, are all affected. How is this known? Well, of course you can read about feline anatomy and learn it for yourself.
I have a "bad foot". This foot hurts all the time, and causes pain in my knees, hips, shoulders and back, all the time, because I cannot walk on it properly. My entire alignment is messed up.
It doesn't mean I don't live a normal life. I still hike, and work and enjoy all the things I've always enjoyed. I don't walk around moaning about how much pain I am in. but I have chronic pain, all the time.
There are things I can (and do) do for it. Special exercises. Special "boot" I wear when the foot is especially bad. Pain medication. Cats don't have that option.
What I said, if you would read my posts properly, is, cats don't show pain until they are in agony. This is common instinctual self protection because cats are prey animals. Showing pain shows vulnerability and makes the cat a target for predators.
If you would do a little research you would learn that this is so, and common knowledge. You will also find out that even vets cannot always judge a cat's pain level.
This is one of the reasons vets get away with all their lies about how cats are "fine" after having their toes amputated. People who insist on doing this to their cats don't want to believe their cat is in pain, and won't even be looking for signs. Of course they won't see them any way until the cat starts avoiding the litter box or biting. Then instead of addressing the pain, the cat gets dumped.
Dogs are rarely declawed (though there are documented cases) This is probably because dogs are not that stoic. They scream. They limp. They cry. They have no prey-animal instinct that makes them hide their suffering.
Vets who make a living off of declawing insist that cats feel "very little pain" and "all pain is gone in about 2 weeks". They do not address the long term effects of a cat living with her toes amputated. If they told people that they'd lose their gravy train.
The law against declawing is going through the New Jersey legislature right now.
I truly hope concern for the cats' welfare prevails over any other opposing arguments, and the good folks in the New Jersey legislature pass that law......
.... and the rest of this country soon follows suit.
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