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I've had cats my entire 67 years. Multiple indoor only cats at the same time. Never declawed any of them, but do clip their nails. They can hurt each other (or you) when they "play fight" if their nails are too long.
However, it is best to start cutting their nails from the time they are kittens so they get used to it.
Things could easily change in the US as well. Contrary to popular belief (I am not intending to say you believe this, many people do though) being a veterinarian doesn't mean rolling in cash. Profit margins in most clinics are not huge, and it's difficult/expensive to build a profitable clinic. so the more customers who refuse to take their animals to dr's who support declawing the less clinics there will be that will offer it.
Yes, I meant to say Canada, but evidently I was in error (thought I had read that somewhere). My mistake.
I can tell you that the vet I've used for over 20 years is a small practice, and a quite busy one. He still does declaws, but only on request and doesn't 'push' them. I don't think he does all that many, and if he stopped altogether it probably wouldn't hurt his bottom line very much. Unfortunately, even one a year is one too many.
This thread has been mostly about the ethics & long term effects of declawing. But whether one believes the information or not, there's one fact that really can't be argued. Declawing isn't done for the welfare of the cat, but for the 'benefit' of the human. There is simply no good reason, medical or otherwise, to do it. I think most everyone would agree that a cat is really better off if left in its natural state.
So, why do it? Because someone desires to have a cat in their life, but doesn't want their furniture at risk. That's basically wanting to have your cake, and eat it too.... at the cats expense.
To those who may argue that declawing doesn't have all the bad effects discussed here, I would say "what if you're wrong?"
I've moved and haven't run into any vets who declaw. The topic comes up when I warn them about my kitty and her needle-like claws. I try to clip them several days before we go, but she always manages to keep them razor sharp.
In the past, I've adopted declawed cats from shelters because I could give them a nice indoor home. This one happened to come with claws, which I wasn't about to remove.
I don't understand the whole furniture thing. If you have cats, you aren't going to be able to have sofas with fabric that calls out, "Scratch me!" to a wandering feline. More power to anyone who can keep one of those. I just opt for sofa with cushions I can replace as necessary.
All that said, it is up to the owner and the vet. I've known a few cats with behavior problems that were declawed so they didn't shred the owner. The alternative was euthanizing (which I would've done -- a cat that far gone is dangerous) and another owner with a life-threatening disease who couldn't bear to be scratched (what about bites? but I held my tongue).
But, yes, cats are not toys. They need to be carefully socialized when young and watched over when older. They are not dogs, which a lot of today's families can't successfully raise either, but that's a topic for another thread.
I see this anti-declawing movement as kind of going too far.. like bleeding heart-ism gone amok. I've seen some nasty articles painting people as snobs if they value their furniture, these same authors going on to say their furniture has seen better days and they dim the lights when guests come over. Really? Cats got routinely declawed in the past and there was no big deal about it. One could argue that spaying and neutering are also unnatural and that depriving them of sexual desire is not moral either. They came with sex organs... why would we remove them? How is this natural? None of the cats I've ever owned or seen were any worse for wear from being declawed.
Fact is a lot of people don't want to have damaged furniture and don't want to have to trim their cat's claws every couple of weeks. In my opinion they should just get it done at the same time they have the cat spayed and neutered and be done with it. They'd rather risk the cat end up euthanized than let someone like myself adopt one that is both spayed and declawed... alright then, I simply won't get a cat then if people feel so strongly about this issue.
Spaying/neutering and declawing are the removal of something a cat was born with. Yes, I agree with that.
BUT one is for the health of the cat and its species - spaying/neutering - and yes it involves surgery and affects hormones. However, the surgeries have become more simplified and less invasive and cats recover quickly with no negative after-effects. "Depriving" them of natural instincts may appear to humans as an immoral act, but it's not the same for cats as it is for humans. We humans are driven by thought as well as hormones - we think ahead before hormones kick in. Cats do not. They do not think about what they're "missing".
The other - declawing - is a permanent disfigurement that is very painful, requires a long time for recovery, and many cats never quite recover and endure pain for the rest of their lives. Although declawing was done often in the past, we have become much smarter and now know what declawing does to a cat. It's the removal of the entire toe bone down to the first joint. It's not simply removing claws.
Take a look at your hands and envision every finger amputated to the first knuckle. That's how you would be "declawed".
This issue is NOT "bleeding heart-ism gone amok"! It is about selflessness and about making a choice to put our belongings secondary to a cat's health. Those who can't do this (and not being judgmental) shouldn't bring a cat into their homes.
Education is the key here. Years ago we didn't have the knowledge that we do now about declawing and providing scratching posts, cat trees, etc. to encourage cats to claw things other than your furniture. We weren't told that declawing a cat meant taking not only the claws, but the first joint of the paw.
Many people used to think that a female dog or cat should be allowed to have one litter before being spayed. We now realize that is not the case.
My son's friend had his cat declawed about 6 years ago. The vet used a laser. Not sure if that is less traumatic and damaging but his cat seems fine. Personally I would never do it but I also would never tether my dog outside or abuse any animal in any way.
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We have had many cats over the years, and most were declawed. I noticed that for the first few cats, years ago, it did seem very painful afterwards, but in later years it did not seem to be a painful recovery at all.
I assumed that perhaps methods of performing this procedure had improved?
At any rate, I've had it with cats. They almost always destroy things, either by clawing furniture, or peeing on things, or killing birds, so I'm just never getting another one.
I see this anti-declawing movement as kind of going too far.. like bleeding heart-ism gone amok. I've seen some nasty articles painting people as snobs if they value their furniture, these same authors going on to say their furniture has seen better days and they dim the lights when guests come over. Really? Cats got routinely declawed in the past and there was no big deal about it. One could argue that spaying and neutering are also unnatural and that depriving them of sexual desire is not moral either. They came with sex organs... why would we remove them? How is this natural? None of the cats I've ever owned or seen were any worse for wear from being declawed.
Fact is a lot of people don't want to have damaged furniture and don't want to have to trim their cat's claws every couple of weeks. In my opinion they should just get it done at the same time they have the cat spayed and neutered and be done with it. They'd rather risk the cat end up euthanized than let someone like myself adopt one that is both spayed and declawed... alright then, I simply won't get a cat then if people feel so strongly about this issue.
On behalf of any cats that may come your way in the future, that's probably the right decision for you to make.
Humans have done many things in the past that were considered acceptable & ok, but that doesn't mean it really was. You can't use prior practices to justify doing something you now know to be harmful.
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