Declawing cats

[bob_summers]

that's an excellent point. i can draw a parallel with my views against domesticating animals, but then i have two cats because i knew i could give them a decent future. the lesser of two evils i suppose

[VeganLu]

I'm not a fan of declawing. But sadly to some cats, if they're not declawed, they end up dropped off at the nearest shelter to be put down.

If I was a cat, I would rather be put down at the shelter than have my claws removed.

[Catt Queen]

I'm not a fan of declawing. But sadly to some cats, if they're not declawed, they end up dropped off at the nearest shelter to be put down.

If I was a cat, I would rather be put down at the shelter than have my claws removed.

Agreed. Declawed cats cannot do normal cat things - they can't climb at all, can't run properly as they have nothing to grip onto the ground with, they have no defence against predators and due to not being able to climb they cannot escape predators either. Can you imagine having no fingers or toes? How much fun would your life be then?

Cats have claws, they scratch things, it's what they do. People who value possessions over animal welfare should not have animals of any sort.

http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

Moral, Ethical and Humane Considerations
The veterinary justification for declawing is that the owner may otherwise dispose of the cat, perhaps cruelly. It is ethically inappropriate, in the long term, for veterinarians to submit to this form of moral blackmail from their clients.

"The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights is opposed to cosmetic surgeries and to those performed to correct 'vices.' Declawing generally is unacceptable because the suffering and disfigurement it causes is not offset by any benefits to the cat. Declawing is done strictly to provide convenience for people. The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights (AVAR)

Some veterinarians have argued that some people would have their cats killed if declawing was not an option. We should not, however, allow ourselves to taken 'emotional hostage' like this. If a person really would kill her or his cat in this case, it is reasonable to question the suitability of that person as a feline guardian, especially when there are millions of non-declawed cats living in harmony with people."

Most people are vehemently opposed to declawing due to a combination of reasons: 1) because the end (owner convenience) doesn't justify the means (causing unnecessary pain to the cat); 2) because other, less harmful alternatives to declawing exist and 3) because claws are part of the nature or "catness" of cats. Overall, the view is that it is ethically inappropriate to remove parts of an animal's anatomy, thereby causing the animal pain, merely to fit the owner's lifestyle, aesthetics, or convenience without any benefit to the cat. It should be emphasized that "most people" includes virtually the entire adult population of Europe and many other countries around the world.

[VeganLu]

Catt Queen:

Great post. I feel just like you, and thanks for the quote from The Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights. I have been trying to find this organization and I found out that they joined forces with The Human Society of the United States.

To Long Dogs: Here you go. Catt Queen posted a quote from the organization I was telling you about (great group of vets that are just like you), and I found out they joined forces with HSUS. They used to be under their own website as AVAR.org. But now you can find them at this website: http://www.hsvma.org/.

[longdogs]

To Long Dogs: Here you go. Catt Queen posted a quote from the organization I was telling you about (great group of vets that are just like you), and I found out they joined forces with HSUS. They used to be under their own website as AVAR.org. But now you can find them at this website: http://www.hsvma.org/.

Thanks for posting this link- it looks like a great organisation, haven't been able to find anything similar here, maybe i should start one!

[VeganLu]

Hi longdogs:

I am glad you liked the website. I was so happy to find them when they were AVAR.org. It is just like PCRM? Have you heard of this organization? I think you will like them too. They are Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the President and founder is Dr. Neal Barnard. They are all vegan physicians and have done a lot to help the animals who are being experimented on. Their website even has a "vegan recipe of the week". http://www.pcrm.org

[calico]

If I was a cat, I would rather be put down at the shelter than have my claws removed.

Agreed. Declawed cats cannot do normal cat things - they can't climb at all, can't run properly as they have nothing to grip onto the ground with, they have no defence against predators and due to not being able to climb they cannot escape predators either. Can you imagine having no fingers or toes? How much fun would your life be then?[/quote]

When I was younger it seemed to be more popular, so I saw a few declawed cats. They CAN run, play, and "scratch". The pads, not the claws, give the traction. They can climb furniture and carpeted cat-tree things. The typical declawed cat still has his back claws.

A declawed cat should not be put outside. But then again people don't declaw cats which don't live indoors -- it's done to protect upholstery or perhaps to protect people from being scratched. Hate to sound cynical, but the kind of people who declaw do it it save $$$ (on furniture). They're not going to toss their "investment" outside.

They don't remove "all the toes" to declaw. What is removed depends on how the procedure is done. In some cases the distal end of P3 (the last bone) is trimmed. In other cases P3 may be removed. How the foot looks when it's done varies with the choice of procedure and the skill of the vet. I can't speak for all vets. The examples of declawed cats I have seen in person looked just like a normal foot. It's only when you applied pressure to the foot, which normally would expose the claws, that it was clear the cat was declawed. I have heard of ones who were done in such a way you could see the foot looked a little different without palpating, but I haven't seen it firsthand so I can't judge.

We can argue if a cat would rather be dead, but it's been my experience generally speaking an injured cat will keep struggling to live. The cat rescue near me picked up a cat whose foot was mangled in an injury and healed that way; it didn't slow him down a bit. He didn't look like he wanted to die. Unlike people, cats don't dwell on their bodies or their pasts.

There the question should we be doing elective surgery on our dogs or cats? But we do it all the time by neutering & spaying: does a cat want to have his/her reproductive organs removed?

That being said, de-clawing should not come back into fashion. Between better education, nail-caps, management changes, scratching posts, and other solutions, de-clawing doesn't seem to be needed much anymore. Overall, I believe the public education about their pets' care (dogs and other pets, too) is much better now than it was a decade or two ago. It had been that most people blamed their pet for anything the pet did that was "wrong". I think people are learning that pets can be taught, and the pet is not permanently seen as a "bad" cat. The animal, just like a human child, is born not knowing manners, and it's up to us to teach what good behavior is.

[VeganLu]

Yes, what a great posting, Catt Queen. Cats use their claws for many things, and I feel that when a cat is declawed, it is like giving them a lobotomy.