I am sure a lot Americans think I am some sort of arrogant, animal rights, anti-declaw Brit who has no right to comment on anything that happens in America.
I would humbly ask Americans to be patient with me. Just like other PoCers, I am a person who likes animals. I respect all animals and want people to give them the same respect. It is a civilized way to live.
So…I want to return, briefly, to cat declawing again. For a person who respects all animals, cat declawing is the antithesis of that belief. It does not matter if a person lives in another country. Animals are not concerned with country boundaries. Also the internet is global.
I would like people who declaw their cats to watch the video on this page, which does not get enough views, nowhere near enough, which is very sad but reflective of human society. We owe it to cats to not declaw them. In a lifetime of looking after cats I have never had a scratch or a bite from my cats.
It is not about the cat. It is about what we do as cat caretakers when we interact with our cat. We are smart. We should know how to avoid scratches. If we don’t it is our fault and the solution is learning how to avoid scratches and not to declaw. Sounds like common sense, doesn’t it?
One this page there is a video and three facts from it:
- “A Pebble in a Shoe” — Declawed cats, including declawed tiger and pumas, can suffer from claw regrowth under the skin. You’ll see that in the video. It is shocking to anyone who even cares a bit about animals. Claw regrowth after declawing is like walking on a stone for the rest of your miserable life. Try it. Put a few stones in your shoe and live like that for years. It’ll break you. Removing the claw regrowth changed the lives of the big cats who benefited from the surgery. Also shards of bone can be left under the skin too causing acute discomfort.
- “there were thousands of big cats who needed their paws repaired…” (Dr Jennifer Conrad DVM) — they have massive discomfort. It cripples them.
- “there must be millions of the little cats…domestic cats who need their paws repaired….” — they have discomfort, some have massive discomfort.
I will stop their to avoid irritating someone. I write these pages, of which there are over 150 on PoC because I love animals. The starting point for loving animals is to respect them. You cannot respect a cat if you declaw him/her.
To be honest it’s no wonder that people don’t understand. Where do you go if you want advice about animal health and what is and isn’t good care? Yes quite right; you go to your vet who you trust and what do they do? Betray not only your trust but the worst thing imaginable the trust of the very creature they have sworn to protect 🙁
Well said Martha and thank you. People don’t understand. Some vets underplay the operation by referring to a cat’s claws as “nails” so people think they are like a human’s nails.
I have a page on the cat’s claw for kids. The purpose of it is to try and make sure kids know exactly what a claw is and does and how important they are to a cat.
The point you make, Sarah, is exactly correct as far as I am concerned. It is part of the convenience culture. There are millions of examples of the convenience culture and most relate to consumer products. Declawing is more or less treating a cat as a consumer product.
Thanks for commenting Sarah. Hope you are OK.
I think it is a matter of education. People do not really know what the declawing procedure is. It is not as if vets try to educate them not to do it. But happily I can say that there are more and more Americans who are not declawing cats. Those who don’t declaw can tell you exactly what the procedure is, which is why I say educate them and they will reach the right decision.
You should have seen all the hate comments I got on usenet when I expressed anti-declaw views. To my mind it is part of the “convenience culture”. Rather than take time to modify behaviour, the surgical option is a quick fix. Quick fixes and instant success/gratification seem to be a cultural thing.
Thanks for your comment, Sarah, which I will take as support. It is very much appreciated.
I need support because I need Americans to visit PoC but I am also compelled to address declawing which I loathe with a vengeance.
I think of kittens having their claws amputated and I think of these big cats in the video. I feel sick about these things. These beautiful creatures are crippled by some pain-in-the-arse vet and insensitive zoo owner working together.