Adopting an Abandoned Declawed Cat

I just adopted two 6 year-old declawed females. I’ve had cats (with claws, of course)my entire life but these are very different, though still quite sweet. They are having a hard time developing trust in our family. While I’ve contemplated declawing in the past, its never been a serious consideration for the reasons you all know about. I know it is mutilation and removes the “catness” from a feline. We will always keep them inside and provide pristine litter. Does anyone have any advice about additional things I can do to help them adjust emotionally and feel more secure. My children (ages 7 and 4) are so eager to interact with the cats but I am admonishing them to “leave the cats alone and wait for them to come to you.” My heart goes out to these furry friends and I so much want to help them be “normal.”

Incidentally, they’ve been together since kittens. I adopted them directly from the family who had them declawed but needed to surrender them due to drastic life changes. I believe the woman who made this choice for her pets made her decision based on the information she had and what she believed best for her family. I will not judge her. And I’m glad she choose me to adopt them. I just want to help them now.

Good on you !!! If Babz and I weren’t thousands of miles away we’d be coming with you ! We’d be going round all those corrupt butchers and we’d be out on the streets with a table set up, educating people to the truth of declawing and running a paper petition to get it banned too.
But it needs large numbers really to protest.It’s very frustrating we are too far away and can only fight on-line.
I hope your brilliant article gets to lots of people.

Struth Jan you’re a brave woman, and what a wonderful thing to do to actually confront one of the butchers, I can’t wai to hear what happens and what attitude she takes. I hope my blog isn’t the cause of you spending Christmas in prison! Well done to Michael as well. I’m looking like the one who makes the bullets for other people to fire!

Thank you for your support.Sorry you were treated so rudely.But I am going to physically go to the office and walk her right into an embarrassing moment on her part.I’m hoping to do so in front of others and demand a response.I’ll be armed with all the literature and printouts I have amassed from my research.May be a few days before I can let you know how it goes. LOL! But I’m determined to find out what and why of it.

Well, good luck, Jan. I rang an animal hospital in the USA the other day who were offering discounts on declawing (Eads Animal Hospital) and the manager was unavailable. When I asked the ever so polite receptionist why the hospital was in breach of the AVMA code of practice on declawing – a last resort (
for what it is worth) and what were the vets doing in the USA (indignantly) she hung up!

When challenged these vets run. They have no answers. They know it is wrong when confronted but otherwise they are in denial and they trick themselves into believing it is acceptable.

Dear Everyone,
After reading the blog on Babz site, it was brought to my attention that right up the road we have a practicing sadist.

So I’m putting on my glad clothes this weekend, posing as a “mutilator” and going to ask Miss Fungus to explain the procedure she’ll use to declaw my cat.

I am also taking copies of my research to share with this uninformed Miss. Wish me luck!

Thanks Michael,it’s a mutual admiration society as I admire all that you do too and also the work and kindness of many of your regular posters.
It’s very refreshing to ‘meet’ so many like minded people.

You are a complete star, Ruth, really. Love your work for cats and animals. And the link is great. Spot on.

Thank you Jan for signing the petition and for your brilliant comment on there too.
Thank you Michael for explaining how to post a link,here goes a try:

petition

Everything crossed it’s worked, if this old technophobe can do it, anyone can
lol lol
And my excuse if it doesn’t work ? It IS only 7am !! lol

H guys and girls. I just spotted this problem with Jan’s link. Sorry I was a bit slow on this.

I have corrected the link and it works now. The problem was that the full address of the web page in question was not used.

I am happy for links to be placed on this site to good work on other sites by people who contribute.

The way to add a link that opens in a new window or a new tab (this allows this site to remain open) is as follows:

1. Go to the page that you want to link to.
2. Place the cursor in the address bar at the top of the page and click once only
3. The URL (address) is painted in
4. Copy (Ctrl + C) the URL which is described as the web address link in the code below
5. Go to your comment or article and use this code to create the link:

Copy the code exactly as is (the code shown is an image so you will need to copy it manually – sorry)

Hope this helps.

What a cruel start to life poor Boots had. Him being abandoned by his previous owners shows that “declawing a cat guarantees it a forever home” is just one of the many lies used to condone this form of animal cruelty.

I am so pleased that he has found such a loving home with you and your family where he can learn to trust humans again. That he acts as your little boy’s protector and comforter shows just what a lovely character he is despite all of the misery he has had to endure in the past. It was a blessing for Boots the day you adopted him and I wish you all many happy years together.

Michele (UK)

It’s lovely that Boots is protecting your little boy from ‘the monsters under the bed’
That has really touched me and I’m so glad they are best friends.
Hugs for them both from England xx

Thank you Jan for your brilliant article on declawing. I’ve commented and emailed you too.
My main love is cats but I do love all animals and as well as working and volunteering with them, have fought (peacefully) for their rights all my adult life too.
Puppy Mills are shocking !!!
I ruffle many feathers too ..lol… good isn’t it !!!

I wanted to thank you all for your comments and encouragment. I was never really a “cat lover” untill boots came into our lives. He feels like more than just a pet to me. He is my son’s best friend. Before we got him my son was scared of “monsters under the bed” and wouldn’t go into a room by himself. Now boots is his body guard. And he has a special relationship with my son. He knows when my son is going to take a nap because boots will jump on the bed and snuggle up beside. Protecting him from the monsters under the bed. Again thank you.

Dear Ruth,

I’m so sorry you couldn’t access the ULR. Seems as I’m new to this I gave you the wrong address. Please be prepared. My grammar(or so one of the commenters at Examiner says) is horrible. And I write pretty aggressively as these things I write about are near and dear to my heart and am sure I ruffle a few fingers. If you can, although I know you are a cat person,read the letter from the puppymill puppy,and you’ll get a better idea why I write so aggressively.Sorry about the mix up!

href=”http://www.examiner.com/x-32603-Chinatown-Pet-News-Examiner~y2009m12d17-Declawing-a-cat-or-cat-amputation” – Jan on Declawing (not from Michael: I unlinked this as it is broken)

anyone is free to email me at jan.plant@yahoo.com

I continue to look forward to all the great stuff here! Thanks Michael!

sorry folks it seems Examiner is working on some bugs, or I stepped on some toes.let ya know.I sent in ticket order for fix,bbl.

Sarah, I’m so glad you saw that flyer and rescued Boots, I think in time he will be fine because you obviously give him so much love and care that he will come to trust you and your family and have the best time of his life with you. You are a special cat person, an honour not bestowed on many.

Jan I can’t get your article, every time I try, it says it will be ready in 5 minutes but it never is.
I’d love to read it.

Thank you very much for signing our petition and for your great remark too !
So many people don’t know how cruel declawing is and sadly,some don’t care.
It’s heart breaking.

Jan, maybe you don’t realize it but you are a kind of cat angel yourself.

You are a special angel indeed for adopting this poor abused kittiy.Most declawed and then abandoned cats are destroyed due to the many issues they have because of the declawing.

I just finished submitting an article to Examiner on declawing,Perhaps you’ll read it.Either way you are an angel.

And as soon as I finish here I’m signing that petition!!!!!!

You can read my articles on abuse and declawing at:

Jan on Declawing

God Bless and Keep you all.

I admire you very much Sarah for giving Boots a good home.Some cruel person and some corrupt vet who agreed to do this terrible operation, ruined his life. How cold hearted some people are, once declawed, a cat should never ever be allowed outside again, let alone abandoned.
Yes hiding away and biting are due to the declawing.It takes a special person to love and understand a declawed cat.
Declawing is banned in our country but even before it was, our vets would never do it(I was a vet nurse)so I was very shocked a year ago to discover it happens daily in the USA.
I started a petition and since then have joined with others who are trying to spread the word about the truth of declawing.
Please will you help us by signing and passing on our petition
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=4312
Thank you
One day no more cats will suffer as we will not give up until declawing is banned worldwide !
X for Boots furry head.

I admire you a lot for adopting Boots. Well done. Your title was fine. I changed it to incorporate the words “declawing” or “declawed” as this becomes the file name and can be more easily found on the ‘net for people looking for declawing stories.

Thank you very much for visiting, sharing and hopefully educating some of the visitors.

There are many regular people who visit with the same sentiments regarding declawing and who will be pleased to read your story.

Declawing will be banned one day in the USA and we will look back at this time in disbelief.