Cat Declaw No More

by Ruth
(England)

OUR FAMILY HAVE ALWAYS DECLAWED OUR CATS…Then it’s time to break the family tradition! Declawing is a cruel and unnecessary operation and there are alternatives to having your cat’s last toe joints amputated.

Having scratching posts and pads around the house for your cat and regularly trimming his claws are all you need to do.

Declawing is banned in many countries and there is no justification for it to be done in the few countries where it is still legal.

declawing cats
STOP!

INDOOR CATS DON’T NEED CLAWS

But they do! Indoor cats need their claws to walk, play and groom properly and very importantly, to exercise. They need to dig in their claws to stretch their leg, shoulder, stomach and back muscles. Because declawed cats can’t do this, many develop painful arthritis in later life.

They also need them for self-defence. Just say a burglar broke into your home when the cat was alone. He would have no chance against a person possibly wanting to hurt him. Supposing he escaped out of the broken window the burglar entered by? Again he would have no chance against healthy animals outside. He couldn’t run up a tree to get away from a dog or put up much of a fight against a clawed cat or a wild animal.

In natural disasters such as fire, floods or an earthquake,a declawed cat would have no chance of survival.

HE MIGHT SCRATCH MY BABY OR MY FURNITURE

But he might not! Especially if as a kitten you provide him with a good tall strong scratching post and show him how to use it. Declawed cats have a tendency to bite or to mess outside the litter tray, both of which are dangerous to a crawling baby. Besides, you should never leave a baby or toddler alone with a cat, you, as a good parent should supervise them always. You shouldn’t have your perfectly healthy cat disabled just in case he scratches. Declawing is a last resort procedure for very serious scratching behaviour, not just in case?…

IT WILL MAKE HIM A BETTER PET FOR MY KID

Not so! A declawed cat is a disabled cat and it gives children the wrong idea that cats can be adapted to be used as toys. You need to teach your child to be gentle and kind with your cat, she has to learn that he feels fear and pain just like she does. Your child deserves a perfect healthy cat as a pet and your cat relies on you to teach your child how to handle him without hurting him.

The same applies if you have a family dog, it’s your responsibility to supervise both animals and not to leave them alone together until you are confident they are good friends. It’s very cruel to have a cat declawed for the sake of a dog, it leaves the cat vulnerable to being pestered, hurt or even killed by the dog. A warning scratch soon puts a dog in his place and teaches him to respect the cat!

THERE REALLY IS NO JUSTIFICATION FOR DECLAWING YOUR CAT

Kattaddorra signature Ruth

Cat Declaw No More to declawing cats

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Cat Declaw No More

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Aug 11, 2010 To anonymous
by: Barbara

I am very sorry to read your post and so sorry that you have had to part with your little cat, it must have been a terrible shock that your own son should present you with such an inhumane ultimatum and I can imagine how hurt and angry you must be at his treatment of you on top of your grief at losing your cat.
If it is any consolation the fact that you chose to rehome Doye even though you love and miss her so much shows how very much you value and respect her and how much you love her, so much so that you will deprive yourself of her rather than sentence her to a lifetime of pain and after effects of declawing.
I don’t want to upset your further by attacking your son but to be truthful he is a bigoted fool and if he and his girlfriend think that cats are dangerous to babies then they have an awful lot to learn, I’m only sorry that you and Doye are suffering through his, and her, ignorance.
How can anyone possibly not become emotionally attached to a cat? Cats don’t betray you like humans do, like your son did!

I hope Doye has a happy home wherever she is, please know that though you are hurting and grieving for her loss you did a wonderful thing in sacrificing her to save her precious toes.

Barbara avatar


Aug 11, 2010 To anonymous
by: Susan

SHAME ON YOUR SON, he doesn’t know much about declawed cats – they BITE MORE and use their litterbox less – so why would he want a declawed cat around a baby when bites are so much more infectious & dangerous than scratches? That is absolutely ludicrous and negligent as well – having a baby is NOT a reason to declaw a cat or a reason to relinquish them to a shelter! It’s shameful that they didn’t research the effects of declawing – if they had, you could still have your cat.

You did the RIGHT thing be re-homing your cat as painful as it is for you, you have spared her a world of pain & suffering. I’m sure you are hurting deeply right now & angry at your children – you have every right to be. But if you would have had her cruelly declawed, and your grandchild got bit, you would have had to take her to a shelter or have her euthanized afterward – you spared her this pain and possibly her life.

I live with a declawed cat from a shelter and I would never, ever allow him to be near kids – he is unpredictable and a liability because of the pain he is in from his arthritic crippled paws.

Please check out this article about the misconceptions of cats:
Misconception #5: A declawed cat is safer for a home with small children than one which has claws.

In fact, exactly the opposite is true. A declawed cat, feeling as though its first line of defense is missing, is much more likely to be a biter. Children often do things that may irritate a cat, such as pulling its ears or tail, and the animal’s natural reaction is to defend itself. A declawed cat does not have the option scratching the child as a deterrent so it is likely to bite first and ask questions later.

Unfortunately, while a scratch tends to be superficial and will heal easily, bits are puncture wounds and are serious injuries to anyone, especially a young child.

Expectant or new parents who declaw their cats in hopes that it will protect their children are actually exposing them to much more serious injuries. Children should be taught as early as possible how to appropriately interact with the family cat, minimizing the occasions on which the cat may need to defend itself.


Aug 11, 2010 Sorry for you anonymous
by: Ruth

Hello, I’m very sorry for you. I can’t beieve your son and his girlfriend could be so selfish as to give you that ultimatum.
Is there any way you could cope living alone now ? Or with someone else where you wouldn’t be deprived of your little buddy? I’d be moving out and bringing Doyle back home with me.
There is no reason to have a cat declawed when a baby comes along,in fact a declawed cat is a hazard to a baby or young child because of the litter box avoidance and the biting which result from the operation.
I’m sorry but your son sounds a very hard and immature person, of course you can’t help getting emotionally attached to a pet.You proved your love for Doyle by rehoming her rather than crippling her.
I fear for that baby’s future with those parents.
Take care and I do hope you are allowed to share their happiness with the baby, he/she is lucky to have such a caring gran.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Aug 10, 2010 The Declawing Dillema
by: Anonymous

I recently had to find a home for my 3 year old tabby. My son and his girlfriend will be bringing a baby into the house. I had to either have Doye declawed or find another home for her. She has been my best friend during some very trying times. It was the worst ultimatum ever presented to me. I couldn’t do it.
Fortunately there are no kill shelters and a volunteer responded to a voice mail I left and now she is elsewhere.
I am so sad for her. Wherever she is right now makes the fourth place in less than a year. Due to health reasons I had to leave where I lived for close to fifteen years and move in with my son. Then we had to move again. I hate change and I know that cats hate it even more.
All I know is that I miss Doye very much. She was always my little buddy. My son told me not to get so emotionally attached to my cat. Well, I am emotionally attached to my cat. And now I hurt.


May 17, 2010 The truth about the pain of declawing
by: Ruth

We have permission to quote this written by a vet tech who we will not of course identify as she is in the precarious position of working for a clinic in which one vet declaws. She hates the procedure but feels she can do more good by ensuring the welfare of her patients by being there on the spot and she can also help educate people as to the cruelty of declawing.
She says:
‘Even with our supposedly superior methods of pain control, we still routinely have declawed cats tearing off their bandages and thrashing in pain upon awakening from the operation. It was the sheer amount of pain control medication that we give these cats that first clued me in to how truly odious this procedure is.
Typical pain control protocol for a declaw at the clinic where I work includes both pre- and post-operative injections, nerve-block injections in the paws, oral meloxicam to go home with, and the application of a transdermal fentanyl patch- this last of which is such a strong opiod-based painkiller that, when used in human medicine, I have heard it is typically only prescribed for the terminally ill’

This demonstrates just how much agony cats suffer from declawing and we already know that some vets not only declaw, but give clients the choice of pain medication by paying extra ! The thought of how many cats are suffering from this senseless abuse is heart breaking.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Apr 27, 2010 Inspiring
by: Tracey (UK)

Well done Ruth, yet again your article has filled me with inspiration.

De-clawers always come up with the same sad excuses and yet again you’ve shown them up for exactly what they are.

I notice there are less and less de-clawers coming on PoC with their rubbish. They must know they can’t keep spouting their drivel; we’ve heard it all before.

How anyone can think for a minute that de-clawing a cat is ok for whatever reason really must be very stupid. Either that or they know exactly what they are doing and just don’t care.

If you are a de-clawer whichever category you fall into, you sicken me beyond belief.


Apr 26, 2010 Horrible
by: Anonymous

I am ashamed to say I didn’t know any of this.
I have been reading PoC pages and am thoruoghly shocked.
What a very horrible thing to do to a cat.
I have signed your petition and will pass it on to everyone I know.
Thank you to everyone fighting to have this abuse of cats stopped.


Apr 24, 2010 Pass it on
by: Bob

Great,smashing,superb.
Pass this on everyone.I have.
Let us do like someone suggested and flood the internet with antideclaw stuff until the cat abusers have it coming out of their lugholes.


Apr 24, 2010 Good stuff
by: Edward

More good stuff man, I dont know how you think it all up.
I hope it gets to the low life who hurt cats this way and makes them STOP and THINK.
Ed
x


Apr 23, 2010 Thanks
by: Ruth

Thanks for your great comments Kath and Pammy.
Pammy is our friend being gradually ‘declawed’ who I wrote an article about a while ago.
She has 2 more toe nails removed next week so she speaks from experience ! Although as she says,
her declawing hasn’t crippled her or left her with a liftime of pain or problems as it does cats.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Apr 23, 2010 Congratulations!
by: pammy

Congratulations on a superb poster Ruthy!
As others have already said…We are lucky to have you in our midst!
Do these ignorant people have young children de-clawed in case they scratch other children?
No! Of course they don’t! Their argument doesn’t stand up at all. If cats could talk, they would tell you in no uncertain way what they think of humans who declaw cats!How can anyone say they love their cat, then do this barbaric act on them?
If you don’t want furniture scratched..
DON’T HAVE A CAT.
In other words…think more carefully before you take on a cat. If you want a cat, then be prepared to love your cat honourably and properly.
Love your cat and look after it ..claws and all!


Apr 23, 2010 Praise from me too
by: Kathryn

Another great write up Ruth.
I wish I could think up something new when I lie awake at night.
Do others get the cats of America and Canada on their minds and wonder what the hell we can do next?
What gets me is why aren’t more people over there doing something about it?
No disrespect to any USA citizens here as I know you are all completely anti abuse to cats,but I can’t understand why there isn’t a huge outcry about declawing from more people.
Will it ever end when there is so much lethargy?


Apr 23, 2010 Thank you
by: Ruth

Thanks everyone.It only took a couple of days to make the poster and write the article,in between other stuff. There’s never enough hours in a day.
I usually have the germ of the idea in the night if I can’t sleep and it buzzes round my head a few days until I write it up.
I always worry I’m not doing enough to help those cats, every day more are suffering and it feels hopeless at times as if it will never stop.
Which of course it won’t if we sit back and let it go on without trying to help.
Keep up the good work troops.
xx
p>Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Apr 23, 2010 Great Article and Poster Ruth!
by: Laura

I like the different approach you’ve taken with this article. And, your poster is excellent, Ruth. Perhaps anti-declaw messages put forth in this more reader friendly way will connect with more people than the typical ‘you’re a bad person to declaw your cat’ approach that we all slip into at times.

Nice work!


Apr 23, 2010 All of the lame excuses…
by: Susan

and none that justify butchering an animals paw apart & robbing them of their essential body parts. GET EDUCATED PEOPLE!!!


Apr 23, 2010 wowww
by: Rose

Truly excellent.
It must have taken a lot of thought and hard graft doing that.
Kudos to Ruth.


Apr 23, 2010 YES
by: Sue

Way to go Katt and it’s up on Google alerts already.
Something must surely penetrate the brains of those who don’t yet know that declawing is criminal.
I hope you get more signatures on your petition from this as well.
xx


Apr 23, 2010 Brilliant !!!!!!!!
by: Fran

I have to agree with you both,this is a brilliant article.
All those excuses used to cripple your cat and none of them hold any credibility.
I’m going to send this on to my pals in America in the hopes some of them will spread it around.
How many cats could something like this save from
being routinely declawed?
MILLIONS !!!!!!!!


Apr 23, 2010 Excellent
by: Jane A

OMG I agree with Babz,what an excellent poster.
How long did it take to think that up Ruth?
If I was in the USA right now I’d be printing off and putting up this and Ruth’s other posters every place I could.
We are very lucky to have such an inventive and persistant anti declaw advocate in our midst.
I’m going to pass this one far and wide,it deserves more than a couple of comments.


Apr 23, 2010 Well said
by: Babz

Another excellent piece of work that explodes all the cosy myths used to justify disfiguring cats for human benefit. This is excellent and has also been featured on the Claws Connection front page. It should be mandatory for every USA veterinary practitioner’s office to display this as a poster, oh no, how silly of me…a large percentage of those veterinarians actually suggest or encourage this outrageous desecration of cats healthy paws.

Barbara avatar


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