by Ruth
(England)
Photomontange by Ruth
One or two people have rightfully remarked that a comparison between the amputation of a person’s finger ends and those of a cat should also be shown as a comparison of a baby to a kitten, as too many kittens are being routinely declawed.
Not being able to have a baby’s consent to being the ‘patient’ for photos, this can’t be as authentic as Babz brilliant article, but I hope it will shock some pro declaws into realising that what they are doing to little kittens is very cruel and wrong.
A baby and a kitten learn about their world in the same way and surely it’s not too much to ask anyone to be kind and gentle while they learn and to teach them by distraction from unacceptable behaviour? Surely no one would have a baby’s finger ends amputated just incase he used them inappropriately? So why do it to a kitten? A BABY cat!
It’s true that thousands of kittens are declawed, usually along with neutering and this is done from an early age quite often now.
So kittens as young as 8 weeks have already been declawed without even a chance to use a scratching post and to learn claw manners. Their very essential and rightful claws are taken from them as a prevention, not as the last resort that declawing is supposed to be.
Some Rescue Shelters offer kittens already neutered, vaccinated and front declawed, as if declawing is a good thing and makes a kitten more adoptable. Some offer them as ‘will be front declawed upon adoption’.
So the kitten goes for a cruel and unnecessary operation to disable him even before he goes to his new home. Those Shelters are actively encouraging declawing!
How much more humane and a lot cheaper it would be for those Shelters to give a free scratching post and instructions to the adoptee on how to teach the kitten to use it and how to trim his claws.
How much more humane if vets encouraged neutering rather than declawing as then there would not be so many kittens in Rescue Shelters to begin with.
Some vets offer discounts on declawing, why not offer discounts on neutering instead?
Irresponsible people allow their cats to breed with no thought to homes for the kittens, whole litters are in some Rescue Shelters! Declawing does not save homes.
People who have the belief that declawing is the way to prevent inappropriate scratching are not fit to have cats in their lives. They are the very people who relinquish their cat when problems from the declawing begin.
The cat is written off as a ‘bad cat’ and off they go to choose another kitten and ruin his life too.
Claws are essential to a cat for having a healthy and fulfilled life. Surely ALL cats deserve that much!
