By Ruth aka Kattaddorra
Fate decrees that some kittens are adopted by people who will have them declawed.
How can vets justify performing major surgery, the amputation of the kittens last toe joints, at the same time as neutering? This surgery is supposed to be a last resort for serious scratching behaviour, not a convenient way for cat caretakers to protect their furniture!
A kitten recovers quickly from neutering but declawing affects that kitten for life, he never fully recovers. How can he when his very essential parts have been taken away and thrown in the trash?
He will never be able to walk as a cat walks, to exercise as cats need to by digging in their claws to stretch their muscles, to hook a toy with his front paws, to jump safely with his claws to dig in to balance him, to groom his face and head properly, to defend himself from abuse from humans or from dogs. A cat has the right to do all these things and he needs his claws to do them!
It’s a myth that indoor cats don’t need their claws, they do! All cats are born with claws because they NEED CLAWS.
Many declawed cats develop painful arthritis as they grow older, why would anyone want to condemn their cat to that?
It seems like the tide may be slowly turning, some USA vets are giving up declawing and most young newly qualified vets refuse to declaw.
This is good but not good enough. Declawing is banned or considered inhumane and very rarely done, in 39 countries now. It is also banned in 8 Californian Cities.
Cat advocates are fighting for a ban in other cities in the USA and in Canada too. I hope they succeed, I hope one day soon that declawing is banned worldwide.
Associated (just one example chosen at random): Ban cat declawing in Ontario
Another great poster and article very simple but hard hitting, how awful for individual cats that fate alone decrees where they end up and if they get fair treatment or not, and if they get to keep their toes or not. I’ve been involved in this campaign to get declawing banned in the USA for several years now and STILL I can’t get my head round the fact that people actually want to mutilate their cats/kittens, that they sit and coldly decide to have their toe ends removed, not because they are unhealthy but because they are inconvenient to the owner. When any of our cats have had to have procedures at the vets, neutering, or in the case of Walter sewing up a wound, or Popsy an anaesthetic for a chest xray, we’ve been frantic with worry before, during and after the day until we knew they had come safely through it. For someone to choose to put their companion through the pain, stress and horror of an elective major operation like this is beyond my comprehension. Some people blame the vets for pushing the procedure more than the owners, I don’t, anyone who takes a cat on is the person responsible for that cat and should make themselves aware of the consequences of any procedure offered/pushed by the vet BEFORE agreeing to it.
Excellent and educative poster in a very simple format.
Thank you Rudolph, I always hope by keeping my anti declaw posters and articles as simple as I can that they will have more impact on pro declaw people and that they will remember the images next time they think about having a cat declawed.
Yikes, didn’t mean that photo above to be so large. Michael, can you give guidance as to ideal pixel dimensions? PS told me it was 4″ wide, so I though that was okay. But seems like pixel dimensions may rule.
I was intending it to be about half the size it is, but once posted, no going back to edit!
Hi VG, the best general size for pictures on PoC is probably a max of about 640 px on the shorter length but the website automatically reformats to the size of the comment box. I often have to rescale visitor photos because some are huge but that is OK. Smaller pics also upload much faster
Tootsie
THis is another version which is 500 px wide and the white balance is a little cooler. You may be able to adjust white balance on your camera. You can certainly do it with Photoshop for example.
You take a damn good cat photo. This is another excellent cat photo of a gorgeous cat. Her ruff is amazing. I don’t think I have seen a bigger or better ruff in all the years I have been looking at ruffs 😉
Wow Valley Girl! Tootsie is gorgeous! Is she a Maine Coon? She has the most beautiful coat 🙂
Thanks, Ruth. Great poster.
This is somewhat related, and prompted by what you said about cats needing their claws.
I have to take Tootsie, my poly, to the vet for various reasons. I’ve asked that her claws be trimmed, because she won’t let me get near them. Last time around, I said “only trim the poly claws”. These can get ingrown, and cause problems- because the toes they are attached to are really not functioning toes, and claws can’t be shed in the normal way. I said “leave the other, regular claws intact”. Which they did.
It had finally dawned on me that when Tootsie came back with all claws trimmed, she wasn’t able to dig into the cat towers with her usual vigor. It IS a major form of exercise for her, and she loves tearing into the cat towers. She loves the cat towers so much, she doesn’t bother with the furniture.
I know that trimming cats’ claws is in no way comparable to declawing, but my observations with Tootsie started me thinking about this “claw trimming” thing. Why do people do it? Granted Tootsie may be unusual… and quick to learn not to claw the box springs, for example, with a little kind guidance. That was before the cat towers appeared. She loves them so much she will pretty much claw them on command (I love watching her do that) but of course doesn’t need my directions to use them whenever the mood strikes her.
Tootsie is so beautiful, just look at those wonderful claws! I love that photo.
We’ve had cats for 39 years now and only ever once trimmed the claws of one of them, our Ebony when she was very old and they started to grow curved and like Tootsie’s polys would have grown into her pads.
It took Babz to hold her and me to do the job and although she was the sweetest natured cat ever she just hated it and let us know she did! lol
I don’t know anyone here who trims their cats claws, our boyz do self manicures on their many scratching posts and pads and the fence and trees outside too.
Cats in the wild don’t have their claw trimmed, Nature takes care of them of course.
I love my ‘fat boy’ scratching post
I prefer a flat scratching board, I love my scratch sofa
Walter I love your flat scratcher! where can I get one from? Our Alfie is a horizontal scratcher and the carpets normally bear the brunt 🙂
The mammies got ours from Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=cat+scratch+sofa&tag=googhydr-21&index=aps&hvadid=23546285792&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2131967781839307449&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_4af1m8swl8_b
Thank you Ruth for putting the message out. Your poster is very strong and has plenty of impact. I think it looks fantastic on PoC. I know we have to keep going and conveying the message that declawing as an “elective surgery” is very wrong.
It always amazes me that so many people believe it is acceptable. I can’t get my head around that. A cat’s claws are simply not a problem. They never have been a problem for me and everyone in the UK and the whole of Europe and all the world’s other countries except for two!
Yet for millions of people in those two countries claws are a problem. It is about attitude.
Thank you Michael, it’s hard to keep on thinking up new angles to educate about declawing but as you say, we have to keep going and help to stop so many cats being legally abused by declawing.
What a wonderful day it will be when no one needs to do this any more, I hope it’s in our lifetime.