Declawing Kittens

Declawing Kittens

by Michael
(London, UK)

No, please, I beg you, don’t do it… Here’s why. First, though, please let me explain why I am building a page about declawing kittens when I have already built a page on declawing cats. The answer can be found in market research using keywords – phrases and words that people use to search for information on the Internet. A lot of people search for “declawing kittens”. I am guessing, but they are probably people like you, people who are looking for information about the procedure and where it can be carried out.

You may not realise that the declawing process is not trimming a cat’s claws or even removing them. Oh no….no, no – it is far, far worse. There is a pile of pain and a bag full of blood….The veterinarian, in breach of his sworn oath and in the most unethical manner, cuts off the last phalanx of the toes of the cat.

What does this mean? Please look at your hand. Please hold it up in front of you. See the top of your fingers, the bit that goes from the tip of the finger to the first joint just below the fingernail. That is the bit that is sliced off! It is better described as an amputation and it is for your convenience – yes you just fancy the idea of “owning” a cat that has no claws. You love cats but hate those claws. Let’s have it both ways. It’s only a cat.

The term “declawing” is deliberately devised by the veterinarians to mask the true horror of the operation. No that is incorrect. It is a mutilation not an operation.

The following page covers the major issues and it has some great links: Declawing Alternatives. Please read this. It contains links to articles by people who know, people who are kind and people who care.

Now think of your kitten. How beautiful! How delicate. How vulnerable. He or she is looking up at you, relying on you for her care, her protection, for love and safety. She is looking to you for nourishment and emotional warmth. She needs all the things that we need. And you’re thinking about mutilating her because you have a nice sofa, a nice chair. You may have bought one recently and…yes, I’d love a kitten too. STOP.

You think that I am some sort of crazy animal rights activist, an “AR”. One of those mad types. Well I am not and neither are the people who care for animals. They are neither mad nor bad. They are normal and concerned, that’s all. I am one of the normal and concerned. Here are the words of a veterinarian who thinks straight and who thinks great: Ethical Veterinarian. She sees the bigger picture.

The key to declawing is this. It is immoral for a cat caretaker to have it done, if it’s for their convenience and it invariably is. And it is unethical and immoral for the vet to agree to do it. Now, that is ignoring all the bloody pain. Please don’t think that everything will be OK a week after the operation (mutilation). Your kitten will accept it – what else can he or she do. But she will have suffered enormous pain and discomfort and heavy duty pain killers will be needed. Your cat may undergo behaviour changes. Wouldn’t you if you lost the tips of all your fingers? Please think about it. You would very likely become withdrawn and you would almost certainly lose confidence and suffer a catalogue of spin off psychological problems. But there is much more than that…see declawing cats visitors submissions.

If you declaw your kitten you will be hurting yourself. You will have done the wrong thing. The morally incorrect thing. It is not wise to behave immorally even if it is convenient. It degrades the person. If you are a thinking person, you will regret it.

“I regret that I declawed my other cat. I did not know better and no one explained what declawing actually meant….” – the words of a nice person on Flickr (Rebekah Pavlovic) –see her photo. It is about raw cat food but in passing she mentions declawing.

Please see a list of visitor’s articles. You really won’t get better on the Internet, I promise you.

Best

Michael Avatar

Declawing Kittens to Declawing Cats

Comments for
Declawing Kittens

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Nov 24, 2010 Declawing is lazy and selfish!
by: Leah (England)

Michael is right; you won’t find better than this on the internet.
Michael is also right when he states that if you are a thinking person you will be doing the wrong thing; you will not be able to live with yourself.
I have 2 cats and to me their paws and claws are so precious.
Kittens and cats rely on their claws for oh so many things;

Kittens kneed at their moms teets to stimulate the milk glands (a contented adult cat will still kneed in later life to show their pleasure. Mine kneed their blankets even when I just talk to them)

Defence. How can anyone who cares about their cat strip them of their 1st line of defence? I guess they wouldn’t care either if they got out and were killed because they couldn’t defend themself? They wouldn’t even be able to climb out of harms way.

Cats and kittens use their claws to run, climb play, jump, they use them as resistance to exercise. If they cant exercise and stretch they are prone to muscle and joint problems all through their life.

Apart from all the above you are letting a butcher mutilate your kitten and causing them utter agony. I don’t know how anyone can do it.

God made a perfect little creature with neccesary claws. Anyone who can take those claws away and deprive their kitten or cat of all the pleasures that are their birth right ought to have a vital part of their anatomy chopped off too. I’d be happy to oblige. So whats it to be? Don’t fancy it? Far too painful? Well imagine how an innocent little kitten feels who has no choice.


Nov 21, 2010 Declawing kills kittens and cats
by: Barbara

Well said Michael. If caring about cats makes me an AR or gets me classed as “one of them mad types” then so be it because I’d rather be classed with those who put the animal’s physical and mental wellbeing before that of a stuffed couch or pair of curtains. And I’m in the good company of many fine people who come to POC and who genuinely care about cats. My comment title says declawing kills kittens and cats and it’s no exaggeration because declawing does NOT keep cats in their homes,it does NOT stop them from being abandoned or dumped at shelters and killed and it does NOT make them more desirable pets.

Barbara avatar


Nov 21, 2010 All very true
by: Ruth

Thank you for a brilliant and informative article Michael.
I too object to being called a crazy animal rights person, because I know we are not the crazy ones. The crazy ones are those who think it’s acceptable to pay a vet to cruelly deprive a little kitten of his very necessary toe ends and claws.
Not only are they crazy,they are cruel and selfish, as are the vets who agree and some even advertise, to carry out this monstrous mutilation.
How can something banned as animal abuse in so many countries and even some cities in the USA be allowed to go on in other cities ? Cats feel as much pain and are as disabled by the amputation of their toe ends, wherever they live in the world.
It has to stop !!

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Nov 20, 2010 not just fingers!
by: Jacqueline

Hi, I just have to add a tiny pet peeve of mine. So many people use the ‘cut off the top of your fingers’ as a description of cat declawing, but I must protest! Because humans don’t hold their weight on their hands but cats do hold their weight on their feet. So, for humans to lose their finger tips would still allow them to hold things and use their hands but there isn’t the same sort of potential structural damage that could occur if a human lost all of their TOES at the first joint. So declawing a cat is actually worse than cutting off the human’s fingers at the first joint.

Just a thought. 🙂


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