by Finn Frode
(Copenhagen, Denmark)
Picture added by Michael (PoC Admin) - photo by flikr (photographer's username at Flickr)
I was shocked by the recent article on declawing in the United States (new window). To me this practice seems absolutely disgusting and I'm surprised that some veterinarians display such poor ethics. Thanks a lot to Michael for bringing up the subject.
Now if getting a scratch really presents such a serious "zoonotic risk" for the cat owner that it could justify declawing, then what about bites? Deep cat bites can cause much more serious infections in humans than superficial scratches ever will.
Would the American Veterinary Medical Association recommend that besides the declawing, the cat should also have all its teeth extracted?
I hope not. Living with a cat means living with the slight danger of an occasional scratch or bite, although in most cases only the furniture will suffer. If you can't accept that, you're probably better off without a cat.
Fin Frode
See Declawing Cats for links to lots more.
Photo: published under an Attribution 2.0 Generic creative commons license (cropped as allowed). This cat is going to fight back!
I adopted a cat from Best Friends in Kanab, Utah who had previously been declawed and detoothed. stanley. The poor little bugger could not even be put with other cats in the sanctuary because the other cats would bully it. It can’t go outside because it has not defenses left.
It took me several months before he would come close enough to even be petted when I got him.
If you want to do that to a cat, get a dog and piss off from the Earth.
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Wow. Phew. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I agree with you. To detooth and declaw is an act of extreme brutality. The veterinarian who did it should be shot. Could you tell us some more? I’d like you to tell me more about your Stanley if you have time.
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Yeah Stanley is a four year old who after 18 months of individual care has become a great pet. He stays in my small cabin and has the run of the place. Unlike most cats I have had, he shows no desire to go outside, so fleas and ticks are no problems.
He STILL is a bit paranoid even after almost two years and he shies at loud sounds and will run from me sometimes just by,reflex. He’s had a horror life, but it Is getting better.
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Ok, you to realize they’re just cats and not humans (or even dogs), right? They don’t even come when called. Almost every cat I’ve encountered just flips out and claws or bites while pettimg them gently. I’m a big animal lover (especially dogs), but cats aren’t these “perfect”, “magnificent” creatures you make them out to be. Do you know how many videos there are on YouTube of a cat going off on a baby? Dogs know better than to do that.
If you have an indoor cat, I don’t see anything wrong with declawing it (considering how disobedient and destructful they can be). Yeah, if you’re gonna let your cat wander in the wild all day, it probably needs it’s claws, but as one fanatic below said about cat declawers, if you’re just going to let your cat run amok outside all day, why bother having a cat? You’re basically just feeding a stray. The cat can get attacked, run over, stolen, lost, etc.
With dogs, if you’re doing something for their own good that they don’t like (bathing, shots, etc.) they may resist, but still obey; cats on the other hand flip out and bite and scratch. So, yeah, I think trimming/declawing is perfectly acceptable. Anyone below who thinks declawing is fortune had better be a vegan, or they’re total hypocrites. Fur and leather is murder, collecting eggs is abortion, milking is molestation, etc.
One last thing, let’s not
Forget that if your crazy cat hurts somebody, they’re legally available for euthanasia. Would you rather your putty not have finger nails or be a Korean’s bath mat?
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God knows what you are doing to cats for them to respond like that. That problem has been created by you.
We know cats are not “these perfect magnificent creatures…” We know they are just cats. We respect them and like them.
What does that mean? If it means that a cat attacks a baby then it may happen rarely but the fault is the baby’s and the baby’s mother for failing to supervise. Baby’s often mishandle cats.
I don’t understand your last paragraph. It does not make any sense and is factually inaccurate.
I have never been bitten or scratched because a cat won’t obey me because I have never ordered a cat to do something. People should never try and force a cat to do something.
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I dont have a cat but a dog, I do love animals so much.
But my dog bites, and shes a black lab mixed with a Rottwieler she is a gorgeous dog.
To me and my close family she is so sweet, loving, affecionate, protective and loyal and I love her so much.
But we now have a 4 year old living in the house, who my dog has growled at and even snapped at, I know I need to protect the child but I love my dog also.
No shelters or trainers will take her beause of her biting, she has been on medication and has had a few training sessions with people who attempted to work with her; so everyone in the house is saying we need to put her to sleep.
I dont want to do this, but no one will take her all the vets we went to reccomended giving her away or putting her down since we have a young child in the house otherwise I wouldnt put her down.
So I figure well if she couldnt hurt the child, then we wouldnt need to put her down.
I dont think her not having teeth is humane, I want her to be happy and live and do all these things with me but I just dont know what to do.
I dont think a dog should live without its teeth, but what if the canine teeth were taken out would this help?
I just do not want to get her put down, she is a sweet dog but no one will take her so basically she gets the canine teeth out or is put down which is terrible in both ways you look at it.
I love my dog so so much but I dont have any other options.
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I really sympathize with you. Dogs do seem to have a history of attacking babies and young kids. They obviously tap into some deep seated wild nature that originates in the first domesticated dog, the wolf. I think she has to be re-homed. Hard though it is, the best thing to do is to try re-home her. Someone might take her. But I see the difficulty.
I agree that removing her teeth is not the answer. Horrible idea. And to euthanise seems horrible too. If only you could find a new home for her. I wish you the very best.
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I understand everyones concern about the cats feelings but hopefully some people can assit me with this issue. No ignorant comments are needed. My mother has a cat who is terrible. She loves him very much but he is dangerous, and has some kind of mental defect. He has even been on paxil. last night (second time) he attacked her out of no where. He doesn’t scratch, he bites. He bit her hands arms legs and even her face. She was a bloody mess and had to be taken to the hosp. But she refuses to put him down, saying he trusts her and relies on her and he shouldn’t be put to sleep. I disagree. The vets have suggested declawing and detoothing him. He says it is better than him having to die.
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Hi thanks for the comment. Sorry to hear the story. Before anything is done we need to figure why your mother’s cat is aggressive. This sort of cat aggression is normally defensive aggression. In other words something or someone is turning on defensive behavior in your mother’s cat. What is it? Did she adopt this cat as a kitten? Or as an adult? Please answer that question first. And please don’t declaw and detooth (Gog forbid) until you have worked out the reasons. In fact the vet’s advice is shallow and unthinking. It is programmed thinking.
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