Do declawed cats allow you to touch their paws?

This is an interesting test and I’d like cat owners to come forward to do it and report in a comment. Let’s see what happens. Note: the results may be muddied by the fact that domestic cats often don’t like their paws being fiddled with. But it is worth trying nonetheless, I believe.

Americans need to address this and not brush it under the carpet. And don’t misunderstand me. I am not being critical of Americans. I am being critical of the individual people who declaw cats.

It is my theory that millions of declawed cats (not all) in America are in discomfort at the very least and at worst they are suffering chronic pain on a day-to-day basis. This is because there are also millions of botched surgeries on these cats by ignorant and unknowing veterinarians and in any case the operation is inherently flawed and is likely to cause long term discomfort. The vets simply do not know what they’re doing and are unaware of what they are causing because domestic cats are very good at hiding the true level of pain that they are suffering and we all know that, including veterinarians. But they don’t care sufficiently.

If a cat doesn’t show any clear signs of pain in the long term then vets take it that the cat is not in pain. But you’ll see subtle indications of pain in distorted gaits and in their behaviour but they don’t mention these when arguing their case in state legislatures when a declawing ban is being debated.

I would like, as I say above, every owner of a declawed cat to play with their pet’s claws as you see in the video and to mark down the reaction in writing and then tell everybody in a comment on this page what the reaction was. It won’t happen but at least do it and inform yourself as to the true situation.

I realise that cats in general, in any case, don’t really like their paws to be fiddled with but it is my firm conviction that you will find very many declawed cats who will flinch or shy away from having their paws touched or manipulated as you see in the video. There will be a difference in reaction between declawed cats and non-declawed cats.

Declaw your cat? You can’t love your cat

If I’m correct then surely this is another nail in the coffin of declawing. It would be an indictment of the horrendous nature of this totally unacceptable operation which truly indicates the unloving relationship that millions of cat owners have with their domestic cat.

Yes, to declaw a cat is an act of cruelty and it cannot be the actions of a person who loves their cat. It is the exact opposite of the sort of thing a person would do if she or he loved their cat. And if you have declawed your cat and are reading this page and are insulted – tough. I am correct.

I will therefore argue that about half of the people in America don’t love their domestic cat sufficiently to warrant them being guardians of their cat. Yes, it is estimated (and we don’t know the exact figures which is also reprehensible) that up to 50% of the domestic cats in America are declawed. That represents about 40 million cats who are at least potentially in pain of some sort. It also means that tens of millions of cat owners cannot, they simply cannot, love their cat sufficiently to warrant ownership. They certainly are not guardians or caretakers. It is impossible to label them with that description.