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I Had My Cat De-clawed Instead of Put To Sleep. Thanks for sharing this with us. I find your cat unique and I wish you all the best. Best wishes! Established in 1982, Favortron Co. Ltd. has been dedicated to designing and manufacturing of a very wide array of wiring management products. The firm’s major product lines with different function there are Normal Heavy duty favortron cable clamps, Marker favortron cable ties. SUMAKE is your best one stop for SUMAKE air pumps and Belt type SUMAKE air compressors resource system, provides products, services and solutions that enhance our customers’ energy efficiency, productivity and operations.

It was either declaw the cat or have it put to sleep. I guess you would rather have the cat be dead.

Well, I understand that you don’t like the clawing, sometimes it’s better to just give her to someone who doesn’t mind the clawing, or let her go hunt for herself, or maybe you made the best decision, because you can’t let her go..my little one, a grey stray tom, liked to play, soon he grew out of clawing, and just started to love petting more than playing…I’ve had him for two yrs.

you bloody bitch!!! jesus christ, why the hell do you even have a cat if you cant put up with a little scratching? what kind of a freak puts an animal to sleep for something like that, declawing is just as stupid!

do the world a favour and never own an animal again, or if you must get a goldfish or something that can match your own intelligence level.

I have to agree with the comment s everyone else have made. YOu have no idea the thought that ran through my head as I read this letter. My first thought was “What a *******)!!!!” I’ll leave that to everyones imagination.

This person never was in the office when a cat was declawed. She also obviously isn’t a cat person. Why would you even consider having a cat put to sleep for doing what is in their nature. Then to have it declawed is really stupid.

I regularly clip my cats claws. Some don’t like it but it keeps them dull and if one of them claws me, like Shadow did recently, Oh Well, Its their nature. Shadow some times gets excited when hes shown attention. Its taken a while but hes finally coming around. Hes turning out to be a nice boy. I’m just worried he’s going to be attached to me and when I move he’ll be upset.

He belongs to my son who only took him because it was only supposed to be temporary. He clawed my son pretty bad when we first got him. He also clawed me so we just let him alone and let him just be Shadow. He was really attached to the lady who raised him. And then he had to put up with my BEngal Bully who attacks him for no reason. For a while they will just ignore each other and then for no reason my Bengal will attack him and the fur flies.

So far no one has been injured except for a few scratches. But my sons cat Cash is attached to Shadow and they play together. WE will BE moving soon and then Cash and Shadow will have each other and my Bengal Bully will have his own territory.

I am totally against declawing and thought I knew a good bit about it but having looked on the Claws site Ruth posted my eyes have really been opened.

How anyone can go ahead with declawing a cat after seeing those pictures and reading the terrible true stories is beyond human understanding.

I think they must be sub human along with the vets who do this desecrating of beautiful cats.

Hi Anonymous. I would never blame you for what happened long ago. You were poorly advised and misled by professionals, who must have known better.

Declawing is not allowed in Denmark, so until I found my way to Michael’s site I hardly knew the word and thought of it as no big thing – maybe like having a nail removed.

I was shocked to realise that declawing means removing not just the claw, but the outer joint as well, which for sure must cause phantom pains.
Equally shocking to me was considering how this amputation limits the cat’s natural scratching behaviour – my cats enjoys scratching their poles almost as much as eating, well almost… 😉

But the worst of it all was learning that in USA this is not a special operation reserved for rare cases, but offered as a standard package along with spaying or neutering. This way responsible cat lovers, who want to do the right thing for their pet and stop uncontrolled breeding are tricked into something that actually harms it.

We all owe you thanks for telling Juliet’s story here on the site – painful as it must be. You have nothing to be ashamed of anymore.

THANK YOU very much for allowing me to use your story.This is our group:

It has some horrific stories and pictures we’ve put on, which break our hearts but if that’s what it takes to convince people not to have their cats declawed, then so be it !

We also have a yahoo group where we post alerts to declaw questions on Yahoo Answers and google alerts so whoever is on-line can answer them and through educating these people we have saved 70 cats claws in a year. Because some of us are in the UK, we have different time zones.

But we can’t reach all cat owners to tell them the truth,so we have a petition to get declawing banned, too:

http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=4312

It’s building up nicely and is actually being used by the Paw Project at the City meetings in California where they are voting on a declawing ban.

So many people have been mislead by their vets,just like you were.It was NOT your fault,if you are offered some procedure by a vet you naturally trust them !But sadly some vets put making money before the health and welfare of cats.

I’m so sorry you lost both your cats.

Take care.

Thank you again. x

Please do use my story, so many people think their cat will never be outside….well Juliet never was outside, no one could have been more careful than I was. I had lost Romeo, her brother to polycystic kidney disorder a few months before, so losing her in this way was devistating to me.

One thing I will say, I am older now,and wiser, when I had my cats declawed it was simply because I didn’t know, we didn’t have computers then, and when the receptionist at the vets office said do you want the package, spay and declaw, it seemed to be the right thing to do. Perhaps they should tell you what they really do to these wonderful cats.

Someday this terrible procedure will be outlawed in the entire country, but it will take a lot of work educating people,making them aware of how terrible this procedure truly is, and that is not easy. We can only hope to save one cat at a time.

Would you mind if we added your terribly sad story to our collection of ‘The Horrible Truth’ stories on our anti declaw group please ? Sometimes we link to them to try to persuade hard core pro declaw people to change their minds about declawing their cat.Some still go ahead even when they know about the pain and the problems declawing causes.

But your story would surely touch the hardest heart.

Hi Anita. Hope you enjoyed my comment Declawing? Why not detoothing as well?, which was posted here on POC back in July. I’ll be posting a follow up shortly…Update: Here is is: Some Advice on Surgically Improving Your Cat

You apparently did not read your cat well enough before handling her – and got scratched for that. When you choose to live with cats things like that might happen, so accept it instead of molesting the cat.

It could of course be that the cat was totally crazy from birth – or maybe you’re simply not a cat person.

If you have come asking for sympathy or understanding you have come to the wrong place.You have had a young cat crippled ! 2 years old, barely an adult and very easily trainable with patience and kindness but you took the easy way out. You found a vet corrupt enough to amputate her toe ends and spoil her life.A life that is so very short in comparison to ours and now has to be lived as a disabled cat.YOU had a proud beautiful Siamese cat deliberately disabled !

How could you ! My heart aches for that poor cat.

How refreshing that so many people know what a cruel operation declawing is. For someone to say it was declaw or death just goes to show that person should never have had a cat in the first place.

My parents had cats when I was born, I grew up with cats and I now have cats in my own home and have not ever been ‘scratched to bits’

I long for the day when declawing is BANNED and then ignorant selfish people who think having a cat declawed is something to brag about, will not have the pleasure of a cat in their home.

Your comment is painful to read but so true. I made a post about 18 months ago based on the true stories (by email) of cats who died because of declawing. Here is the article:

https://pictures-of-cats.org/declaw-cats.html

Declawing is so obviously wrong for many reasons one of which is a loss of defense.

What sort of rubbish is this? You seem to think you’ve done something to be proud of by stating you had your cat declawed instead of put to sleep. Why do either? Why didn’t you spend some time educating yourself about cats instead of punishing your cat for your own ignorance?

No, I haven’t had stitches from a cat clawing me, and yet I have had cats all my adult life, volunteered as a feral officer where I was involved with humanely trapping feral cats and transferring them by hand to carrying boxes for neutering and release, and I’ve worked in a boarding cattery too. And never once have I been “clawed to pieces” not even one day let alone every day. This is because I understand and respect cats, something which you obviously do not.

You have no idea even now of the seriousness of your cat’s disability have you? To you it’s so simple, she’s an inside cat so she needs no defence, you silly woman you haven’t a clue.

Your cat isn’t even what you call a lap cat, so how come you were getting scratched every day? Look to yourself for the cause, you must have known what it was that caused her to scratch you but kept on doing it, until the day you decided to amputate her toes.

Ignorance is bad enough but praising yourself for acting in ignorance is just plain ridiculous.

In your post you said your cat would never be outside. I purchased a beautiful purebred cat many years ago. When I called the vet to schedule an appointment to have her spayed, I was asked do you want her declawed as well? Not knowing any better, I said yes. She limped her entire life from that surgery, and years later she was in my own house, I had a sliding screen door open about two inches, it had a screen. Three German Shephards had gotten into my yard which was fenced, and pried the door open, and when she could not grasp to climb out of harms way they caught her and played tug of war with her and ripped her to shreds. A young kitten that was in the room with her received only scratches, he had claws and was able to defend himself. You seem so sure that you did the right thing to protect yourself from this little animal. I hope you can now protect her for the rest of her life, you owe that to her. Maybe people who feel that they need to declaw a cat to make it an acceptable pet should consider a bird or a goldfish.

Selfish, Criminal and Stupid human being.

You really don’t understand just what you have done do you ? You have turned a perfectly healthy cat into a disabled cat.You talk as if she is some huge wild animal, you say some of us don’t like to be ‘clawed to pieces’ I’ve worked with cats, done voluntary work with cats, and had cats of my own for many many years and never once been ‘clawed to pieces’

There is no such thing as a bad cat, only a bad cat caretaker.So because you have failed to teach your cat to use her claws wisely, she has paid by the worst operation you can wish on a cat, the amputation of ten toe ends !

Indoor cats need their claws as much as outdoor cats do, they need to dig them in to exercise their leg, shoulder, back and stomach muscles. Did the corrupt vet who agreed to mutilate uyour cat expain this and that she is now prone to arthritis because of being unable to do this ? No, I thought not, because these vets who are trained to help animals but agree to harm them.only see more money in their bank. Money for the operation, money for all the times you will go back with problems from the declawing,like biting behaviour or soiling outside the litter tray.Also for stress illnesses like cystitis and eczema. Even years later more problems can arise, a claw can grow back painfully from a botched job, a splinter of bone can move and cause the cat agony.You now need to be aware of this so you must keep a careful watch on your cats stumps and if she bites you hard while you are checking them, remember you are to blame.

Have you thought about if you are out and your house is broken into, your cat would have no defence against anyone who would hurt her or if she managed to escape one day she’d face certain death from healthy animals outside. What about floods, fire,and other emergencies? They do happen, and again your cat wouild be facing certain death without claws to defend herself outside.

There is NEVER any justification to cripple a cat by declawing.

I just hope you will now protect your poor cat for her lifetime, no matter what, because you owe her that !

Anita, were you playing with your cat when he/she “clawed” you and “opened your fingers” ? Do you trim your cat’s nails? Was your cat overstimulated? Do you understand what a cat’s behavior is like when he/she is overstimulated from playing or petting?

A cat comes with nails and teeth. To remove either of these defensive tools is to, in my opinion, mutilate the cat. Why have a cat if you need to remove part of it? Have you considered a different breed that is more tractable? Siamese are a high strung breed.

To even consider putting a cat to sleep because of tools they are born with is not using your head. Think about the mutilation you are inflicting.

The cat was telling you, by biting or scratching, that you were too close to him or her. Listen to what your animal is trying to tell you. They don’t speak Human but speak Cat. Try to understand and put yourself in the cat’s “shoes.” If you do, you’ll make your life AND your cat’s life more rewarding.

I wouldn’t recommend you have another cat, if the decision were up to me. I hope you can make the rest of your cat’s life better by attempting to understand what he or she wants, rather than punishing it by removing it’s defenses.

First and foremost, NOT every American “de-claws” their felines. I totally agree with you about the misunderstanding of the cat’s needs and wants. Having a cat — they are independent by nature and IF you can’t bond with your cat first and learn to respect it and get clawed frequently, then, yes, you should NOT have gotten the cat. If you want the need of constant attention, then get a dog. Now, and I am telling you right up front, the cat’s first line of defense is it’s claws. Have you figured out it’s next line of defense? YUP, it’s teeth! Now, would you rather get clawed OR bitten? You already say in your article that your cat nips you … Well, honey, now that you have put your cat into a constant state of stress by declawing, it will come to the conclusion on it’s own that it needs to bite to release it’s stress. Now you’ve forced the issue on to the cat.

So, IF you came to this forum to (what sounds to me) brag that you cured your cat’s problem, honey, you only added to it. By your behavior you have now taught the cat to bite to relieve it’s stress.

Deborah-Ann Milette

Oklahoma

No cat ever scratches without reason, no animal does anything without reason. It is likely that you misunderstood your cat’s behaviour and insisted on handling it when it was giving clear signals that it did not want that intrusion. Over time, that kind of response from human to cat results in the cat resorting to defensive measures to stop the human overhandling the animal. The cat can only speak the language of the cat. The cat was telling you in the only way it could.

It is a shame that you did not avail yourself of the many modern resources available in books or online concerning humane feline behavioural training. If you had done so, you could have avoided crippling your cat for life. Sadly your cat is crippled now. It’s likely that the biting will increase and then what will you do? Have the poor animal defanged? Or possibly just take the cat to a shelter where she will be killed because no one ever goes to a shelter asking for a biting cat?

It’s tragic that so many cat owners in America seek a quick surgical fix to what is a natural and essential cat behaviour. This attitude to mutilating animals via surgery comes from a society that is selfish and obsessed with instant gratification without education or effort.

One day this evil, unnecessary surgery will be illegal in the USA. It’s happening in California right now, several cities have banned this practice. Money grabbing vets who offer this surgery as a cash cow have shown themselves incapable of self regulation, this is why outlawing it is essential.

In the UK declawing is illegal and that illegality is enforced by Animal Welfare Act and EU Directive. We live happily with our fully clawed cats (we always have) because we accept that cats come with claws. We respect the whole animal and treat it kindly. If it shows behavioural issues, we work on those humanely making efforts to understand how the cat communicates.

There is no such thing as a vicious cat only uneducated, lazy, inhumane owners who don’t understand feline behaviour or feline needs.

By declawing you have raised the chances that your cat will develop litter box avoidance issues, arthritis, stress related physical problems such as urinary tract inflamation and excema. That’s just a few things you gave your cat in addition to a life as a cripple.

There is always a way to humanely change the behaviour of an animal.

I wish you could understand that.

Hi Anita.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I welcome all arguments to the debate. My argument is this, though.

A cat will use his or her claws naturally and instinctively for a variety of reasons. We should understand that and we need to understand when they might be used. It is our duty to understand that and if we don’t I feel that we should not keep a cat.

I have kept cats for decades and only received the odd small scratch and it has always been my fault (usually overplaying). And if a cat scratches people in a household for what appears to be no apparent reason it is probable that the household is not the right environment for the cat, for example, by making the cat nervous and stressed. It is in our power to create the environment and the conditions under which we do not get scratched.

And if we are scratched it will be our fault. If you have been scratched to the point where you need stitches it will certainly be the case where you have struggled or wrestled with your cat. That is quite the wrong thing to do.

It is an absolute certainty that if anyone is badly scratched by a domestic cat it will be the person’s fault. The cat is doing what comes naturally and it is usually a defensive measure.

Why then punish the cat for acting naturally by either killing it or mutilating it?