I’m all for front declaw

It is very impressive that you have such knowledge about declawing. I admire the fact that you, unlike many others, have made such a fantastic effort to educate yourself before making such a major decision that affects others in such a dramatic way. Congratulations on your research.

BUT…

Before you decide to declaw another cat, maybe you should try it on yourself. That way, you will know exactly what the cat is expriencing. Start by getting your nails done so you can experience the thrill of digging in the dirt with bloody stumps. Or maybe you should start with your toes so that you know how cats walk after the amputation surgery.

Declawing is something people do for their own convenience without knowing what actually happens to their beloved cat.

Declawing is NOT a manicure. It is serious surgery. Your cat’s claw is not a toenail. It is connected to the bone. To remove the claw, the last bone of your cat’s toe has to be removed.

Declawing is an amputation of the last knuckle on each toe, cutting through bone, tendons, skin, and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint. This surgery is the same for big cats.

Knowing this, it becomes clear why declawing is not a humane act. It is painful surgery, excruciating recovery period, serious health risks, and complications such as infection and death. Remember that during the time of recuperation from the surgery, your cat will still have to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in its litter box regardless of the pain it is experiencing. Wheelchairs and bedpans are NOT an option for a cat.

Cat lovers know that cats suffer pain but hide it well. Cats are proud. They instinctively know that they are at risk when in a weakened position, and by nature will attempt to hide it. But make no mistake: This is not a surgery to be taken lightly.

Your cat’s body is perfectly designed to give it the grace, agility, and beauty that is unique to felines. Its claws are an imperative part of this design. Amputating the vital part of their anatomy that contains the claws drastically alters the conformation of their feet. The cat is also deprived of its primary means of defense, leaving it victim to predators if it ever escapes to the outdoors.

Declaw surgery can produce permanent lameness, pain or arthritis. Your cat’s personality will change after being declawed, but the medical community does not recognize this side effect.

There are many alternatives.

Thanks to ThePawProject.org and Dr. Christianne Schelling at Declawing.com.

It is a wonderful thing that youhave done your homework about declawing. Everyone should be that educated and informed before makin such a major decision that will affect another for the rest of the other’s life.

BUT…

Inspite of all your education and information, you have not walked in another’s shoes. Before you have any more cats declawed, maybe you should declaw your own toes. Try it out for a few years and see just what these cats go through when they try to walk. Or maybe you should have your fingers declawed. Then you will know how easy it is to use your hands from a cat’s point of view.

Here is some more information about declawing that you should read before forcing your choice on another:

Declawing is something people do for their own convenience without knowing what actually happens to their beloved cat.

Declawing is NOT a manicure. It is serious surgery. Your cat’s claw is not a toenail. It is connected to the bone. To remove the claw, the last bone of your cat’s toe has to be removed.

Declawing is an amputation of the last knuckle on each toe, cutting through bone, tendons, skin, and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint. This surgery is the same for big cats.

Knowing this, it becomes clear why declawing is not a humane act. It is painful surgery, excruciating recovery period, serious health risks, and complications such as infection and death. Remember that during the time of recuperation from the surgery, your cat will still have to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in its litter box regardless of the pain it is experiencing. Wheelchairs and bedpans are NOT an option for a cat.

Cat lovers know that cats suffer pain but hide it well. Cats are proud. They instinctively know that they are at risk when in a weakened position, and by nature will attempt to hide it. But make no mistake: This is not a surgery to be taken lightly.

Your cat’s body is perfectly designed to give it the grace, agility, and beauty that is unique to felines. Its claws are an imperative part of this design. Amputating the vital part of their anatomy that contains the claws drastically alters the conformation of their feet. The cat is also deprived of its primary means of defense, leaving it victim to predators if it ever escapes to the outdoors.

Declaw surgery can produce permanent lameness, pain or arthritis. Your cat’s personality will change after being declawed, but the medical community does not recognize this side effect.

There are many alternatives.

Thanks to ThePawProject.org and Dr. Christianne Schelling at Declawing.com.

How can you possibly in your right mind be okay with declawing??????? If you didnt know the effects of declawing; well that’s understandable even I was okay with it before I learned its cruel outcome; and then my own cat had to get his paw checked because he was declawed. But you even explained the process of declawing and you’re STILL perfectly fine with it! You must be an inhuman alien because anyone with any trace of a heart would stand up against the cruel act against declawing.

How can you possibly in your right mind be okay with declawing??????? If you didnt know the effects of declawing; well that’s understandable even I was okay with it before I learned its cruel outcome; and then my own cat had to get his paw checked because he was declawed. But you even explained the process of declawing and you’re STILL perfectly fine with it! You must be an inhuman alien because anyone with any trace of a heart would stand up against the cruel act against declawing.

I would not be in the least bit surprised if it turned out that Cari works (or has worked in the past) for/with a vet that declaws. I suspect this because of the way she writes about the procedure and about the anatomy of the paw, HOWEVER, what she says about the cartilage in the joint “calcifying” and turning to bone after the first year is not accurate, and if she got this from a vet, that vet is fudging scientific fact to justify what he/she does. This should NOT be used as a justification to declaw kittens “pre-emptively”.

You have to have a lot of guts to let the world know that you are an animal abuser!!!! You should have been made to watch this cruel operation. You are very sick indeed to beleive that in any way you are doing your cats a favor. We have found out in our household that a scratching post, regular clipping of the claws, and a water squirt bottle works wonders to correct any bad habits. A squirt a couple of times with a sharp NO seems to work on our household of now 5 cats. Then only a shake of the bottle is necessary for them to stop whatever they are doing. Please dont get any more cats for their sake.

Cari, the last time I read such absolute nonsense and drivel was in the fiction section
for the clinically insane! I am honoured to be the proud carer to 14 cats, it was 15 but I lost my 16 year old persian in June. Mother Nature is a wonderful thing, she provides animals with all the bits and pieces they need to survive if they are in their natural habitat.To remove any claws from a cat is, in my book, tantamount to torture, and thank God that in the civilized land where I live, it is treated as such. Cats can never be owned by anyone, and as such, when they are in our care, we should not take away their god given abilities by removing their claws. When you think about comparing this foul practice with doing it to a baby, the argument is pointless. A kitten is often taken from its mother at 6-8 weeks, and by that time it has learnt to wash, to use a litter tray, to play, to hunt, to socialise, to feed itself and be self sufficient if needs be. Babies on the other hand, still need to be cared for by a mother until they are much older (some of them until they are well in their teens) The sooner people who call themselves cat or animal lovers wake up to the fact that animals have feelings too the sooner this horrific practice will be banned world wide! It makes me sad that all animals were safe in this world until we arrived in it, what right do we have to take their ability to survive away, especially for the sake of a sofa or some drapes.

When I go to bed at night, I know that I have done my best to help and protect my cats to their advantage, with the views that you hold, I ask you again – HOW do You sleep at night?

https://pictures-of-cats.org/im-all-for-front-declaw-take-two.html

Man I cant come to terms with people like you who know declawing cats is wrong but keep on doing it and telling others about it as if you are clever.

Do you have no conscience that you get cat after cat and get their toes axed off if theyre young?

So your carpet gets scratched by the one you spared of the torture,well thats your fault not hers.I bet the other toeless ones wished they could use their aching muscles.

Whats wrong with scratchings posts for cats?Haven’t you heard of them?

Every cat I hear of suffering because of people like you makes me too sad.

Ed

Your very attitude is the very reason why only a total declaw ban would be enough to put a stop to this torture.

You write well to be honest which surprises me because of your ignorance. You are exactly the type of person that sends a shiver down my spine; you are quite scary in that you know exactly what you are doing yet still do it.

This is never about personal choice. You live in a culture where your pet is your property. I live in a culture (thank God!) where I am privileged to be caretaker to my two cats yet if I mistreated them IN ANY WAY they would be taken from me and I would be prosecuted. Thats the way it should be.

The sooner that people like you realise this is wrong on so many levels the better.

There are some things that need change and this is one of them to protect cats from people like you and your money grabbing ‘vet’.

Yes you are very brave coming on here but all you’ve done is made us realise that as well as thick idiots who know no better there are those like you who know exactly what you are doing which is far worse. You have strengthened our resolve to get this banned. How could you leave your cat defenceless? You can’t possible have any feelings knowing that your cat could escape one day and be torn to shreds by a passing dog. Is your furniture really more important? I know mine isn’t.

Cari, you don’t understand cats (not to mention respect, love, or care for them), why they need claws, and why scratching is absolutely necessary for them. If you did, you would never, ever in a million years have them declawed and forever deprive them from their 3rd Phalanx finger bone/claw digits that they use everyday for such important tasks like walking. People who love, care, respect, and understand their cats do not declaw them. The majority of cat guardians do not declaw their cats.

Do you realize you’ve crippled kittens that never even had a chance to learn to use a post to stretch, scratch, & exercise? Whatever vet did this is put his own agenda (money!) before the welfare of the animals because it is completely against the CVMA to declaw cats 4-5 months old. Shame on the vet, shame on you, and shame on the shelter who adopted to a guardian like you – a person who would opt to surgically mutilate & modify her pets than treat them humanely. I hope they are reading this and put your name on a Do Not Adopt list. People who are disconnected from animals, like yourself, shouldn’t have them. I wouldn’t adopt a cat to you if you were the last person on the planet.

Please check back with us in a few years when your declawed cats arthritis is so painful from being forced to walk on their 2nd Phalanx finger stubs that they start urinating on your carpet & couch. We’d like to hear how you’ve remedied the situation, i.e., what it was like to abandon them at a shelter when you know it was what you did (declawed them) that caused them so much pain they lost their home, & probably their lives.

From WHY CATS NEED CLAWS,

“Claws are involved in almost everything a cat does during her waking hours. In the morning, she digs her claws into her scratching post and pulls against the claws’ resistance to energize and tone her upper body. During playtime, her claws snag flying toys out of the air and hold them in place. When she runs across the house and up the stairs, her claws act like cleats to provide extra tractions. When she scales her kitty condo, she uses her claws like miniature mountaineering crampons that let her reach the top with ease.

A cat uses claws to scratch an itch, manipulate catnip mice, grip a narrow catwalk, hoist her body up to a high-up perch, and grab onto a chair for stability during grooming. Claws are even used in self expression; for example, a slight extension of the claws is a subtle way to say “I’m tired of being held and am ready to get down”.

In some circumstances, claws are lifesavers, enabling a cat to climb to safety or thwart an attacker.

All this and much more is lost when a cat is declawed.”

“Why Cats Need Claws” by Gary Loewenthal

There is only one person to blame if a cat scratches furniture or a carpet and that is the owner of the cat.I say owner because anyone who knows how cruel declawing is yet does it to their cat thinks of that cat as just another possession.

Teaching a cat to use a scratching pad or post is the easiest ever to do and there is no excuse for lazily,ignorantly,and cruelly,having a cat declawed instead.

People like you make me sick,you think you know it all and that you can convince others how right you are.

I have news for you,millions of people worldwide despise you and the rest who just like you,boast of their abuse of cats.

A ban can’t come soon enough to stop your ilk dead in their tracks.

I wish declawing were banned as a preventative measure to stop cats ending up in the homes of people like yourself. You’re aware how painful and unnecessary declawing is, yet you happily pay for cats to be abused in this way so that they don’t exhibit natural behaviour. I think that’s a disgusting attitude toward an animal in your “care”.

That you whould further try to justify your actions by trotting out the feeble argument that they would otherwise be euthanised or abandoned only compounds the fact that you have little patience where cats are concerned. I suggest you take a look on the Petfinder adoption lists and you’ll see for yourself just how many declawed cats have been abandoned by their owners. What happened to the “forever” homes their owners promised when they paid a vet to mutilate their feet?

You may be surprised to learn that it’s only vets in North America and some Middle Eastern states who are still legally allowed to declaw. The ban in the majority of the civilised world was brought about by vets themselves refusing to declaw.

Rear claws can only be used in defence when a cat is in close contact with a rival or attacker – by which time it may be too late. Whereas a quick swipe from the front claws can either repel the attacker or buy the cat valuable seconds in which to make an escape.

I feel sorry for your cats, because you’re probably too ignorant of feline anatomy and behaviour to notice the subtle signs of pain. Cats are very stoic creatures and just because they don’t cry for sympathy in the same way that a dog would, doesn’t mean that they aren’t suffering in silence.

Cold hearted Cari who is all for front declawing,when can we expect you to have someone come on and tell us you’ve had yourself defingered too?

I think you should be aware that you need to be so that you can no longer write such unadulterated trash as you have here.

I think a lot of people will agree that prevention incase you do any more writing is a very good idea.

PREVENTATIVE declawing of kittens? What are you talking about? Complacency seems to have hit an all time low if you think you can justify declawing in that way. Preventative, madam, is vaccinating & neutering your cat to prevent illness and unwanted breeding it is NOT paying a vet to amputate a kittens toe ends to prevent him scratching your stupid skin or furniture. You hasten to assure us you know all about declawing and you seem to think that it’s worth putting a young cat through all of that just for the privilege of living in your home. Be assured it is not!

It is because of people like you that we are campaigning for a ban on declawing, people who think they know all there is to know and who think that they have the right to decide to adopt an animal and then adapt it to their liking.

In England, in any Europen country and in many more countries you would be liable for prosecution for what you did to your male cats, you cannot justify cruelty by calling it preventative, you might just as well have all their teeth removed to prevent them biting you and shave them to prevent them putting hairs on your precious furniture.

My advice to you would be to get one of these cats that Michael has written an article about

https://pictures-of-cats.org/robotic-cat.html they were made for heartless, cruel cat OWNERS like you.

You are aware of so many things yet you are unaware of what an ignorant and cruel person you are.

You smugly and self righteously think cats would be better off disabled to have the privelege of living with morons like you than being homeless.

No cat would choose to pay for its home by being subject to 10 amputations which cause so many ill effects.

You must have one of those money loving neuter declaw package vets who delight in breaking their oath and mutilating cats for idiots as cruel as they themselves are.

I can only wish you gangrene of your finger and toe ends and then you will see if you are still all for the pain and disablement and suffering of cats.

Cari I can’t believe you know how painful declawing is and how it cripples cats and you must know of all the lifelong problems it can cause too, yet you are still all for it.

Declawing isn’t supposed to be a preventative to stop cats natural scratching behaviour, it is supposed to be a last resort for serious scratching behaviour.

You have taken young cats and had the most cruel operation done to them and have deprived them of homes where they would not have been abused this way.

Have you not heard of scratching posts ? The reason they are made is because cats NEED TO SCRATCH to stay healthy!!!!

You don’t even like some people do, plead ignorance of how cruel declawing is, you have pre-meditatedly paid a corrupt vet to abuse your cats on your behalf.

It’s true you should not be allowed to have any cats in your home, you obviously don’t love cats, you only love adapted cats.

If you are so much for front declaw then go now and book yourself in for your finger ends to be amputated and see how you feel and how you cope with life as disabled as your declawed cats are.

People like YOU are exactly why declawing must be banned and it WILL be because YOU are not fit to have living feeling creatures in your power and WHEN it is banned you won’t exert that evil power over any cat any more if you only want them on your terms.

You think they should be grateful to be crippled so as to live with you ?

Take a look in the mirror Cari and see a deliberate cat abuser !!!!

Thanks for sharing. We are very much against declawing on PoC so you are brave to support it on this site. Thanks for sharing your views.

I disagree with your argument at a fundamental level. What you are saying is what the vets say. They say that declawing prevents cats being killed (
for exercising natural behavior in scratching furniture etc. as you state).

That can’t be a good argument. People who don’t like a major and vital aspect of a cat’s behavior (scratching) should not keep a cat. Humans have no right to take a whole animal and “modify” it through major and extremely painful surgery just for their convenience. That really must be morally wrong. This is obvious and patently true to all decent and right minded people.

You say it is an individual’s choice to declaw a cat. Which individual should you be talking about?

You should be talking about the cat. The cat is a family member – this is what most people say. If cats were allowed to exercise their choice would they agree to be declawed? We are meant to be a cat’s caretaker; its guardian if you like. Unnecessary surgery that mutilates is not a good example of guardianship is it?

A person who declaws their cat demonstrates a lack of respect for the cat. And a person who does not respect the cat for what he or she is should not keep a cat – period.

In conclusion, Cari, I am compelled to say, with respect to you, that you should not keep cats. You have no right to keep cats if you think mutilating them for your convenience is acceptable.

You have a fundamentally incorrect attitude in relation to cat caretaking in my opinion.

One last important point. You must have heard the adage or saying: “Two wrongs don’t make a right”. You are advocating that they do. The first wrong is to kill a cat for doing something natural – scratching. The second wrong is to mutilate the cat to save it from being killed for behaving naturally! Two wrongs do not make a right, Cari.