Ruth’s Podcast: on cat declawing, a North American phenomenon

This is Ruth’s second podcast from Wisconsin, USA. She provides insights into cat guardianship (aka ownership) in a country which has the world’s largest number of domestic cats and cat lovers. It is a very full and quite detailed personal account of why Ruth rejected declawing and learned about the complications of the operation which is ten partial amputations. This podcast will have a long life on the internet and I hope it saves the claws of many cats.

Audio player – please click on the play button. The podcast lasts about 20 minutes

Ruth wisely resisted peer pressure to declaw her cat, Monty, and her veterinarian discouraged her (good for them). Ruth also observed Monty using his claws and decided that they were an essential part of Monty’s anatomy.

It seemed like using his claws gave him pleasure and a part of me felt so sad that we would have to take that away….People think that you have to declaw to prevent these problems but you just create new problems..

Ruth and her husband have a water bed! So the fear of Monty’s claws piercing the water bed was an issue. But she decided against it and since deciding not to declaw Ruth learned more about declawing and became more concerned at the cruelty of the operation. For instance, she found out that declawed cats can become biters.

Ruth also wisely recognises the the transient nature of personal possessions, which are far less valuable than respecting the family cat. To protect possessions like sofas by declawing doesn’t make sense at best. Ruth is knowledgeable about declawing and has become an passionate advocate for stopping it in North America.

Click this link if you’d like to hear Ruth’s first podcast.

SOME MORE ON DECLAWING (A SMALL SAMPLE):