J.T. - What makes you so very dangerous to cats in general is that some people may think you know what you are talking about, having fostered for some 20+ years. Obviously, you are clueless with respect to cats if you think for even a second that a declaw is the end all for what you consider poor cat behavior. I wonder what your sister's house is like? Are there screaming kids? Do adults act out? Is there tension of any kind in the home? Does anyone spend any quality time just PLAYING with the cat? I would venture to say we already know the answers to these questions.

Our home has had a myriad of various animals simultaneously all of our lives. NOT ONCE did any of them lose their claws or act out toward each other or their human caretakers. It is all a matter of how the atmosphere is in the home, as well as the type of treatment given to the furkids.

Do us all a favor, will you? STOP fostering, take your sister's cat and any you may have and give them to a 100% NO KILL organization to find quality homes for them. It is obvious to anyone with a brain that neither of you deserve the privilege of CARING (not owning) animals of any kind. Furkids everywhere will thank you.

Hiding behind initials and shouting your ill informed rubbish impresses none of us.
Punishing cats is ignorant pointless and unkind,you should know that as you are such an expert having fostered for 20 years.
Petra is right and I wish I knew the organisation you foster for as it's obvious you are unfit for the role.They need to know you believe punishment is the way to go with cats and that you are so ignorant about the effects of declawing you condone a young cat's life as a cripple.Also that you think it's fine that the 2 declawed cats in your own home are scratching with non existent claws thus at risk of more damage to their already damaged paws.
But how can we expect someone with a sister who puts furniture before her cat's health to know much at all about cats?

Do us a favour JT and pop yours and your sister's addresses on here then we can send the ASPCA round to take your cats from you, because they are obviously unsafe with a pair of bigheads like you two who think nothing of punishing cats and depriving them of necessary body parts.

Talk about trauma you say,yes,let's talk about trauma,lets talk about the trauma caused to that poor cat now living his life as a cripple because of your sister's inadequacies.
Is she sitting in her perfect chair smug in what she had done to that cat?
Did she ever consider training him with loving kindness instead of cruel punishments?
No of course she didn't as she had you to 'advise' her,a sibling who owns and knows all about cats and thinks it's OK that declawed ones frantically try to use their missing claws.
The pair of you should be taken without explanation terrified out of your wits and left to have your finger ends amputated.That poor cat can't do what cats need to do so why should you who think that's OK be able to do what you need to do?
What?It's not necessary you say!Well it wasn't necessary for that cat either.
There you go ..................

So Mr or Ms so self important that you shout in capital letters,supposing you lived in a civilised country where declawing is banned.
What then?Would that sweet little one year old cat with the NATURAL and NECESSARY inclination to scratch be dead,his life taken for doing what cats do.Or would he be thrown on the streets?
One or the other for sure if your sister loves her furniture so much.
How hard it would be for people like her to cope with cats having claws.Quaking day and night incase their INANIMATE and REPLACEABLE furniture got scratched and no one would be allowed to make any cat go through agony and end up disabled for that couch or chairs sake.
You OWN furniture you do not OWN living creatures.I feel pity for any cats you have OWNED or fostered if the list of punishments tried on that young cat are condoned by you and if you still don't understand that cats come with claws for many reasons.
I have news for you,you have a hell of a lot to LEARN about cats.

God save cats from people who foster and "own" them and who think they have all the answers!
How on earth can a procedure that was thought up by someone purely for the convenience of "owners" who should never be allowed near a cat in the first place ever be "necessary" when cats are born with claws?
Surely the clue is in the fact that they ARE born with those claws and that should tell you that they are meant to be there because the cats need them in their daily life?
Scratch sprays, clickers, nail caps - these are all horrible and frightening things to a cat, especially when you consider that the cat is only acting as he has been programmed by nature, that is why it is really cruel to surgically remove a cat's toe ends.
Declawing is NOT the only option, it should not be an option at all, no-one declaws with love - FACT!

Just when I think I've heard every stupid and ignorant remark under the sun for justifying the mutilation of a cat by the amputation of his toe ends, you come along and say your sister got a cat WITH claws.
Of course he had claws, that is how ALL cats come, he had them for a reason, that reason being he needed them for a healthy life.
Now he's desperately trying to exercise his muscles by digging in those non existent claws but as he can't he is doomed to crippling arthritis. He may also try so much to use his claws that eventually he will wear the flesh away and the bone will protrude.
Are you and your sister some of those people who laugh while watching their cat suffer frustration this way ?
Scratching is NOT bad behaviour, it is NECESSARY behaviour !
I don't believe that your sister tried every make of scratching post and pad there is because NO cat is untrainable and to cripple a young cat for the sake of furniture is nothing short of criminal.
But your boast that you yourself have OWNED cats for 20 years says it all, they are NOT ours to OWN, we are merely their caretakers and you and your sister are not fit to take care of any cat if you think that the painful cruel amputation of a cat's toe ends is EVER justifiable.

The caps lock button is on the left side of your keyboard. Turn it off you idiot!

You say your mutilated cats were trying the scratch the scratching post like they had claws, and yet they've got no physical or mental issues. Well, the fact that they're still trying the scratch the scratching post proves that they're suffering from mental traumar. Obviously they don't understand what's going on, and when faced with the anxiety that pressures them to comprehend that they have no finger tips, they resort to believing that they still do have their finger tips, as such torture is beyond their capability to comprehend.

Physical problems, on the other hand, are inevitable. A cat is a digitigrade, meaning naturally they walk on their toes. If half your toe is missing it's mighty hard to walk on it. So cats are going to try and walk more comfortably, aren't they? And that's where their wrists come it, and the excruciating arthritis. Not to mention the phantom pains, your cats are probably suffering from them right now, but your to ignorant to see it.

You are right though, in that a person who chooses to declaw a cat shouldn't be made to feel guilty. I mean, seriously, guilt is no where near as painful as the agony a declawed cat lives through, day in day out. A person who chooses to declaw a cat should be prosected for animal cruelty (like they would be here in Australia, or the other 37 countries where it's also banned), have their finger tips cut off, and locked up in prison for the rest of their lives. (Because they're obviously disturbed sick freaks, who don't deserve to have a place in society.)

WHILE I DO NOT BELIEVE IN DECLAWING, THERE ARE SOME INSTANCES WHEN IT IS NECESSARY. MY SISTER ADOPTED AN ADORABLE, LOVABLE 1 YEAR OLD INDOOR ONLY MALE TABBY WITH CLAWS ONE YEAR AGO....
SHE HAS DONE EVERYTHING SHE IS SUPPOSED TO DO. TRIM NAILS, USED NAIL TIPS WHICH HE HATED AND PULLED OFF..TALK ABOUT TRAUMA AND TORTURE...HAS SCRATCH TREES, POSTS, AND SISAL TOYS ENOUGH TO FILL A SHELF IN A PET STORE. TRIED DOUBLE SIDED AND DUCT TAPE...HE THINKS IT'S A NEW TOY AND PULLS IT ALL OFF...THE SCRATCH SPRAYS AND TRAINING CLICKERS DO NOT WORK EITHER. HE HAS SUCCESSFULLY DESTROYED HER COUCH....NOW HE IS WORKING ON HER NEW CHAIR...
I HAVE OWNED AND FOSTERED CATS FOR OVER 20 YEARS..SOME CAN BE TAUGHT EASILY, OTHERS ARE TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE....WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, DECLAWING IS THE ONLY OPTION. I HAVE 2 CATS WHO WERE DECLAWED. THEY CONTINUED TO SCRATCH THEIR POSTS LIKE THEY HAD CLAWS....AND THEY HAVE NO MENTAL OR PHYSICAL PROBLEMS.....THERE ARE TOO MANY MYTHS OUT THERE ABOUT THE HORRORS OF DECLAWING THAT ARE JUST NOT TRUE....CAT LOVERS SHOULD NOT BE MADE TO FEEL GUILTY FOR CHOOSING TO DECLAW....

You would think claws are lethal weapons the way some people go on about them.
My cats have never had their claws messed with in their entire lives.
Some people are obsessed with interfering with nature.

Thank you so much to the writer of this article! It's hard to believe how few people in the US are able to understand that simple regular trimming of the claws would eliminate ANY AND ALL problems associated with them. Can't do it yourself? Most vet offices will do it, and at VASTLY lower cost than a declaw surgery!! Don't let them sell you something neither you nor your cat needs!

I have a Maine Coon with huge paws and claws and I rarely get scratched. The only time I do is when we play and its an accident. The only way you get scratched is if you don't know how to treat a cat.

The perpetrators of all this propaganda is those who are too damn lazy to buy a scratching post and those butchers who want to keep lining their pockets.

Well done on the article Maggie, spot on.

Yes Maggie you are so right and it's just an excuse idiots use to justify crippling their cats.
I'm sick and tired of those who declaw cats having excuses made for them.
They 'didn't know' it was more than removing the claws.
For God's sake would that not be bad enough.
What sort of sadist would put a cat through needless pain 'just incase' they scratched their precious furniture or their out of control brat pestering the poor cat or their stupid dog pushing its nose in and getting a well deserved warning with a swipe.
I've got to the point where I wonder what we are doing,are we wasting our time trying to get the message into heads filled with sawdust.

Maggie, you've done it again...good job!

Sadie uses me for a launching pad as well and I do have some scratches to prove it; however, it's my own fault. I know what to expect and if I don't protect myself with a sleeve, bandage or anything, I deserve it. The forum is correct - WE need to adapt ourselves to the cat, not the other way around.

As for dogs getting scratched by a cat, let them sort it out themselves, for goodness sake! My brother introduced a cat to their home with an Alsatian. After the cat pooped on bro's shoulder (haha), both animals sniffed each other, the dog nudged the cat, the cat responded with a swipe, the lines were drawn and both became fast friends until the day the dog passed. Even now, years later, the cat occasionally searches for his canine friend and cries.

We grew up in a household of mixed animals simultaneously - cat, dog, bird, hamster. Guess what? Everyone got along, no one was hurt and the children were taught to respect all living things as unique in their own way. I would suggest to the naysayers to learn these lessons and quit trying to change an animal's behavior. Life would be so much simpler.

Great article Maggie,you and a few more of the regular writers should have your own page.
It's very simple really and it works in yours and my countries doesn't it!
Don't like claws?
DON'T get a cat.

Great article Maggie and all so true, it always amazes me the super powers given to cats by people looking for an excuse to declaw, it makes a mental image of a domestic cat towering over the home with 6" razors instead of claws, slashing indiscriminately at family and furnishings. Of course cats claws are sharp, that's the whole purpose of them and surely it's not a secret that cats come armed with them for their own use. And of course as we know sharing your home with a cat IS optional.

As I wrote in my tribute to Popsy yesterday, she loved to knead the tops of our arms, she had tiny claws but they were sharp, well our solution was to wear something over the place she loved to knead, a simple sleeve (or in my hubby's case a tubular bandage) kept her claws from digging in and she and we enjoyed the closeness and love that the kneading brought.

So, the solution was that WE adapted ourselves, it would never have entered our heads to think that she should lose her claws (and toe ends) so that when she expressed her love to us she wouldn't dig her claws in. That is if such a drastic and damned cruel option even existed in England which thank the Lord it doesn't!

Well said Maggie ! The number of times we read that cats have 'destroyed the house' is just ridiculous.
In all my life I've never known any cat ever destroy a house.
Another one that drives me mad is 'I don't want my baby's eyes scratched out' Well for a start I've never in my life known a cat attempt to scratch a baby's eyes out either.It makes me wonder if those people who say that think that where declawing is banned we let our cats into our baby's cots and ignore the screams as his eyes are scratched out.Have they no concept that bringing a baby into the world they are responsible for his care and can't expect a cat to be molested by a toddler and not retaliate.Is the cat supposed to put up with being swung by his tail, poked at and kicked by a child who hasn't been taught to be gentle and respect animals ? Children learn by example and the example declawers give is that cats can be turned into soft toys.Then when the cat naturally bites in self defence, out he goes, he was a bad cat, let's get another kitten and have it declawed. That message says cats are replaceable.
Another excuse is the family dog,oh poor thing, it might get its nose badly scratched so let's get the cat declawed. Then the dog can make the cat's life a misery on top of the poor creature being in pain and crippled.
It's true these people knows cats have claws (surely they do ???)but as long as corrupt vets continue to declaw, these people who should not have cats in the first plcae will go on with their abuse of them this way.

Our cats Lola and Furby use me and Laura as launching pads or stepping stones. I get jumped on, over, around several times a day in their effort to jump into the window or play couch tag. Their claws are NEVER out to where they could hurt us. All I feel is the cushions of their feet as they practice their jumping acts.

These idiots who declaw their cats are gonna be mighty surprised at how often they get bitten once the cat loses its first line of defense.

Great story!

Hi Maggie. Love the passion and commonsense - a great combination.

You are right. People who want to declaw their cat have to justify it some way - a self deception. They find a reason and in order to find a reason that they think does not embarrass them they exaggerate as you say.

And the vets support this for their own financial ends.

It is horrible and I hate it.

Thanks Maggie. Love your posts.