Declawing cats - inhumane?

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
3 Cats here all declawed. Didn't slow them down one bit.

Yes, this.

The cats I grew up with were always declawed in the front.
They could still:
- Fight other cats and hold their own.
- Climb trees.
- One fought a collie that wandered into our yard. The collie went home with a torn-up ear. The cat came home puffed up and nervous.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: theblackbox
comparing declawing to spay or neuter? you kidding me. declawing is a terrible thing, we try not to do it, and will do our best to change our clients minds, offering either soft paws or education on how to trim nails as a substitute. it's a terrible thing to do to an animal.

Why are they not comparable? In terms of the effect on the animal, neutering is far worse IMO. It changes something fundamental: The way their brain operates, which can affect behavior, appetite, metabolism, etc. Now I'll admit that the motivations behind neutering are far more benevolent than those for declawing, but that doesn't change the fact that you are significantly altering the animal when you remove its reproductive organs. To me this is pretty cruel, but it's cruelty with a noble purpose.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for neutering animals, it's better than letting them suffer from the effects of overpopulation. I just think it's kind of hypocritical that a lot of people oppose declawing because it's mutilation, but support neutering, which is also mutilation. The only difference between them is the reasons they are done. Neutering tends to be done for noble reasons (although a lot of people neuter simply because they don't want to deal with an animal in heat, spraying and all that fun stuff), whereas the reasons for declawing are more selfish (not wanting the animal to tear furniture up and not wanting to take the time to train them, trim nails, etc.).

 

[krylon]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
3 Cats here all declawed. Didn't slow them down one bit.

Yes, this.

The cats I grew up with were always declawed in the front.
They could still:
- Fight other cats and hold their own.
- Climb trees.
- One fought a collie that wandered into our yard. The collie went home with a torn-up ear. The cat came home puffed up and nervous.

 

[theblackbox]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

Originally posted by: theblackbox
comparing declawing to spay or neuter? you kidding me. declawing is a terrible thing, we try not to do it, and will do our best to change our clients minds, offering either soft paws or education on how to trim nails as a substitute. it's a terrible thing to do to an animal.

Why are they not comparable? In terms of the effect on the animal, neutering is far worse IMO. It changes something fundamental: The way their brain operates, which can affect behavior, appetite, metabolism, etc. Now I'll admit that the motivations behind neutering are far more benevolent than those for declawing, but that doesn't change the fact that you are significantly altering the animal when you remove its reproductive organs. To me this is pretty cruel, but it's cruelty with a noble purpose.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for neutering animals, it's better than letting them suffer from the effects of overpopulation. I just think it's kind of hypocritical that a lot of people oppose declawing because it's mutilation, but support neutering, which is also mutilation. The only difference between them is the reasons they are done. Neutering tends to be done for noble reasons (although a lot of people neuter simply because they don't want to deal with an animal in heat, spraying and all that fun stuff), whereas the reasons for declawing are more selfish (not wanting the animal to tear furniture up and not wanting to take the time to train them, trim nails, etc.).

i did not even mention the differences in surgery and recovery.
spay and neuter is done to protect animals, declawing is done to protect furniture.

yes, fixing animals has an effect, in most cases it ends up being a positive effect, and the surgery (at least in the case of males) is much quicker, less invasive, and they heal much faster. i wouldn't call it exactly mutilation. even in the case of spays, i don't think mutilation is a word i would use. declawing on the other hand, is just that. and if you don't think declawing changes personality and behaviour you haven't been around that many declawed cats that become aggressive biters. they change, and most times, not for the better.
cats do very well without their nuts, not so well without their claws.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: krylon

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: TwiceOver
3 Cats here all declawed. Didn't slow them down one bit.

Yes, this.

The cats I grew up with were always declawed in the front.
They could still:
- Fight other cats and hold their own.
- Climb trees.
- One fought a collie that wandered into our yard. The collie went home with a torn-up ear. The cat came home puffed up and nervous.

What.

Just saying, my cats were declawed and I don't think it slowed them down at all.

Originally posted by: theblackbox
i did not even mention the differences in surgery and recovery.
spay and neuter is done to protect animals, declawing is done to protect furniture.

yes, fixing animals has an effect, in most cases it ends up being a positive effect, and the surgery (at least in the case of males) is much quicker, less invasive, and they heal much faster. i wouldn't call it exactly mutilation. even in the case of spays, i don't think mutilation is a word i would use. declawing on the other hand, is just that. and if you don't think declawing changes personality and behaviour you haven't been around that many declawed cats that become aggressive biters. they change, and most times, not for the better.
cats do very well without their nuts, not so well without their claws.

What would your stance be on spaying/neutering humans? I'd argue that hormones can promote some detrimental (anti)social behaviors.

The only difference is that one is considered a taboo behavior, the other is considered socially acceptable. Mess with a cat's hormone factories if you want, but a human's? No, they're held high as a matter of personal pride. Double standards, yet again.

(Not that I'm saying it's a bad arrangement necessarily, just pointing out another of our fun little inconsistencies.)



And I've known 5 declawed cats in my life, and none were biters. Hell, one of them didn't even like to walk on people; if you were lying on a bed underneath blankets, she'd carefully test each lump on the bed to make sure a limb wasn't underneath it.
They were always friendly, and never bit anyone.

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: Skoorb
fvck it they are cats, i have two and they have no front claws. When they die i will buy a massive male maine my excellent compatriot and cut that little bastards knuckles off, too.

what the fuck?

YOU HEARD ME! If I had a housecat that was scratching furniture I would kick that thing into a wall and that is a fact.

:laugh: :thumbsup:

 

[theblackbox]

i have no problem with spay and neuter for humans. some people shouldn't be reproducing.
i don't think we should practice cutting off fingers or toes at the first knuckle.

 

[Q]

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Is this you???

http://i38.tinypic.com/wqy6mx.jpg

Whoa, I hate cats but that is mean.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: theblackbox

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

Originally posted by: theblackbox
comparing declawing to spay or neuter? you kidding me. declawing is a terrible thing, we try not to do it, and will do our best to change our clients minds, offering either soft paws or education on how to trim nails as a substitute. it's a terrible thing to do to an animal.

Why are they not comparable? In terms of the effect on the animal, neutering is far worse IMO. It changes something fundamental: The way their brain operates, which can affect behavior, appetite, metabolism, etc. Now I'll admit that the motivations behind neutering are far more benevolent than those for declawing, but that doesn't change the fact that you are significantly altering the animal when you remove its reproductive organs. To me this is pretty cruel, but it's cruelty with a noble purpose.

And don't get me wrong, I'm all for neutering animals, it's better than letting them suffer from the effects of overpopulation. I just think it's kind of hypocritical that a lot of people oppose declawing because it's mutilation, but support neutering, which is also mutilation. The only difference between them is the reasons they are done. Neutering tends to be done for noble reasons (although a lot of people neuter simply because they don't want to deal with an animal in heat, spraying and all that fun stuff), whereas the reasons for declawing are more selfish (not wanting the animal to tear furniture up and not wanting to take the time to train them, trim nails, etc.).

i did not even mention the differences in surgery and recovery.
spay and neuter is done to protect animals, declawing is done to protect furniture.

yes, fixing animals has an effect, in most cases it ends up being a positive effect, and the surgery (at least in the case of males) is much quicker, less invasive, and they heal much faster. i wouldn't call it exactly mutilation. even in the case of spays, i don't think mutilation is a word i would use. declawing on the other hand, is just that. and if you don't think declawing changes personality and behaviour you haven't been around that many declawed cats that become aggressive biters. they change, and most times, not for the better.
cats do very well without their nuts, not so well without their claws.

Hate to break it to you, but neutering is mutilation as well. And for a lot of people, a positive effect of neutering would be that female cats wouldn't spray. Couldn't that be considered somewhat selfish? Changing the behavior of an animal just so you don't have to worry about them messing up your carpet or furniture.

As far as declawing changing a cat's behavior, I'll admit that I don't work with animals enough to make any conclusions about this. But I have been around enough cats to know that there are plenty of friendly and active cats out there w/out their claws, as well as plenty of unfriendly cats w/claws.

All I'm trying to point out is that if you look at both procedures objectively (which can be difficult to do for people that have been told for their entire life that declawing is the most horrible, inhumane thing a person could ever do to their cat), I don't really think they're that different.

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Declawing is extremely painful.. The claw is actually part of the bone. It's like cutting off your fingers at the middle knuckle.

You can count the number of nerve endings of a claw on a declawed paw (Hint: 0)

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: Quintox

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Is this you???

http://i38.tinypic.com/wqy6mx.jpg

Whoa, I hate cats but that is mean.

If I was the guy petting it I would have gone into a blind rage and not stopped smashing his face in until I could see my exposed knuckles

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: Quintox

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Is this you???

http://i38.tinypic.com/wqy6mx.jpg

Whoa, I hate cats but that is mean.

If I was the guy petting it I would have gone into a blind rage and not stopped smashing his face in until I could see my exposed knuckles

I'm pretty sure the guy was petting the cat to distract it while the kicker snuck up on it. You see him start laughing after the cat goes flying. Messed up.

 

[yh125d]

Yeah I know that was the intent




There should be a special circle of hell for N's like that

 

[mutz]

Have had 3 cats declawed - perfectly content. Just because a few have issues is no reason to assume it is inhumane. My lefty sister who has more animals than most of the posters here, is also fine with it. If they ever banned declawing, I would never get another cat.

would u prefer living on the street "fully equipped" or either be "denailed" by you'r parent and living in an house?
how can anyone do it to an animal? that's exactly her, her instincts, her nature, her body!
no one should be messing with that,
a cat isn't a tool, a furniture, a toy or something made for anyone's pleasure, and shouldn't be treated like that, like u wouldn't want anyone messing with u,
don't mess with others.
sorry for the tone.
i'm quite pissed off.

. declawing is a terrible thing, we try not to do it, and will do our best to change our clients minds, offering either soft paws or education on how to trim nails as a substitute. it's a terrible thing to do to an animal.

+1.

 

[Vic]

Speaking from experience, I believe declawing is a very bad thing. Indoors or not, declawed cats are significantly more likely to suffer from emotional and behavioral problems down the road. It's not uncommon now for rescues and shelters to put a 'no-declaw' clause in their adoption contracts.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Not declawing leads to tattered furniture and a pretentious dingbat owner.

Nonsense. Get a cat tree/scratcher and trim the claws regularly. Some simple proper training helps too, cats are quick learners.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I have a declawed cat, front & back, he's happy as shit, maybe it hurt when it was done, but that was years ago and the pain was only for a couple of days.

Have you ever had a cat crawl up your leg when it was feeling playful? I have the flipping scars from it. Do you like your furniture? I do think that if you declaw a cat, you owe it to them to care for them and provide a safe environment for the remainder of their life, but beyond that, why the hell not?

 

[yh125d]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Not declawing leads to tattered furniture and a pretentious dingbat owner.

Nonsense. Get a cat tree/scratcher and trim the claws regularly. Some simple proper training helps too, cats are quick learners.

You don't seem to have known many cats. Between me, my parents and brothers, we've owned at least 10 cats in the last 20 years




None of them used their scratch posts

 

[Vic]

Why the hell not is because it is completely unnecessary and it fscks some cats up mentally. A cat's claws are very much tied up in its identity as a living creature, as both hunter and prey. Some cats get over losing their claws, but a lot don't. So why do it to them when they can be easily trained not to scratch where they shouldn't?

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: yh125d

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: ScottyB
Not declawing leads to tattered furniture and a pretentious dingbat owner.

Nonsense. Get a cat tree/scratcher and trim the claws regularly. Some simple proper training helps too, cats are quick learners.

You don't seem to have known many cats. Between me, my parents and brothers, we've owned at least 10 cats in the last 20 years




None of them used their scratch posts

I've had cats my whole life. My newest cat (just barely a year old) has 7 toes on each front paw and claws the size of hawk talons and he scratches nothing but his posts.

 

[WildHorse]

``

 

[RESmonkey]

Originally posted by: totalnoob

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: Skoorb
fvck it they are cats, i have two and they have no front claws. When they die i will buy a massive male maine my excellent compatriot and cut that little bastards knuckles off, too.

what the fuck?

YOU HEARD ME! If I had a housecat that was scratching furniture I would kick that thing into a wall and that is a fact.

Is this you???

http://i38.tinypic.com/wqy6mx.jpg

Holy shit. Those retards need to be shot in the shins so they stop practicing "fooball"

 

[mutz]

You don't need to tell me it sounds crazy, since I already appreciate that, but I tell you for real, my late klittle orange cat & I t r u l y COMMUNICATED for real, on some meta level that people don't normally access.

that's awesome :heart:.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: totalnoob

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: RESmonkey

Originally posted by: Skoorb
fvck it they are cats, i have two and they have no front claws. When they die i will buy a massive male maine my excellent compatriot and cut that little bastards knuckles off, too.

what the fuck?

YOU HEARD ME! If I had a housecat that was scratching furniture I would kick that thing into a wall and that is a fact.

Is this you???

http://i38.tinypic.com/wqy6mx.jpg

Capital punishment.

 

[Gooberlx2]

We have 4 cats. 3 of them are declawed and not one bit worse for it. The one that isn't is exotic and I'm almost certain it would affect his behavior. Thankfully, he doesn't have the habit of scratching shit he's not supposed to.