Declawing cats - inhumane?

[lurk3r]

Originally posted by: surfsatwerk

Originally posted by: destrekor

Originally posted by: surfsatwerk

Originally posted by: ryan256
Which is more cruel?
Declawing the cat or killing him after he tears up the furniture?? People argue this back & forth all the time. My cat does not go outside. He should actually be happy he doesn't have his claws. It has saved him many a kick in the face as much as he enjoys stalking my bare feet.

You shouldn't own a pet if you are not prepared and educated about how to correct and curb unwanted behavior.

cats are not as smart as dogs, an indoor cat's behavior depends entirely on it's personality.
some are too stubborn and leaving them clawed would result in terrible things. Cats have an instinct to keep their claws ready so they can do real damage to creatures. Any well trained animal can snap, if that snap results in scratching and biting somebody, that's going to be fun getting rid of that animal. Plus, never know when the cat is going to decide the scratching post is more boring than the couch or drapes.

cats suck. don't have to worry about me declawing a cat because I will forever refuse to own one. Only dogs will be given the opportunity to grace my residence.

So basically you're saying "didn't bother trying, know it won't work". I've easily trained feral born cats to use scratching posts using correction and reward behavior modification.

The only hurdle to behavior modification is the intelligence of the owner, not the intelligence of the pet.

Yep, you can't train a cat by beating it, they will either run away or destroy more of your junk.

There are several things you CAN do with cats, trimming their nails short every week or less, providing them with a proper scratching post (covered in catnip helps) etc. If a cat feels neglected, like alot of women out there, they will go for any attention they can get, acting out will usually accomplish this, so like your girlfriend, you have to invest some play time before crashing in front of the TV.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Not if you do it with a claw hammer.

 

[Miramonti]

Originally posted by: totalnoob
Just clip their nails every week or two..much more humane.

This is what we do. So far (she's 18 weeks), its much easier to do than our dogs.

 

[SammyJr]

Originally posted by: surfsatwerk
5 cats none declawed. It is inhumane and can cause physiological problems because it prevents proper stretching and alignment of their back. Trimming a cat's claws is an easy and simple solution compared to surgically mutilating your beloved pet.

Hell, you don't have to even do that much. A scratching post will take care of that fine.

 

[mutz]

0roo0roo- imposing your pet on others and destroying local wild life is irresponsible. it also exposes them to risks like being run over...meeting bad ends from dogs and other such things. pets are pets. your comparing them to a human being shows how out of touch you are with reality. a cat is for someones pleasure. you allow surgical sterilization of an animal for this very reason which is far more a fundamental alteration by any standard.

the earlier meaning was - if u can't accept cats or other animals as they are. u probably shouldn't take care of any, just live'em alone,
it wasn't suggesting trowing them to the streets of course.
there is a need to take care of these animals, find them homes and places to stay, though, they aren't pets, and they aren't made for anyones pleasure,
they are animals, they have instincts and character, and they should be treated with respect.
sorry to tell u this, if u think, these pets are made for u'r pleasure, other animals are made for u'r food menu etc. etc.,
i'm not the one who is missunderstanding living,
not the one who is living in some kind of a dream,
animals have they're rights too, and that's what many people all around are fighting for,
exactly for people not treating them as they're own property,
raising peoples awareness to they're nature and needs.

Pliablemoose - I love those speaking up for cats and their claws that think nothing of cutting off their balls or cutting out their ovaries. I mean really? You think you'd be happier without fingernails or balls?

nothing was said regarding this for a reason, though, cutting u'r cat balls is no less ugly than cutting u'r sons balls while he's at sleep.
the only difference is that cats are reproducing them selfs very fast, a female can give birth to 5+ kitties ~every 6-7-8 months and not too many people are willing to adopt these animals, what exposes them to hi fatalities on the roads, living from human trash, diseases, miss treatment etc. etc.

actually, there isn't seems to be any meaning for castrating u'r cat, maybe only a treatment for the female..

when u have 4-5 females and few males it is a serious problem, as you don't want to have them "treated" though, they can bring u up to 20-25 cats every few months which u have nothing u can do with..
it costs a lot, they get killed (mostly by cars), they do a lot of mess, and generally,
it doesn't feel good when u have to take care of them most of u'r time,
the last thing is,
from being 20, the number might rise up to a hundred.
on one side, u'd like to keep them as they are..
on the other, they don't stay as they are..

 

[sourceninja]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo



yea i'd rather see someone give up their dog than get it neutered!! omg its mutilating its genitals!!! not just a physical crippling but a permanent hormonal change on a scale that is far excess of just losing your ability to scratch.

seriously though..get ur head out of your keester.

the self righteous attitudes of the anti declawing crowd are as bad as the worst anti abortion nutbags.

Well, I'm against all un-necessary surgery. My cats are not neutered with the exception of one that was adopted that way (also the only male). If my animals were outside cats then they would be because controlling the birth rates of animals is very important.

As I said, I'm against putting an animal though pain for no reason. There is no reason to cut off a cats fingers anymore then cutting off it's legs because you can't teach it to sit. My cats are not destructive, I have *gasp* trained them with a mixture of positive and negative reinforcement. If you do not have the time and energy to train an animal properly, then you don't deserve that animal.

 

[PepePeru]

my cat's okay without his. he doesn't appear to be in pain.

that being said, his pads are in bad shape from it, they did a really bad job.

I feel really bad about declawing him (first cat). He was hanging from the curtains in my house and cutting me to ribbons.

However, I will never declaw future cats.

I regret it. I took the easy way out to correct his behavior.

 

[manlymatt83]

Originally posted by: surfsatwerk
5 cats none declawed. It is inhumane and can cause physiological problems because it prevents proper stretching and alignment of their back. Trimming a cat's claws is an easy and simple solution compared to surgically mutilating your beloved pet.

This. And get a scratcher. Seriously, I've had a TON of cats and never had any problems. What's the big deal? I doubt I've been "that lucky" with all of them.

 

[SlitheryDee]

It's not the same thing as removing your fingers at the first knuckle as some people say. Humans would miss the first knuckle of their fingers much more than a cat misses their claws because humans do so many things that require fingertip sensitivity and dexterity. All cats use their claws for is to climb and destroy shit, which ends up being a pain for all parties involved because the cat is constantly being chased away from furniture and locked into rooms where they can't tear anything up. I'd say that a destructive cat would be happier declawed because it wouldn't be harried constantly by its human master. I'd leave a non-destructive cat intact though.