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RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 8:36:42 AM   
LotusSong


Posts: 6334
Joined: 7/2/2006
From: Domme Emeritus
Status: offline 		It's not worth it.  I have 5 cats, I had one declawed and didn't do it again.  Supply a few interesting scratching posts. There is no clawing of the furniture

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I'm not your type.
I'm not inflatable.


(in reply to winterlight)
Profile   Post #: 81
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 8:55:19 AM   
YesMistressIrish


Posts: 1135
Joined: 5/1/2007
From: Calif
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Alumbrado

Use these instead...

http://www.softclaws.com/default.asp


Best 20 bucks I ever spent.


So, it works well for your kitties?
Is it hard to get on them? lol...

I looked the product up and thanks for the link,

Irish


(in reply to Alumbrado)
Profile   Post #: 82
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 9:03:24 AM   
DisenchantedLife


Posts: 193
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Foititis

quote:

ORIGINAL: kittinSol
Why keep cats as 'indoor pets' only? Get a stuffed cabbage instead! If a cat should die outside from the result of fighting... that was his or her destiny. Cats are a little piece of the wild in our boring domesticity. Why take it away from them?

Because they actively hunt/kill native animals who are a part of ecosystem and thus contribute to the dilapidation of the biodiversity of an area.  




So do a lot of other animals.  Should we lock up the whole animal kingdom because they kill each other?

quote:

He can go in and out all he likes, as I leave a window open at all times. Domesticated or not, animals shouldn't be locked up all the time. Would you keep a child locked up for years to "keep it safe"? We're a whole lot more careful with our kids, so how is it ok to let kids play outside but not a cat? We take dogs for walks outside, why not cats? Have you ever seen an elephant swaying and going slowly insane in a zoo because intense boredom is sending them crazy? A dog who barks all day and all night because they never see anything but the backyard?  I have and it's cruel and inhumane.


I totally agree.  People would have a longer lifespan if we locked them up in houses too.  No more riding bikes, no more driving cars, no more taking walks... cos ya know.. stepping out the front door can kill ya.

I've never declawed a cat.  My parents had my sisters cat declawed who then also became an outdoor/inside cat.  Claws or no, that cat was still the toughest cat in the neighborhood.  Climbed trees, brought mice home, ect.  IMO declawing isn't the end of the world, but still inhumane.  If you wouldn't amputate a fully functioning arm.. then why do something similiar to a creature who has no choice?  Its not like you can ask them.... do unto others as you wish to be dun unto.

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(in reply to Foititis)
Profile   Post #: 83
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 9:19:26 AM   
petdave


Posts: 2479
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: DisenchantedLife
I totally agree.  People would have a longer lifespan if we locked them up in houses too.  No more riding bikes, no more driving cars, no more taking walks... cos ya know.. stepping out the front door can kill ya.



Housebound concubine? i'm in!!

...dave
(if the great outdoors is so great, why aren't the homeless more fond of it? )

(in reply to DisenchantedLife)
Profile   Post #: 84
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 10:44:30 AM   
soul2share


Posts: 7084
Joined: 12/18/2007
From: somewhere out there.....
Status: offline 		My mom declawed a cat I had left with her when I joined the Army.  This was after Annie took a sail off the pool table to the top of her THIRD pair of lace curtains and shredded them.  Our family vet was very careful, he actually made incisions into the pad, but still, it pissed me off when it was done.

Annie got an infection in one of her front paws from the litter.  IF the declawing process wasn't enough to make her want to kill, the resulting infection did.  Another trip to the vet for medication. 

Now....time for the story of Annie's revenge!  She had no claws to scratch with, so she learned to BITE.  Deep, to the bone, shredding and tearing bites.  At her heaviest, she went about 25 lbs, and when she bit you, she'd literally sink all 4 canine teeth into a soft fleshy part of the body, and then hang.......and her aim was impeccable!  She ripped the pad of my hand open one day.....for no reason at all....she ambushed me from under above mentioned pool table.  Everyone knew about Annie's biting.....I even found one of those "Warning, Attack Cat on patrol" signs for the outside of the house....everyone coming in thought they were cute, until they'd hear what sounded like a dog growling, look over and see HER!  Oh yeah, she meant some serious business!  She once terrorized a poor contractor that was there doing some work on the house....she snuck up the ladder, and nailed him right above the boot on his calf......and this guy never did a thing to her....if Annie didn't like you, God save you!  She was banished to the upstairs after that fir the duration of the work.

Leash train your cats!  Annie was, we lost our first cat to a car....she knew that unless she had her leash on, she wasn't going out....you could literally open the door, and she'd just isit there looking at you like you were a total idiot, then look pointedly at her leash.....as if to say "stupid humans!"  And Dad drilled thru a piece of wood, stuck the end of Annie's leash thruit, tied it off, and voila!, portable leash!  All 3 of mine are trained to a harness and leash and go outside in them.  My mom's two, my sister's two.....all have their own leashes and harnesses.  As far as collars vs a harness, cats are slippery little suckers....mine are out of collars as soon as they are on.....it took a whole 45 seconds for my oldest to get out of a cat harness....get SMALL DOG harnesses....they fit great and are adjustable as they grow.  Now if I could just get all three of mine to walk in ONE direction, not 3!

I have the cardboard scratcher thingy's...mine won't use posts at all......I got one with carpet on it, and they pulled the carpet off to get to the cardboard tube underneath it.  I use a squirt bottle when they start trying for the furniture, but for the most part, they don't.  My dad actually took a piece of firewood, stripped off the bark, and nailed it to a square peice of plywood, and Annie "scratched" on it even after she lost her claws....she was scenting the post, that's all.

So after all that, I'm a vote nor NO to the question........

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*Not a fuck was given.*

(in reply to mstrj69)
Profile   Post #: 85
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 11:16:11 AM   
ThinkingKitten


Posts: 447
Joined: 6/15/2006
From: Ontari-ari-o
Status: offline 		My family have always had cats. Only one (owned by an in-law, who has vowed never to do it again to a cat) has been declawed. All of them have been outdoor cats - be it in the city or the country. One got killed on the road (same inlaw). All the rest have been fine.
 
To me, a cat's quality of life is every bit as important, if not moreso, than its quantity. Hence I would never keep a cat indoors only. Mine are allowed out into the backyard - from which they cannot escape thanks to some artful fence barricading, and a specially designed containment system, which not only keeps mine in the yard (including one who is a gold-medal athlete in her ability to jump, climb etc), but also keeps other animals out. The only thing which can get past it is a very determined raccoon, but I've found that going after them with a can of Glade Air freshener will drive any self-respecting raccon completely away from my yard forever. They HATE the noise and the smell!
Anyhow, the point is my cats can chase bugs, catch mice, watch the birds fly over, sharpen their claws on the fence posts and generally just do what cats do without coming into contact with other cats, or digging holes in other people's flowerbeds. They are under a bedtime curfew however.
 
Cat declawing ranks up there with tail docking (horses and dogs - thank goodness for horses its banned and I can only hope the same soon for dogs), and ear wiring.

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Thinking Kitten

If you can't stand the heat... tell the chef to get out of the kitchen.

(in reply to soul2share)
Profile   Post #: 86
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 12:06:04 PM   
proudsub


Posts: 6142
Joined: 1/31/2004
From: Washington
Status: offline
quote:

quote:

ORIGINAL: camille65
Please, if you let your cat out do some reading on the songbird population in your area. You may think 'they're only birds' but the outdoor cat population has decimated them. There are dangers like feline leukemia, rabies not to mention other animals. Fleas, ticks or ear mites. Cats are domesticated creatures and they ought to be kept indoors and safe, and kept indoors for the birds to be safe.
Keep in mind that I personally detest birds yet I am saying they have a real problem with cats.



Our cats are outside all day (except in extreme weather conditions) and in at night.  We live in a rural area with lots of dangers to them but they are very savy and seldom come home with an injury.  Fleas are taken care of with a flea collar. We stay current on their shots so leukemiia and rabies aren't a concern. The bird problem is solved by bells on their collars. We need them to be outside to keep the mouse and rat populations under control.

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proudsub

"Without goals you become what you were. With goals you become what you wish." .

"You are entitled to your own opinions but not your own facts"--Alan Greenspan


(in reply to MissMorrigan)
Profile   Post #: 87
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 12:24:31 PM   
slaveboyforyou


Posts: 3607
Joined: 1/6/2005
From: Arkansas, U.S.A.
Status: offline
quote:

Slaveboy, that was a pretty blunt comment. It's easy to make snap judgements based on very little informaiton, and yours is quite an ignorant one. I have two cats, both were rescued cats and I raised them from the day they were born b/c their owner neglected them and was too drunk on a daily basis to bother. I had to be mother to them, feed them on the hour EVERY hour for days until I could start lengthening the time between feeds. Both were born with cat flu and almost died as a result, they contracted it from their mothers (same father) and also had chlamydia, they are also carriers of the feline leukaemia. NEITHER can be introduced to other cats as their conditions are passed on through scratches and general grooming, along with sex.

They are indoors cats. Neither know any different and are extremely happy. Both will be 15 this years and anyone that meets them can't believe how agile and kittenish they are. The vet wanted to put them to sleep the day I took them into him, with the little man of the two unable to breathe, his eyelids (how he was born due to the chlamydia) fused together, he had blood coming out of his nose/ears/mouth. I paid almost £1000 for the vet to work on him throughout the night, suctioning the mucous out of the cat's lungs/airways. Finally he pulled through and it was the ONLY time in that experienced vet's career (over 36 years) that he had seen such determination in a cat for survival.

Almost fifteen years later my cats are still with me, give me the greatest joy every single day, and I them. I have no doubt of that. I read somewhere some years ago that cats are also the primary cause of up to 40% of natural species becoming extinct.

Do I regret keeping my cats indoors - not for a moment. I do not agree with you that cats NEED to roam free outdoors, they are domesticated pets and therefore fit in with people's lifestyles.

And to the OP. Declawing is barbaric, read bamabbwsub's comments regarding declawing. It's not pretty, it causes a great deal of suffering and simply for the sake of laziness of the pet's owner/s who can't be bothered to train their cat/s not to scratch their furniture. Mine have been trained not to, so I know it is possible to do so.


MissMorrigan, I am a blunt person.  I don't mix words, and I say what I mean.  Cats should not be cooped up inside.  I am well aware that indoor cats tend to live longer, and they are less susceptible to disease and predators.  So I am not ignorant on the subject.  All that being said, I still think it is cruel to keep cats locked up.  My cat is 12 years old, and she has always been an outside cat.  She has had some scrapes because of her lifestyle.  She barely escaped a car, and got about an inch of her tail taken off as a result.  She is a scrapper, so she has had a few fights with neigborhood cats.  One time, I had to take her to the vet to get a nasty cat bite wound cleaned up.  It wasn't pretty.  But, I still wouldn't change it. 

Danger is part of being alive, and it's what makes living worth the effort.  I am sure your cats are sedate, and totally unaware of the fun they are missing.  But that still doesn't make it right.  Yeah my cat does bring home dead animals, and I hate it when she does it.  As others have said, a bell will solve a lot of that.  I live in a small city, but there are predators around.  I see foxes and coons all the time, and I hear the occasional coyote.  But like I said, risk is part of life. 

As for heartworms; if you live in the South, you should already have your pets on heartworm meds.  I know a lot of people in colder climates don't do it, but that is part of taking care of them.  I also have her on flea medication, and she is spayed.  I didn't like the idea of spaying her, but I had to find homes for 5 kittens early in her life.  So I reckoned that spaying was better than having to do that a couple of times a year.

You can keep your cats locked up if you choose, but I will still maintain it is wrong and won't do it.     

(in reply to MissMorrigan)
Profile   Post #: 88
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 1:01:02 PM   
YourhandMyAss


Posts: 5516
Joined: 6/25/2006
From: Sacramento
Status: offline 		neither you could of bought claw caps that are sold specifically to cover the claws and keep cats from scratching things, or you could of cut off the very tip of the claw, the sharp part that does all the shredding.

edited to add if they were around at the time( the soft paw pads*

quote:

ORIGINAL: LaTigresse

Before anyone dares to attack my choice on declawing......consider the other two options I had and tell me which of those I should have done



< Message edited by YourhandMyAss -- 1/27/2008 1:13:01 PM >

(in reply to LaTigresse)
Profile   Post #: 89
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/27/2008 1:11:59 PM   
YourhandMyAss


Posts: 5516
Joined: 6/25/2006
From: Sacramento
Status: offline 		I volunteered, at the Sacramento county animal shelter, when we went through orientation we had to watch a film about animal statistics and stuff, and statistics say that a huge number  of injury to  male dog, were males running away because they were not altered and left home to find the bitch in heat and they either got ran over and killed or maimed, or got picked up by animal catchers.  not neutering them is also supposed to contribute to male testicular cancer in dogs.
quote:

Spaying and neutering are not necessary for their health. Indeed, it causes a lot of problems like incontinence in the girls and an increase in some kinds of cancers.





(in reply to MistressCamille)
Profile   Post #: 90
RE: Declaw or not declaw your cat? - 1/28/2008 6:18:06 AM   
MistressCamille


Posts: 107
Joined: 1/1/2004
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: YourhandMyAss

I volunteered, at the Sacramento county animal shelter, when we went through orientation we had to watch a film about animal statistics and stuff, and statistics say that a huge number  of injury to  male dog, were males running away because they were not altered and left home to find the bitch in heat and they either got ran over and killed or maimed, or got picked up by animal catchers.  not neutering them is also supposed to contribute to male testicular cancer in dogs.
quote:

Spaying and neutering are not necessary for their health. Indeed, it causes a lot of problems like incontinence in the girls and an increase in some kinds of cancers.



Blame that on irresponsible owners, not that they are intact. My dogs are in the house where they could not go wandering. If you had read the links I gave you'd know the dangers of cancer and other risk factors are greater when neutered or spayed. Not only should cats keep their claws but all animals should keep all body parts unless there is a medical reason for removing them.



(in reply to YourhandMyAss)
Profile   Post #: 91
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