Getting a cat

[MicroBob]

again, I think the public perception about this procedure might have been different in 1978.

Our vet then may have told us that the cats would be sore for a couple of days but wouldn't feel any pain after that and would be perfectly as happy and content as any other cat or something to that effect.

[Ignignokt]

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3 cats we had when I was a kid were all declawed and they could all fight back fine.

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Well, you THOUGHT they could, anyway. You probably didn't realize that a declawed cat has the same instincts as a clawed cat - using claws to defend itself - but simply has no effect other than sticking around to get a little more torn up before turning tail and running.

And kids do get scratched by cats. Then they heal. They also learn not to harm or taunt the cats. The kids (and the cats) are better for it.

[lapoker17]

dean - i hope i'm not too late, but don't do this. i could go into the reasons why but then all of the single dude cat owners would get all huffy and i currently do not feel like debating.

[Hoya]

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I'm here thinking about this declawing thing, and I think it's pretty messed up. Why on earth would you ever get a cat if you were going to immediately cripple it? It's like hobbling a slave so they can't run away or something. Cutting off a hand so a guy can't steal.


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Is this really an apt analogy? I've never noticed declawed cats to be "crippled." In fact, without looking I wouldn't be able to tell the difference; they seem to walk/run/jump the same way as cats with claws.

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Aside from the fact that they lost their primary weapons. If they go outside and get attacked by pretty much anything they have to run away instead of ever fight back.

The analogy might not be perfect, but in both cases a cripple was created that is less able than a standard member of the species.

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I agree totally re: outdoor cats, but I guess I just don't get it for indoor cats. Are there really ill effects for the cat after the operation? If they don't notice and can enjoy life just as much, I don't see the big deal.

If there is more to this, let me know.

[soah]

The cat that we had while I was growing up was declawed. I was too young really to remember if he seemed to have any pain afterwards. I do know that he never liked having his paws or feet touched at all... but he also wouldn't let anyone touch his belly for many years, so that might have just been because he was finicky and not because of anything related to the operation.

The two kittens that we got after he died just had their front claws removed. It was done by laser and they appeared to recover fully immediately. They don't mind having their paws rubbed. Had it been my decision, I would have let them keep all their claws, but from my observations I honestly don't think that it was a big deal at all. They will never go outside and they are both very happy.

[AntonHeat]

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food - get a good quality food - better quality equals less poop to clean - I like Science diet, but Eukanuba (Iams) and Purina make some good foods too.

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Doc - As i mentioned in my last post, my sister is a vet too (in Florida).
For years she has sworn by the healthier cat-foods and really despises the cheapo varieties.
I think she saw that whole pet-food contamination fiasco coming for a long time now.

She had done some research on some of this stuff and thinks that Iams is 'okay' but you can do even better (can't recall the brand-names off the top of my head)

Overall she is somewhat appalled at the lack of nutrition and unhealthiness of 9 Lives and other cat foods.
Basically she equates it to feeding your cat nothing but Big Macs or something like that.

Healthier cat food, if you can get your cat to eat it, should also help give your cat more energy and be more playful and they will generally be happier.

A couple of her clients who were concerned about their dog/cat's lack of energy have reported significant improvement after a couple weeks of healthier food.
This could be their own wishful observations playing a role too of course, but it certainly seems reasonable to think that eating healthier can lead to more energy.

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Rats and Mice are a good supplement to my cats diet. It is an excellent hunter. It has a bell on its collar to stop it killing song birds (birds can hear it, vermin cant), the one time it got it off, it caught a bird in about 5 minutes and dragged it in the house. The cries of the bird and the unfolding scene that involved me having to bash it to death still give me the shudders.

In short get a bell on your cats collar if you dont want to bash song birds to death with a saucepan.

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Im sorry, but you just made me laugh sooo hard LOL.

Great story OP [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Soulman]

A Google search took me to this site: http://www.pawproject.com/html/faqs.asp

It's certainly possible the site isn't objective, I'm not going to spend that much time on it...but according to them, these are common problems with declawing:

* Pain. The surgery itself is extremely painful, compared to other common surgeries (like sterilization). Another complicating factor here is that cats tend to hide their pain, so owners/vets might think they're only sleeping and feeling fine, whereas in reality they're in pain. This last part is certainly true - cats who are in severe pain might start purring e.g. (experienced this myself a couple of times).

*Complications. Lameness, abscesses, regrowth. Up to 25% experiene these according to one study.

*Joint stiffness.

*Arthritis (not proven, theory only).

*Litter box problems. "Many experts say that declawed cats have more litter box avoidance problems than clawed cats".

*Biting. Increased chance of biting, since this is their only remaining weapon.

Check out the site yourself for more info and tons of links if you're interested.

[AceLuby]

The procedure cuts off their fingers basically at the knuckle below the nail. Now, say this was done on a human. You have all your fingers, but no last knuckle and no nails. The first few weeks would suck, but eventually you would learn to live with it. You could still have a normal, healthy, happy life. However, is that what you would really want? How does it compare to the life you could of had if you didn't have the surgery?

[tibrida]

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Declawing is incredibly inhumane. Seriously, it takes all of 10 min a week to trim your cats nails. It's really easy and all I did was have the vet show me how to do it. Declawing is for lazy people w/ no thought about anything but themselves IMO. I mean they CHOP OFF THEIR FINGERS!!! Is there any real justification to this?

And no, this is considered even more inhumane for dogs and most (all?) vets won't do it.

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My parents circumcised me when I was born without my consent. WTF. They cut off a piece of my wee wee. HOW INHUMANE. HOW COULD THEY HAVE DONE THIS TO ME? THEY DON'T OWN ME. WTF MATE. All it takes is one minute a day to pull the foreskin back to keep it clean. Circumcision is for lazy people w/ no thought about anything but themselves IMO. I mean they CHOP OFF A PIECE OF THEIR PENIS!!! .....See how dumb I sound?

[AceLuby]

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Declawing is incredibly inhumane. Seriously, it takes all of 10 min a week to trim your cats nails. It's really easy and all I did was have the vet show me how to do it. Declawing is for lazy people w/ no thought about anything but themselves IMO. I mean they CHOP OFF THEIR FINGERS!!! Is there any real justification to this?

And no, this is considered even more inhumane for dogs and most (all?) vets won't do it.

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My parents circumcised me when I was born without my consent. WTF. They cut off a piece of my wee wee. HOW INHUMANE. HOW COULD THEY HAVE DONE THIS TO ME? THEY DON'T OWN ME. WTF MATE. All it takes is one minute a day to pull the foreskin back to keep it clean. Circumcision is for lazy people w/ no thought about anything but themselves IMO. I mean they CHOP OFF A PIECE OF THEIR PENIS!!! .....See how dumb I sound?

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Not even close to the same thing due to it being a religious ceremony for some and the LONG history of the procedure being used to prevent infections and whatnot down there. Plus you're talking about a piece of skin, not bone and nail.