Thinking of getting a kitten.

[diddyeinstein]

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as well as letting it roam free outside, is far more unethical than declawing it.

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How is it unethical to let a cat roam free outside?

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I like what you did here, taking part of the sentence out of context.

I have two cats, and I'm all for declawing. My finger tips aren't constantly torn to shreds, and they seem to have no problems as one is constantly outside climbing trees and kicking it with the neighborhood cats.

[Sciolist]

I don't see the point in declawing. Train your kitten to not shred your furniture. Buy one of those sticks for it to shred instead. Three points:

1. A cat may end up costing you more than you expect with vets fees etc.

2. I'd ideally get a kitten that had already been house trained - i.e, a few weeks old rather than a few days. It saves you hassle.

3. Having a cat means you effectively are tied to your current country for 10-15 years, unless you like throwing your loved ones away.

[Edge34]

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Serious question for the anti-declawing crowd...

Aside from the fact that any pain from the procedure is very temporary...I assume you would all have your cats spayed or neutered? What's so different about cutting a cat's balls off? I'd much rather have my balls than my claws...well, if I were a cat at least...

(Note - I've never had a cat, but my GF's family has 3, so I'm learning. I'm a dog guy myself.)

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People get themselves "fixed." I can't recall ever hearing of a person having their fingernails removed. Which sounds worse to you?

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I think there's a pretty big difference between a little snip of a guy's vas deferens and the removal of both of a guy's healthy, functional balls. Females don't frequently have their ovaries and uteruses (uteri?). And if I had the choice, as weird as it would be afterwards, I'd honestly have to go without fingernails.

I know that spaying/neutering reduces the chances of some hormonal diseases and other things, but that's like having every guy get castrated so he doesn't run the risk of testicular cancer. Or, if you want to go to overpopulation, why don't we go cut off the balls of every guy in China? See what I'm getting at?

[unfrgvn]

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When should we maim animals? Spaying/neutering has some legitimate rationale behind it. Saving our precious furniture, less so.

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See, there's the rub. When it fits a purpose you deem fit, you call it legitimate. When its something you don't think is as necessary, you call it maiming.

It would seem to me that anybody who would take the moral stance against declawing logically should follow that further and refuse to get their cat fixed. I don't see that happening though. It would seem to me that if it keeps my furniture from getting destroyed and doesn't harm the animal long-term, its really a win-win, isn't it?

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I'm amazed that people still declaw cats or use nail covers when all you need is a scratching post. This is win-win-win!
cat scratch post

[manbearpig]

I just got a kitten. Someone in my office saved it from some vultures or whatever circling around it waiting for it to die. The vet said it is like 7 weeks old. $250 at the vet, plus another $100 for all the stuff you need around the house, and we have a cute but annoying little kitten.

[HotSteven]

Declawing is incredibly inhumane. The thing most people fail to realize, however, is that kittens are not actually human. If your cat scratches me or my couch, I can tell you with absolute confidence that it will wish it had been declawed. The reason we don't declaw people is because people don't scratch me (or my things.) If some person started scratching up my couch, I would fully support them being declawed.

[DBSpecial]

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When should we maim animals? Spaying/neutering has some legitimate rationale behind it. Saving our precious furniture, less so.

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See, there's the rub. When it fits a purpose you deem fit, you call it legitimate. When its something you don't think is as necessary, you call it maiming.

It would seem to me that anybody who would take the moral stance against declawing logically should follow that further and refuse to get their cat fixed. I don't see that happening though. It would seem to me that if it keeps my furniture from getting destroyed and doesn't harm the animal long-term, its really a win-win, isn't it?

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I'm amazed that people still declaw cats or use nail covers when all you need is a scratching post. This is win-win-win!
cat scratch post

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I was itching to post this through the whole thread and you beat me to it. You can make a scratching post with 2 bits of wood and a piece of carpet too. Train a cat to use a scratching post and you don't need to declaw.

[tuq]

Good point.

That said, it sucks that EVERY cat or kitten thread has to devolve into the declawing debate. I mean every friggin thread. My cats are indoor cats and are not declawed, I wouldn't think of doing it, but get tired of the ZOMG HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE CUT OFF YOUR FINGERTIPS crap. It's like the ghost of Elaine Miller roams these forums.

People should post pics of their cats or something so this thread doesn't continue to suck. Here's one of my ex-stray with the half of a tail sleeping from a week or two ago. He actually slept with his leg in the air like that. Strange.

[b_jerkins]

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Serious question for the anti-declawing crowd...

Aside from the fact that any pain from the procedure is very temporary...I assume you would all have your cats spayed or neutered? What's so different about cutting a cat's balls off? I'd much rather have my balls than my claws...well, if I were a cat at least...

(Note - I've never had a cat, but my GF's family has 3, so I'm learning. I'm a dog guy myself.)

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People get themselves "fixed." I can't recall ever hearing of a person having their fingernails removed. Which sounds worse to you?

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seriously this is so beyond out of context and dumb, back to politics forum please.

also, this entire discussion about declawing has been done on OOT before, if anyone wants to dig up a link

[Jack of Arcades]