Felines - to de or not to de?

[pv=nrt]

a declawed pussy is much safer to get wet.

[Salubrious]

Re: Felines - to de or not to de?

Originally posted by Material Girl
I want to know your views on declawing a household cat.

Everybody at the office assures me that it is perfectly fine to declaw a pet in the name of saving your furniture. Some of those people even let their cats outdoors after they've been declawed.
I'm in a dilemma because my cat will be spayed soon, and I need to decide whether to include the declawing in the same surgery so that she wouldn't have to go under anesthetic twice.

What say ye???

How expensive is your furniture?

[Sleepy Weasel]

Oh just declaw the cat. None of my cats have ever complained to me about it.

[ConcreteSchlyrd]

You insensitive, brutish prick.

[ZeUs!!]

Originally posted by Mayo Inc.
Don't declaw a cat, it's like taking away it's essence

And chopping off its todger isn't?

[Gencore]

hmmm why declaw the poor kitty? There is aalways an alternative. How about u buy urself plastic furniture or something like that so that the cat can't damage it or just close ur eyes whenever u walk around at home?

[ÆNIMA]

I really wish you people would stop elevating the cat over dogs' tails who get cut off. Or over all the millions of other animals we kill for food and sport.

THINK UD DA CHILDREN!!

[Material Girl]

The other option is to start a project to build a major cat scratching station with the cute boy next door who happens to be a carpenter. ($$$) I've already thought of two possible designs. One, would be a corner unit about 6 feet tall, multi leveled, and only like, 2 ft/square wide, so it wouldn't take up much space. Covered in industrial carpet, of course. The only problem with that is how to incorporate wooden beams in it (she prefers wood over carpet for some reason) It would be possible to have a smallish wooden beam going up the middle that she would have to climb to reach the top level. But Idanno. The other would be a campy log cabin idea... wood split in half for the roof, and just a simple carpet-lined box with little steps leading up into the arch doorway. But that wouldn't be as appealing to her in some ways. Plus, it would take up a lot of room. Also, it wouldn't offer her the climbing experience that the taller one would. Hmm, maybe we could make them both. Idanno. Anyway. I'm doubting I will have her declawed. Not only to save money, but also because if they don't do that in the UK, then it must be bad. And I think it will be traumatizing enough for her to wake up spayed, let alone without her claws. Anyway, more input is always welcome.

[stark]

the thing is, i think cats scratch where ever they damn well please, and even if you offer an alternative, that doesn't mean they won't scratch your furniture

[Material Girl]

I know... her first vet told me to get a high-pressure water sprayer (aka super-soaker) and to shoot her in the butt when she is doing something she's not supposed to do. But I just can't be home all the time to train her. Oh well. She'll never learn.

[ÆNIMA]

cats always pick their favorite spots, but i'll see mine clawin on a carpet every now and then

MG, do you have enough room for all that? for one kitten that seems pretty high and mighty. if you can get the dude next door to do it for free though, by all means

[Material Girl]

Haha, I'd do it with him.... and him and his roommate are planning to make one for their own kitty soon, so all I'd have to do would be buy the materials and it'll be like a group project. And yes, I have more than enough room.

[stark]

just cut his goddamn claws off

[Bioture]

I have a declawed cat at my house - mainly because he was clawing up my mother's italian leather couches that probably costs more than my college tuition.

The cat is generally unaffected, but don't let him out again if theyres other cats in the neighborhood - theyre defenseless without their claws

[Ephemeral]

My wife and I have owned a pet shop for 15 years, so I have an opinion.

Declaw the cat, if other alternatives aren’t working.

You should never declaw an outdoor cat, but then you shouldn't allow the cat to roam outside. It is irresponsible to let your cat roam outside unattended, regardless of whether it is 'fixed' or not.
Please don’t post back about how cats are “meant” to roam, if folks really feel that way then the logic follows that they shouldn't be in captivity. Allowing pets to run outside unattended is stupid, anyway you look at it.

1. Cats are predators, in the USA there is something like an average of 23 cats per square mile, which is many times the normal rate of predators in any situation. As such, native birds are substantially impacted.
2. Additionally, the chances of finding your pet on the side of the road are great.
3. Plus, you are responsible in most cases for the damage your pet does…so if your pet runs in front of a car with a family of four in it, and the car veers off the road trying to avoid the pet, you can be held legally responsible in many cases.
4. You can also be held responsible for other damage your pet does. I can send you pictures of my just bought, brand new Black 1996 Integra with a neighbors cat sitting on the hood, with 3 foot scratches across the hood where it tried to climb up. They paid me for that one and were none too happy about it.

I should note that there is another solution that I haven’t seen mentioned. There is a product that your vet can apply that ‘coats’ the claw, it is melted on the claw and is semi-permanent. It will last for almost a year, until the claw grows enough to push the coating off.