de-claw, or not de-claw

O.K. I suppose I am inviting a fairly "lively" discussion here, but what's your opinion? Is it always 100% WRONG to have your cat de-clawed?

I suppose it depends on how much time & effort you want to put into training your cat not to claw the furniture, curtains, dressers, etc. I had my first cat declawed because she was clawing everything. When I got the 2nd one I had him declawed too to make it fair. Honestly, I have to say that he had more fun playing when he did have his front claws but he adjusted very quickly to not having them and playfights with the other one with his backpaws.

My Siamese is not declawed and I won't bother unless he starts tearing things up. He lets me clip them every week. He'd be so lost anyway, I would want to take away his only defense if he ever got out. But he's totally afraid of the outdoors, and most every animal known to man so I guess it's not an issue. Paula

I use to always get my cats declawed until I actually read about the procedure and it was a lot more painful and invasive than just taking off their claw. So now I don't. My cat lets me clip her claws each week. I have a scratching post and she only scratches on that. She occassionally tries to claw my couch. I have a squirt bottle with water in it and that deters her. My sister has several cats, clawed and declawed. All outside. And all make out quite well. She said her declawed ones hiss and swat and make all the territorial aggressive sounds that the others make when fighting or marking their territory and the other cats don't seem to know that the declawed ones don't have claws. She said the declawed ones do quite well. Someone gave her the declawed ones and they get along fine outside with her other cats.

I've had six cats declawed since 1989. They are ALL inside cats without exception. (It is to dangerous for them to be outside when declawed!). Anyway, I never thought it was cruel. However two of those cats always seem to have very tender paws. So I don't know. At this point someone is holding a kitten for me (four weeks old today). I'm debating on wether to declaw him/her. The main reason is I have a dog that I can't trust with my cats. It would do Hunter some good to be scratched by a cat... might teach her some respect. Anyway, I have no idea what I will do. Kind of think I will eventually declaw again when he/she gets "fixed" at around six months of age.

I am a Vet Tech and have 4 cats myself that are declawed. My cats are strictly indoors and that;s the way they like it. Cats are much healthier if they live strictly indoors. They don't get into fights with stray animals, or runthe risk of being hit by a car. Anyways, I have assissted with many declaw surgeries and prior to the surgery cats are given pain medication and after the surgery they are sent home with pain medication. Although I will say it is much better to have a cat declawed at a young at instead of waiting until later inlive. They tend to heal faster and adapt to life without claws faster. But in the end, it is completely up to the owner as to declaw or not.

Personally, I'll never have a cat declawed again. On my most recent cat I used a combination of Soft Paws and Sticky Paws to train her not to scratch furniture. She does have a scratching post from Cat Fiesta that she can scratch at will. She has never ruined anything or scratched a human.

I have 9 cats, and would never even think of having them declawed. I think its cruel, when all it takes is a little teaching and disciplining not to scratch things! Kudos to the person with the squirt bottle! Thats what I do. I have a couple on hand. A cats claws are their defense. I understand that most people keep them indoors after, but I still think its inhumane. Its painful. How would we like it if someone removed our fingernails? OUCHY!!! Desirae

Desirae, I agree with your post, but if you wanted to be a bit more accurate with your analogy, you would have asked how we would like it if someone removed our fingernails by removing the last third of our fingers!!! That's what declawing REALLY is. Cats have claws and cats can be trained. If you don't want a cat that has claws, then you don't really want a cat. Dogs can bite but no one suggests removing their teeth! Some cats seem to do very well after being declawed and some humans seem to rise above their physical challenges when they become paraplegics. It's a matter of the individual creature's psyche, but I wouldn't inflict it on an animal. One last thing, most other countries have outlawed this barbaric practice! Getting off my soapbox now, ~Jan

My opinion: If you're willing to work with the cat(s) to train them on what's good behavior and what is not acceptable, and starting with them very young to get them to tolerate your nail clipping, de-clawing is not necessary. I don't like the thought of them being put through that pain.