Never Declaw a Cat

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   AllCatsposted 13 years ago

   Most pet clinics won’t tell you.....(read more)
   
   <snipped>

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   Crazdwriterposted 13 years ago

   shouldn't be self promoting your own hubs...no offense

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      Ron Montgomeryposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Wow!  You have quite an extensive wardrobe.

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         Crazdwriterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         lol Ron no someone suggested that i find  Halooween pic where the kitchen isn't behind me so I grabbed this one from 2007

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3. 60

   mistywildposted 13 years ago

   I am wondering why yo ushould never declaw a cat. If you intend to keep your cat inside. I have had 2 cats declawed and it has not bothered them at all, no horrible side effect, no self loathing, they know nothing different and it saved my couches. I do have an inside/outside cat that I have never even though of declawing as he needs his claws for protection from potential predators.

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   Ghost32posted 13 years ago

   I went and read the snipped hub, just to know.  It has a point...but on the other hand, I've had cats for most of my adult life.  That adds up to, um, at least 50 or so if you count every kitten born on our premises. Lots of home-finding going on for those kittens at times!
   
   Most cats we've had long term were declawed, including two of  the three we have now.  The ONLY time we've seen a problem was with our "main dude", Moe Key Man, who suddenly started shredding curtains at age 8 and would not stop no matter what we tried.  After months of this, it came down to declawing or killing the cat.  (Trying not to use the "have him put down" euphemism here.) 
   
   We had his front claws removed, and yes, he DID have a bit of a problem--healed more slowly than we expected, and sort of "pussy footed" around the house for more than a year, having gotten the habit of expecting sore feet.  So there may well be a reason not to declaw an OLDER cat...but if the option is footsie surgery or fatal injection, that's a clear choice to me.
   
   All the rest who've been declawed had the surgery as kittens.  None of them have seemed traumatized by waking up with sore feet, and none have exhibited negative "personality changes". 
   
   I do fully agree that any cat allowed to go OUTSIDE needs to have claws intact.  It's a nasty world out there, and not everyone loves kitties.  Not even other kitties! 
   
   Finally, one update on Moe Key Man:  He's now 10, still the heart of our family in many ways, full of love, and we no longer yell at him for violating the Curtain Truce.

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