considering declawing my cats -- Montgomery County

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Why? Why on Earth would you declaw sweet mellow cat?
And kitten? What that baby did to you?

PP here- we didn’t want our furniture destroyed and had young toddlers. The cat was 100% fine after and had no issues at all from the removal. Again, our vet does laser removal and we were able to pick her up 2 hours after the removal.

As for this kitten, he is awful with his claws. He’s 11 weeks now and claws up furniture (yes we have two cat scratch posts for him) and climbs up everyone’s legs with claws out. We are covered in scars and marks from his nails. We tried the caps and they didn’t work and our vet suggested we do it with this one. He said he performs at least 1 a week.

You know very little about cats, clearly. Felines are notorious for hiding pain: your cat most likely DOES have twinges and arthritis. And so what if your cat didn't develop behavior problems? You seem to think that since the cat isn't doing anything to inconvenience you yourself, there are no problems with the fact that you amputated half of each of his toes. How selfish. Please rehome your kitten to someone who will not cut parts off of him. Cats have claws. Since you can't deal with that, you shouldn't have cats at all.

I'm curious. Why do you think countries have banned declawing if declawing is no big deal? Hmm?

You should be ashamed of yourself. And know that many of your acquaintances judge you just as I do. Gross.

All those countries that banned declawing should have banned cats. They're incredibly invasive, decimating bird and wildlife populations.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/

1. Declawed cats can still catch birds, and 2. banning cats altogether for this reason is a different argument entirely. But your attempt to scramble together something that approaches (but doesn't quite reach) a logical argument indicates that you KNOW declawing is wrong.

I'm the one who thinks it's better than euthanasia. But you don't.

I also know that cats are really awful for the bird population, both feral and owned. That is a separate argument, true, but not one that gets much traction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Why? Why on Earth would you declaw sweet mellow cat?
And kitten? What that baby did to you?

PP here- we didn’t want our furniture destroyed and had young toddlers. The cat was 100% fine after and had no issues at all from the removal. Again, our vet does laser removal and we were able to pick her up 2 hours after the removal.

As for this kitten, he is awful with his claws. He’s 11 weeks now and claws up furniture (yes we have two cat scratch posts for him) and climbs up everyone’s legs with claws out. We are covered in scars and marks from his nails. We tried the caps and they didn’t work and our vet suggested we do it with this one. He said he performs at least 1 a week.

You know very little about cats, clearly. Felines are notorious for hiding pain: your cat most likely DOES have twinges and arthritis. And so what if your cat didn't develop behavior problems? You seem to think that since the cat isn't doing anything to inconvenience you yourself, there are no problems with the fact that you amputated half of each of his toes. How selfish. Please rehome your kitten to someone who will not cut parts off of him. Cats have claws. Since you can't deal with that, you shouldn't have cats at all.

I'm curious. Why do you think countries have banned declawing if declawing is no big deal? Hmm?

You should be ashamed of yourself. And know that many of your acquaintances judge you just as I do. Gross.

All those countries that banned declawing should have banned cats. They're incredibly invasive, decimating bird and wildlife populations.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/

1. Declawed cats can still catch birds, and 2. banning cats altogether for this reason is a different argument entirely. But your attempt to scramble together something that approaches (but doesn't quite reach) a logical argument indicates that you KNOW declawing is wrong.

I'm the one who thinks it's better than euthanasia. But you don't.

I also know that cats are really awful for the bird population, both feral and owned. That is a separate argument, true, but not one that gets much traction.

Yes, I think that euthanasia is preferable to declawing an adult cat, and yes, we've established that you disagree. You are just catching on to this point of contention now, at this point in the thread?

And, yes, the bird argument is a separate one, but one that is applicable to owners of declawed cats as well as unmaimed cats, so not relevant here.

[Anonymous]

I truly thought the practice had been completely banned. Are there seriously vets in the US who do this? Disgusting.

[Anonymous]

OP, why are you bothering them? Any skittish cat I’ve had never wanted to be bothered. Just give them some space. If you want an animal that likes affection and play time then you should get a puppy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Where I live, you would be breaking the law. For good reason.

You are disgusting and should not own pets. Please rehome your kitten rather than maiming him.

Lmao get over yourself. Our last cat lived until she was 16 and had a happy claw less life. You all are literally whack jobs. I’m not going to re home our kitten because we plan on declawing him. Lmao

And all of you claiming no vets will do it are clearly dumb. Our vet said he does laser removal at least once a week. So.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Where I live, you would be breaking the law. For good reason.

You are disgusting and should not own pets. Please rehome your kitten rather than maiming him.

Lmao get over yourself. Our last cat lived until she was 16 and had a happy claw less life. You all are literally whack jobs. I’m not going to re home our kitten because we plan on declawing him. Lmao

And all of you claiming no vets will do it are clearly dumb. Our vet said he does laser removal at least once a week. So.....

1. You have no idea if your last cat "had a happy claw less (sic) life." Cats, by nature, hide their pain.

2. Nobody said that "no vets will do it." Various posters have noted that most vets in the US will not do it, and that the practice is illegal in multiple European countries. The fact that the majority of vets in your area refuse to do this should be your indication that the practice is cruel and abhorrent to most individuals, and the fact that you found one vet who does this thing that most of his colleagues refuse to do should be your signal that this vet is unscrupulous and mercenary.

3. You aren't very bright, are you? I can tell by your writing style: your posts are structured and phrased as if a little kid put them together. I maintain that you don't deserve to own pets, and your selfishness and stupidity have caused great suffering to the animals you've maimed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Where I live, you would be breaking the law. For good reason.

You are disgusting and should not own pets. Please rehome your kitten rather than maiming him.

Lmao get over yourself. Our last cat lived until she was 16 and had a happy claw less life. You all are literally whack jobs. I’m not going to re home our kitten because we plan on declawing him. Lmao

Along with multiple entire countries that have made declawing illegal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear god..some of these replies

We declawed our last cat (she passed away about 3 months ago), when we got her from a rescue at 2 years old. Our vet did the laser treatment and it was 100% fine. She did not “turn” into an aggressive cat or bite like others have said happens. She was the sweetest, mellow cat ever and had no issues with the declawing. We now have a 2.5 month old kitten and will be bringing him in to be laser declawed soon.

Where I live, you would be breaking the law. For good reason.

You are disgusting and should not own pets. Please rehome your kitten rather than maiming him.

Lmao get over yourself. Our last cat lived until she was 16 and had a happy claw less life. You all are literally whack jobs. I’m not going to re home our kitten because we plan on declawing him. Lmao

And all of you claiming no vets will do it are clearly dumb. Our vet said he does laser removal at least once a week. So.....

1. You have no idea if your last cat "had a happy claw less (sic) life." Cats, by nature, hide their pain.

2. Nobody said that "no vets will do it." Various posters have noted that most vets in the US will not do it, and that the practice is illegal in multiple European countries. The fact that the majority of vets in your area refuse to do this should be your indication that the practice is cruel and abhorrent to most individuals, and the fact that you found one vet who does this thing that most of his colleagues refuse to do should be your signal that this vet is unscrupulous and mercenary.

3. You aren't very bright, are you? I can tell by your writing style: your posts are structured and phrased as if a little kid put them together. I maintain that you don't deserve to own pets, and your selfishness and stupidity have caused great suffering to the animals you've maimed.

Um where did I say that no other vets in my area will do it? My vet office has 4 vets that work there and they all do declawing. There is a second location 45 mins from us with other vets who also do it. You are speaking out of your ass. My cats live happy lives...without their claws. Thanks

[Anonymous]

NP. We declawed a cat as a last resort because there was no scratching post or device available that kept her from destroying the furniture or rugs. Laser declaw, great pain meds, and not a single solitary behavioral issue afterwards. She lived a great, non-neurotic life as a spoiled indoor kitty with no litterbox issues, biting, aggression, etc.

SoftPaws didn't work for us at all, and neither did anti-anxiety meds. The double-sided tape meant to deter cats from furniture was a joke, and wasn't feasible for the carpets. She wasn't anxious; she just loved the feel of furniture and carpets more than cat-specific scratching devices.

I agree that declawing is better than euthanasia, and I don't think you're a terrible person for considering it. I would talk to your vet about alternatives such as anti-anxiety meds, but I don't believe the extremist propaganda about declawing.

[Anonymous]

Please please please do NOT declaw your cat. It is absolutely inhumane. I'd be surprised if you could even find a vet willing to do it these days.

We used soft paws with our cats and it worked great. We just had to keep on top of replacing them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rehome first.

Nobody wants an adult cat. Better to declaw and keep them.

Totally depends on where you got them from. We sadly had to re-home our 2 adult cats (7-8 years old) and gave them back to the rescue organization we got them from. They were able to place them with new owners. It was very sad for us, but we're glad they didn't end up in a shelter.

[Anonymous]

I actually had to take some courses in cat behavior, and declawing is way, way, WAY preferable to rehoming or trimming nails, especially for already-skiddish cats. Studies have found it takes cats up to a year to adjust to a new home, so that’s a year of stress, elevated cortisol levels, etc. Taking them in 1-2x a month to get their claws trimmed is also awful and will lead to chronic stress, and will likely make their behavior problems worse. Declawing, however, has been shown to cause no increase in cortisol levels or aggression long-term.

Plus, all that meat you eat? Those animals had it much, much worse than a declawed cat. Doesn’t make sense condemn some animal suffering while endorsing other suffering. Just sayin’.

[Anonymous]

The european cat ladies are out in force on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I actually had to take some courses in cat behavior, and declawing is way, way, WAY preferable to rehoming or trimming nails, especially for already-skiddish cats. Studies have found it takes cats up to a year to adjust to a new home, so that’s a year of stress, elevated cortisol levels, etc. Taking them in 1-2x a month to get their claws trimmed is also awful and will lead to chronic stress, and will likely make their behavior problems worse. Declawing, however, has been shown to cause no increase in cortisol levels or aggression long-term.

Plus, all that meat you eat? Those animals had it much, much worse than a declawed cat. Doesn’t make sense condemn some animal suffering while endorsing other suffering. Just sayin’.

An already skittish cat which has its primary means of defense removed experiences no additional stress? Not sure who taught that class, but that makes no sense. I suppose they told you that surgery doesn't cause pain or stress either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I actually had to take some courses in cat behavior, and declawing is way, way, WAY preferable to rehoming or trimming nails, especially for already-skiddish cats. Studies have found it takes cats up to a year to adjust to a new home, so that’s a year of stress, elevated cortisol levels, etc. Taking them in 1-2x a month to get their claws trimmed is also awful and will lead to chronic stress, and will likely make their behavior problems worse. Declawing, however, has been shown to cause no increase in cortisol levels or aggression long-term.

Plus, all that meat you eat? Those animals had it much, much worse than a declawed cat. Doesn’t make sense condemn some animal suffering while endorsing other suffering. Just sayin’.

An already skittish cat which has its primary means of defense removed experiences no additional stress? Not sure who taught that class, but that makes no sense. I suppose they told you that surgery doesn't cause pain or stress either.

DP. It makes sense to me. Surgery is a one-time stressor, not a chronic or repeated one. And animals and people adapt to changed physical characteristics. It may take time, but it happens.