San Francisco looking into banning declawing...

[moosmom]

http://news.aol.com/article/san-fran...-cats%2F659450

[MoonandBean]

I posted this under cat general too

[moosmom]

MoonandBean,

Great minds think alike!!!

[Randi]

Oh, wouldn't that be great!! Hopefully it will happen all over the world!

[MoonandBean]

Moon is an indoor cat however, we do let him hang out on the back patio and in the yard if we are home. He never goes far. A month ago, my neighbor brought her dog over for a playdate with Sunny. I forgot Moon was on the back patio and I told her to meet me and Sunny out back. Her dog saw Moon and the chase was on. Moon headed for the closest tree. It is a miracle that he made it there because how my fat 18 pound cat outran a beagle/lab mix is beyond me but he made it to and up the tree. He has never had to climb a tree in his life but his instincts kicked in. Thank God he had those claws. I meant to cut his nails the day before and was so grateful I didn't. He needed them as sharp as they were to get up that tree. Did I mention he's fat? LOL!! My point is (and I am not failing to recognize that his near death was ALL my fault on many levels) EVERY cat needs it's claws. You never know when they will need them to defend it's life.
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[Grace]

Did anyone noticed this section in the news article -

But Mark Nunez, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association, told the newspaper that his group doesn't want lawmakers making decisions about medical procedures.

"We don't believe medical management procedures should be made by city council members. They should be made by professionals," Nunez said.

Sounds like the general public doesn't want government interference in the lives of themselves and/or their pets.

[kitten645]

Sounds more like Mr Nunez doesn't want the government interfering with his money making practices.
Claudia

[aTailOf2Kitties]

do they still allow ear cropping and tail docking? Frankly I think they need to keep their laws off of our paws, but I do suppose folks can still get it done outside the city if they wanted.

[lizbud]

Sounds more like Mr Nunez doesn't want the government interfering with his money making practices.
Claudia

Bingo. We have a winner.

[Marigold2]

People who have cancer and are being treated by cemo, AIDS patients, and others with auto immune disease would put themselves in danger if they were scratched. For that purpose I feel there should be no law. Vets can make a choice on weather they perform the surgery or not.
I have had all my cats front declawed at least 15 in the past 30 years and not one ever had a problem. My furniture is also in great shape. My carpets however are not, Ki-Ki has an infection again and is peeing in the house.

[Asiel]

Tail docking, ear cropping and declawing has been banned here for years. Not one vet is willing to do it anymore so if anyone still wants it done they have to drive 500 miles away to the nearest city that have vets willing to do it.

[RICHARD]

Great news!

Nancy Pelosi should volunteer to be first?

[lvpets2002]

Richard your such a bad boy.. Hey I wish they would OutLaw it in Every State.. It just un-nerves me to no end for Vet to do declawing.. Then most of the time the people dont keep the cat anyways & they sit in shelters for the rest of their lives.. Grrrr

Nancy Pelosi should volunteer to be first?

[phesina]

The ones that wind up in shelters are relatively lucky. What is the absolute worst is all the ones that are just abandoned, tossed out to fend for themselves.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

i have mixed feelings about declawing. I don't think it should be done without trying other options first, but I'm not gonna say it oughta be banned outright.

My last cat was front-declawed when I got him but I don't think he even knew-he still "clawed" on the couch and bed. We always said he was sharpening his toes. Granted, Montego was a spoiled indoor kitty who didn't need to defend himself from anything but a senile, toothless, oblivious dog. He still caught mice too. He was about 12 or so when he crossed the Bridge due to something toally unrelated.

I was gonna get my 2 current boys done, but honestly they love their scratching posts and boards and never showed any interest in shredding anything else.... or me. I routinely trim their nails just to keep them from snagging the furniture when they jump up on it, and to protect my ankles from under-bed ambush when the fuzz-butts are engaged in their routine spazz-outs. Toby does OK if he's already curled up on your lap and you go slow and easy with it. Havoc gets all hyper and squirmy so it's a 2-person job you gotta do quick, since I don't want him re-injuring his "magic" hip trying to get away.

But some cats just aren't going to tolerate nail trimming or little rubber caps, and some owners just can't wrangle a fidgety fray of frightened feline fury. So then what? Take a nervous cat to the vet for frequent sedation and nail trim or capping? Just put up with having shredded furniture?

If all other avenues have been tried and exhusted, you have 2 options: get rid of your beloved pet, or get it declawed. If you do go for option 2 then do your research on techniques used by different vets. Some use a scalpel, some use a laser. My old vet did the old fashioned scalpel procedure until they finally invested in a surgical laser. Laser declaws bled a lot less since the laser has a cauterizing affect, healed much much quicker. It was a small practice who did maybe one declaw every couple of weeks but very, very few cats came back with any complications. My vet ONLY did the front feet and gave the owners STRICT instructions for post-op care: restrict the kitty's activities and use non-gravelly litter for at least a week. If the cats had any complications it was generally due to one of the above suggestions not being followed. The reply was usually "well she wanted to run around and play so bad I had to let her", or we found evidence of clumping litter clumped to the surgical sites. My vet also refused to do particularly large cats, due to the excessive weight being put on tender toes.

I guess in a nutshell my opinion is.... weigh all of your options first, and if you absolutely feel you absolutely have to get your indoor cat declawed then do your research and do it right. Cats that are outside a lot need to be left alone, unless you can ensure they are safe (not very likely)