Declawing

*ABYCAT* Alice · 05-10-2003, 05:41 PM

I live in Sweden and declawing is not allowed here. I was wondering if it's still common that cats are being declawed in other countries (guess it's biggest in America) or is it less common today?

Welcome to visit us at http://www.abycat.com

Alice

**jenluckenbach** · 05-10-2003, 05:59 PM

My opinion is that it is still common. Now none of mine are declawed, but I work as a groomer and a good number of the cat clients are declawed.

**moosmom** · 05-10-2003, 08:02 PM

The United States is the ONLY country that still allows this barbaric, inhumane practice. I certainly hope they take the hint from other countries.

**smokey the elder** · 05-11-2003, 08:30 AM

Interesting that you bring this up now. A lady who had never had cats came to our adoption day yesterday. The conversation was going along very well until she said the evil words "when can they be declawed?"

Basically she got jumped on by all 4 of us volunteers who were there. Well not really "jumped" on but we made it clear that it was up to the individual foster mom whether they'd allow their kittens to be declawed. We had great fun rebutting all of her reasons to declaw.

What

me off is that she *knows* what declawing entails, and STILL wanted to do it!

Oh, well. End of rant. Sorry if I spoiled your MOther's Day.

**moosmom** · 05-11-2003, 10:38 AM

Don't apologize. I'm glad you jumped on her. People seem to put more importance on inanimate object rather than their pets. It's sad. The pets are the ones that suffer. And all for doing something that is natural to cats.

Stick to your guns! Cats CAN be trained to use a scratching post. Mine are living proof.

**Nomilynn** · 05-11-2003, 01:55 PM

Originally posted by moosmom
The United States is the ONLY country that still allows this barbaric, inhumane practice. I certainly hope they take the hint from other countries.

It isn't the ONLY country. It isn't illegal in BC. I don't know about other parts of Canada. I think it should be illegal, though.

**moosmom** · 05-11-2003, 06:31 PM

Naomi,

Oops! I stand corrected. You're right, it SHOULD be illegal everywhere!

**PayItForward** · 05-11-2003, 07:09 PM

Posting from England, I find it strange that this topic is raised so frequently on this forum.

It is good that people are realising/learnt that this behaviour is unecessary and cruel but I am shocked that some states still allow the deformation of healthy cats.

I remain hopeful that this cruel practice is made illegal worldwide, asap.

**wolfsoul** · 05-11-2003, 07:52 PM

It is legal but not so common in Canada.

My friend's cat is declawed because he kept attacking the family dog..

**Amanda** · 05-12-2003, 05:25 PM

Hi all-
I'm surprised that a rescue organization leaves it up to the foster mom/dad as to whether their "charges" can be declawed once adopted. I went through 2 different rescue organizations to get my two gals and both organizations are adamantly against this and make adopters sign a contract that says the new owner agrees not to do it ever and if the new owner does it anyway and the rescue organization finds out, they can take your kitty away...so around here folks are working really hard to eliminate declawing.

I have had kitty cats all my life ...all with claws...some better than others at distinguishing scratching posts from furniture ;-) Since I had just purchased new furniture and carpeting I set out to adopt a cat who needed a home and was already declawed...I would never declaw a cat but figured there were probably declawed kitties in need of a home so I thought this was a good plan....but what was I thinking.....We don't pick them...they pick us!!!!...and the two that picked me came with their claws :-)

As it turned out one of my new gals turned out to be "Edward Scissorhands" in disguise

...which was a little upsetting at first because of the new furniture and carpeting in the house but declawing was NEVER an option...I did learn about a wonderful product through another rescue league called "Soft Paws" that I'd like to share here in case any of you end up with an extremely "scratchy" cat like I did. They are rubber tips applied to the claws that do not inhibit their scratching or interfere with their life. Cleo still scratches (usually the scratching post but not always)...the way she "needs" to (cuz this really is a need for cats i.e. instinctual...and not just "habit"). ALso, since she is so much rougher than the little one, I honestly believe this has prevented some injuries to Izzy (which is good 'cuz she's the little one who is taking longer to adjust and feel safe). In any event, my vet put them on and it took took about 15 minutes for Cleo to forget they were there...she plays and does all her kitty things just like before and she isn't wrecking all the new stuff. They last about 4-6 weeks and then "shed" with the outer sheath just like their nails regularly do and then you put on replacements. Also they come in fancy colors. Right now she's wearing hot pink...which has resulted in the nickname "Princess Cleopatra Glamour PUSS!" One day I'll figure out how you attach pictures to this stuff (I'm a techno idiot

so I can show off her fancy self

**Denyce** · 05-12-2003, 08:45 PM

Welcome Amanda!

There has been some discussion about soft paws on other threads. I have used them in the past on other cats to keep them from clawing themselves raw from stress. I had a tortie named Killer Sue that would scratch her neck in just raw furrows. the soft paws on her back claws kept her from making herself raw. Once she got past the stressful situation I was able to discontinue them. I think they are really good alternative to declawing. There is also a product called Sticky Paws that is like double sided sticky tape that you can put on a spot that they might be scratching at to discourage them. Since cats don't like the feeling of tape it works pretty well. I have used this successfully when they start picking on one particular spot on the sofa.

Hopefully you will figure out how to post some pics of your kitties as we all love to see pictures!

Denyce

**moosmom** · 05-12-2003, 09:02 PM

Amanda,

People who really want pets, will do and SAY ANYTHING in an effort to get them. You can sit there and grill them about declawing till you're blue in the face. They can tell you their totally against it. Once they get the pet home, they can basically do what they want. So it's not a matter of leaving is up to the perspective adopters. The big word in this case is IF the rescue organizations find out about it.

Unfortunately, declawing is a big money maker for vets. It's sad. What vets SHOULD do is show a video of the declawing procedure and educate the public on training their cat where to scratch (cat tree, scrathing post, etc.) But they don't. And too many people put more emphasis on their furniture than their pets well being.

I would LOVE to get a job in a vet's office, but I am way to opinionated on the declawing subject and could never get through a disgusting procedure like that.

**HayleyRosie** · 05-13-2003, 06:09 AM

Originally posted by Nomilynn
It isn't the ONLY country. It isn't illegal in BC. I don't know about other parts of Canada. I think it should be illegal, though.

It's not illegal in Newfoundland either.

Amanda,

Welcome to Pet Talk.