Declawing: against or for?

[PayItForward]

Originally posted by tvt
TO ALL CLAWED CAT OWNERS WHO RESPONDED TO ME:
maybe the next time i should just leave the cats out in the rain with all their matted balls of hair and worms and empty bellies, or let the people keep kicking the cat in the ribs and who knows what else, since i seem to be so disrespectful for letting the cats share my nice clean home, minus their claws and not allowed to jump on counters. Is that being cruel too, not letting them jump on my countertops????

Loved inside cats with claws and owning nice furniture are NOT mutually exclusive. Rescue all the cats you want but don't rip off their claws for the privilege of having a home. It is possible to provide a good home for your rescue cats without resulting to surgery.

There is no advantage to your cat in being declawed....not one. I know, as I have an open challenge on my forum inviting pro-declawers to defend their decision to Declaw and all responses to date have been selfish owners based reasons NEVER a benefit for the cat. But the challenge remains open just in case.

Sadly it comes down to one basic fact. There are only two sorts of people who Declaw their cats.

One set who have little or no knowledge of the possible side effects and have been told by family, friends or their vet that declawing is a great idea. For these group I feel pity as they will never enjoy their cats stretching, playing and climbing properly.

The second set are lazy cat owners who know the facts and risks of Declawing but do it anyway as training their cat for five minutes a day is too much hassle, so they go for the easy option for themselves...sod the poor cat.

If you are in the first group, please post when you adopt your next cat as there is always a next cat, why not post for help in training your cat and avoid the cost and possible behavioural problems linked to Declawing. After all it only takes five minutes a day to post train a cat, no hassle at all. We can help you.

If you are in the second group, all I can do is hope from the bottom of my heart, that none of your cats start a declawing related behavioural problems of biting or weeing outside the litter tray.

After all...if scratching is a crime enough to result in permanent removal of claws and foot tissue, what would the punishment be for urine stained floorboards or a nasty bite ?