I spent a considerable amount of time today on petfinder looking at senior kitties, and I ranted about this on twitter a couple hours ago, but I am just shocked and appalled how many cats up for rescue have been declawed. It’s mind boggling to me.
I think there should be a firm rule- if you want your cat declawed, first, you have to have every finger on your left hand amputated at the first knuckle and live with it for a couple months before you declaw your cat. If you don’t find it a problem, then you can declaw your god damned cat.
And what makes it all worse about these cats on petfinder is that they were mauled like this, and it still wasn’t good enough and they are living in a cage because they didn’t live up to your expectations or your new girlfriend/boyfriend has allergies or you had to move and just couldn’t find an apartment that would let you have your cat. You fucking assholes.
If you can’t handle claws on your cat, get a fucking stuffed animal, you ghoulish bastards. Tunch shredded three corners of two couches, and I would give anything to have him here shredding another one, you inhumane, insensitive, louts. How are they supposed to defend themselves? Or climb away from danger?
And spare me the bullshit about people needing to have cats in an apartment so this is better than not adopting or having a cat turned out in a shelter. Here’s a choice for you idiots. Which would you rather be? Would you rather be homeless or have your fucking fingers and toes cut off? I know my choice, you degenerate losers.
Do vets not have a hippocratic oath? Who does this to cats and sleeps at night. Or “debarks” a dog by surgically ripping out their voice box? You Mengele like assholes.
Get a fucking fish tank, assholes. These are animals, and just like us they have feelings, emotions, needs, they understand pain and can be vessels to provide unlimited love to good owners, and they don’t need some dickhead adopting them lopping off their god damned fingers to fit your fucking lifestyle.
If you think your couch is more important than your fucking pet, you don’t need a pet. You need a soul transplant and a lot of lithium and self evaluation. Assholes.
Gravenstone
Declawing the front is bad enough. I reserve a special hatred for those declaw the rear paws as well. I mean, why not pull their teeth too so they’re utterly and completely disarmed?
Sandia Blanca
Agree completely with you, John. We love our shredded furniture!
Chris
1) FUCK
2) Yes
Carry on.
Bonnie
Well said, Mr. Cole! Three cheers for you!
schrodinger's cat
@Sandia Blanca: You should see my pine cupboard and pantry. Ginger kitteh uses it a scratching post.
kindness
I’ve gotten both my dogs from the pound. My new kitten I got off Craigslist.
cthulhu
Agree!!!
? Martin
Stage 6: Ranting at the commentariat. Roll on, Cole.
Sayne
Agreed.
Villago Delenda Est
I understand the problem with claws, but, dammit, they are a cat’s only means of defense. An outdoor cat MUST have claws, Period. I know that cats like to scratch things, but they can be, um, persuaded to do their clawing on scratching posts rather than the back of the sofa. They will respond to screams and yells and other negative stimulus.
John is right about this…if you can’t have a cat with claws, get a stuffed animal. End of discussion.
BTW, righteous rant, John.
Villago Delenda Est
@? Martin:
WIN!
Dave
Jesus fucking christ, is this blog going to turn into Emopet central?
sgrAstar
Righteous!
pat
OK, my Susy was declawed when she was neutered. I have never noticed any problems. She still likes to rub her paws on the laundry basket, or the wicker seat of the chairs. Has never had a problem with the litter box. DOES NOT go outside, EVER, where those claws might be necessary.
As a birder, I could get just as obnoxious over folks who let their cats outside.
Larime the Gimp
I’ve known vets that flat-out refuse to do it for the very reasons you list. I know some towns have outlawed the practice. It needs to be illegal.
Larime the Gimp
@Dave: Fuck you in the neck, pal.
Villago Delenda Est
Re: Last thread.
Dogs have owners.
Cats have staff.
John Cole
@Dave: That was overt hostility, not me being emo.
kindness
Also, we’re on the very edge of town and have farm fields on two sides. We have possums, racoons, skunks, rabbits, hares, squirrels, mice, snakes and coyotes.
Any critter out here who is an indoor/outdoor one needs all the defense they can get. Claws are a must.
I threw a comforter over my nice leather furniture so it makes it through the kitten’s initiation without getting thrashed. I have a couple cat trees/scratching posts. I teach my kids what’s OK to maul and what isn’t. It’s called ‘parenting’.
geg6
I feel the same way about dog owners who crop the ears or tails of their sweet pups. It just infuriates me. If you don’t like the look of your dog’s breed and want to mutilate the animal to meet your fashion requirements, you have no business having a dog. You are sick mofo and I, for one, would be happy to slice up your ears to make them point and take a big chunk out of your ass. See how fashionable you are then, you psychotic asshole motherfucker.
Kobekid
this is a kick ass post!
John Cole
@geg6: Look at Tim F’s fucking absolutely beautiful Doberman with uncropped ears. Maybe the best looking Doberman I have ever seen.
Poopyman
@John Cole: Yeah, pretty much. And the great majority of us commenters agree 100%, I’m thinking.
geg6
@John Cole:
Totally agree. Max is gorgeous and would not look nearly as beautiful cropped. Love me some Max.
Eric S.
Everything you said, JC. The GF and I agree to disagree on this one.
+ 5 (bar trivia night)
Mark B.
So my friend had his cat declawed after it scratched the one-year old kid. He put it like the cat had to be either put down, or deweaponised. I told him I would have adopted the cat, although its a high strung purebred Maine Coon. But that option was nev considered. The cat seems ok, but it’s still a bad deal. It’s a purely inside cat, so it will not need the claws to protect herself.
I’ve adopted declawed cats before. They adapt and they’re usually ok. But it’s still an awful practice.
kc
Tunch only shredded your couch? You lucky bastard. My late, lamented Rocky shredded my WALLS.
khead
Rant on Mr. Cole.
Check out the Goathouse Refuge in NC. I saw a kitty on their website today that reminded me of Tunch.
MobiusKlein
On a happy emo-cat note, the stray feral cat that started out afraid of every human within 50 feet last summer has slowly become friendly and let us pet him after 8 months, and is coming into the house now.
Plays with our official cat, as a brudder from anudder mudder.
Emo is good, since emotions are what distinguishes us from robot.
And empathy is what distinguishes us from Republicans.
Keith
My cats have torn a chair up to shit, but so what? It’s a chair; it can be reupholstered. And anyway, there’s a perverse pleasure in having a happy cat knead you stomach while ever-so-slightly getting the claws into your skin…it lets you know who is boss.
Yatsuno
@geg6: Maxpuppeh did get his tail docked unfortunately, but the breeders do it so early on it’s almost impossible to stop. You can (and should) request no docking of the ears.
Only ever had one docked dog, but we got her that way. Never declawed a cat. Never will.
MoeLarryAndJesus
I’ve got an old girl cat who uses my right arm as a pincushion every night. But she does it out of love, so what can I do? She’s just holding on tight in case there’s an earthquake or something.
donnah
We have had all of our cats as indoor cats, and we’ve never declawed any of them. It’s senseless mutilation.
We did squirt them with a water pistol when we caught them shredding furniture, tho. My husband can make the same sound as a squirt gun, too, so they quit damaging my stuff. We bought those carpeted pet stands and corrugated scratching boxes so they finally gave up on destroying my sofa.
zombie rotten mcdonald
We kept a couple of small squirt bottles with water at strategic locations. It’s amazing how effective that is to train cats.
dr. bloor
Preach it, Mr. Cole.
BTW, extra karma points for you for looking around to give a senior a home.
The Dangerman
@? Martin:
Stage 7: Claim Blogging Break That Results In Most Blogging Ever
magurakurin
@Villago Delenda Est:
outdoor cats suck. People should keep their cats inside. Cats kill an enormous amount of song birds for absolutely no reason other than they are bored. For that matter people who let their dogs roam and shit everywhere also suck. Keep your pets in the house or at least your yard. And keep your cat in the house so it doesn’t slaughter birds.
But the declawing just to protect your furniture…yeah, that’s fucked as well.
Comrade Dread
@geg6: Yeah, I wholeheartedly agree. You should not be having anyone carving up your pet for any reason other than to save their life or to spay/neuter them.
It’s disgusting.
Eric S.
My vet told me the story that some of the old vets in her previous practice wouldn’t put male cats under to perform a neuter. She was aghast. I was aghast and irate.
khead
@Keith:
My wife wants a tattoo of kitty paws where our cats have dug into her shoulder when being hugged.
zombie rotten mcdonald
grrr. Really, donnah? You just beat a zombie to the punch, never thinking about my poor zombie feelings?
Diana
aw but it feels good to have the old John back.
Gravenstone
@kc: Different kettle of fish, but I always laugh when I go to my parent’s home and see the gouges my sister’s dog scratched into the 4 X 4s on the front porch. Looks almost like someone turned them on a lathe, about 3′ off the ground.
gbear
John, I was young and stupid once (now I’m old), and I had a cat in an apartment and I was stupid enough to think that having a cat declawed (just the front) was the thing to do. Everyone around me had declawed cats. I had it done at a major veterinary university in my city. When I went to pick up the cat, the student who brought my cat back to me said “It’s great that you let us practice on your cats.” A year after the declawing, one of the claws started growing back out of the top of her paw, and I had to take her to my vet to have it removed.
I have since come to know that declawing a cat is MUTILATION. I have found a vet who would rather cut off the owners fingers than perform a declawing operation. I have brought three more cats into my household since that first cat (two adults, one kitten), and they have all had all of their claws. I have scratching posts all over the house, and I’ve only had trouble with them scratching on one couch which is wearing out anyway. I’m with you all the way on not mutilating your pets. I’m sorry that I didn’t start out smart about it.
cckids
@Dave:
Where the fuck do you think you are? FoxNation? This is who we are. Join or shut up.
Diana
@Dave: yes
Jay C
Ab-so-fuckin-lutely, John: we’ve been cat
ownersslaves since forever, and while we used to declaw our cats, we haven’t done so in over 20 years: when we got our (now-)oldest one, Pyewacket the Pygmy Midget Dwarf* in 2002, we thought she was too little to have to deal with such a major operation, and haven’t even thought about doing it to any of our subsequentbabiesmasters since. Pye loves to scratch away at most of our furniture, but oddly, except for one leather chair, never does much/any damage. And our newer cats have learned to love the cardboard scratching box instead (plenty of applied catnip always helps).*yes, she is quite small.
geg6
@Yatsuno:
I just don’t understand the practice. At all.. If you love Dobies, why wouldn’t you want a whole Dobie and not just a partial, almost-fake Dobie? And I don’t mean you in particular. I’m sure you wouldn’t ever ask for it to be done. But why would a breeder think, automatically, that everyone wants to torture and mutilate their dogs? It’s sick!
donnah
@zombie rotten mcdonald:
heh. A little wetness is better than a ratty sofa, amirite?
eemom
Preach it Brother Cole.
[also too, maybe cool it with the righteous shit for a while…..before I am forced to emigrate to WV and ask your parents to adopt me so we can get married. ; )]
Violet
@John Cole
Oh my gosh. One of my relatives lives next door to a dog that had its voice box removed. It barks and barks and barks, but only this kind of deep “harungh” sound comes out. I had to ask my relative what was up with that dog when I first visited because I had no idea. I just knew it sounded really strange. Then she told me the dog’s voice box had been removed. I couldn’t imagine such a thing. The poor dog.
Elie
My Buddy is de-clawed. Would I do it over again (he is 14 years) probably not. But fuck you… My boy and his brother were in-door kitties who I adored and indulged. You have no right to judge me or others and expect it not to be done, in turn, to YOU — for letting your cat out..
It aint perfect out here. After what just happened to you — well — you should go easy on the judgment gas peddle.
cckids
@kindness:
Sigh. We did this with our new leather furniture the first time we left our new kitties for the day. They’d never scratched or bothered it, but we thought “better safe”. Turns out they found the cover to be JUST AWESOME for one to get under while the other two pounced. and pounced. and pounced. Oy vey, the punctures & claw marks.
Jay C
@khead:
to hide the scars?
Beatrice
Cats have claws. If you cannot deal with the claws you should not have a cat. It’s a package deal.
skjellyfetti
Kinky Friedman ran for Governor of Texas in 2006 and that was one of his cornerstone platforms.
God Bless teh Kinstah!
gbear
@pat:
Ummm, this too. All my cats are indoor cats. I’m a backyard birder, and I hate it when the neighbor’s cats come into my yard to stalk and kill birds.
geg6
@Elie:
Wow. Just…wow.
Richard Fox
How I would love to have Chloe on my lap again, stretching her paws and kneading each of my legs with those claws. She was just settling, and I was just grimacing… But soon all was perfectly balanced, and right. Then the purring interlude would properly commence. Good times, and so long ago. But I remember both the pain and purring blissitude with great affection.
Suzanne
@magurakurin: WORD. Cats do not belong outside. Especially black cats. There are too many evil fucks, and I am referring to people.
eemom
uh oh
TaMara (BHF)
@geg6: I was just going to come give the same comment on ear cropping. WTF!
Being a Great Dane lover it just makes me so angry. My neighbors asked my advice on cropping their Dane puppy’s ears and I just looked at them like they were crazy and then decided it was better to educate then blow their heads off. His ears remains beautifully uncropped.
And declaw a cat, why? I have 4 and guess what, each and every one uses strategically placed scratching posts. It took some training, but with love they figured it out.
And my Danes have eaten an entire couch arm, a half-wall and two porch railings. And do you know what I miss after all that? My Danes…I’d give up more railings, more couches to have one more day with them.
thalarctos
Simple solution to cats clawing upholstery–microfiber. In our experience, it’s basically claw-proof. Our cat has shredded most other furniture in our house, but the new microfiber sofa has remained unmolested, because she can’t get any purchase on the fabric.
Ted & Hellen
+5 ?
geg6
@eemom:
Fer realz. Jeebus.
Elie
@geg6:
which part?
zombie rotten mcdonald
@Violet:
Is…is that a thing?
Holy shit.
I am a zombie, and this appalls even me.
Our dog is very vocal, and sometimes we have to use an anti-bark collar to keep her quite when she’s outside in the morning, or when my wife is on phone conferences, but even though she loves to steal my chair and fart at me, I would never consider anything that horrible.
SG
Years ago, I was looking to adopt a calico cat and someone I met worked for the SPCA and took my number. She said they got every kind of cat and dog and sooner or later, there would be a calico.
When she called, I’d already taken in a stray tuxedo kitten, but she applied the screws by telling me the calico was on death row. So that night I picked up the calico at her apartment. She was adult and had been declawed. She had also been spayed, and the stitches were still in her. She was a sweet, gentle cat but she forever had a sensitivity to having her front paws touched. It was misery for her.
Amazingly, though, she still had the urge to scratch, and would paw the sisal scratching post I bought for the tuxedo cat.
By the way, once I got the sisal cloth post, almost all the furniture scratching stopped. The Felix Katnip Tree Company makes them, and a bunch of other makers too.
It also happened that when my tuxedo boy died, I thought he jumped up on the bed to nestle by my legs as always. I swear I felt him. I saw him, too.
Tomolitics
I take this post (and the last one) as very healthy signs. Not to mention the not taking time off from the blog, as previously stated. Rave on, John Cole.
kc
@Gravenstone:
A friend’s puppy ate the exterior wood siding off her house, up to puppy snout level. She was going to re-side it anyway, but sheesh.
Suzanne
@TaMara (BHF): However, I have known two Dane owners who did not dock their dogs’ tails, but then ended up having to have their tails amputated because they got some nasty sores on them that wouldn’t heal. It’s not always a cosmetic thing.
TaMara (BHF)
And since FYWP won’t let me edit: Righteous Rant JC.
khead
@Jay C:
She just loves our KITTEHS. :) But, yeah, there are a few. I figure the artist can use them as a stencil.
Yatsuno
@geg6: As with all things like this, tradition. Specifically breed standard. The guy who created the Dobie (a tax collector incidentally) wanted the dog to look menacing as they are meant to be guard dogs, so he docked the tail at the first joint and cropped the ears so they stood up. The practice has never faded.
@Suzanne: I think it’s a blood flow issue. Danes are a lot of dog, and they do have big hearts (in more than one sense) but getting blood flow that far is a bit too much. This is not true for the vast majority of breeds however.
TaMara (BHF)
@Suzanne: I’ve never seen a Dane with a cropped tail. I can see it if there is a medical issue.
Violet
@zombie rotten mcdonald: Yeah, I’d never even heard of such a thing until visiting this relative. The neighbor’s dog stays outside during the day (these owners must be awful) and just barks and barks, but no normal bark comes out. I figured something must be wrong with the dog–like throat cancer or something–but then my relative told me what it was. It’s an insane sound. And the dog is relentless. I guess taking out the dog’s voice box did make the barking a bit quieter, but it sure didn’t stop the dog. The sound is not something I have forgotten.
Elie
@Suzanne:
Agree.
cats do not belong outside… but there they are and that is reality.
They are very efficient killers of small animals. In turn, they are small animals for large dogs, coyote and other humans. Over they years, I have had 5-6 cats..The first two we let out — and went through assorted injuries and horrors. Both had shorter lives. Since then, only indoor kitties. Two of them I have been able to walk on a leach… but none of them have been out on their own. They lived to 15, 18 and Buddy is still living at 14.
I’m sure others will disagree
thalarctos
“Cats do not belong outside” Well, that isn’t always true. My cousin-in-law is a farmer, and they have barn cats. These cats have a job–catch, kill and eat as many mice, rats, rabbits and other vermin as possible. If an occasional bird is too slow or stupid to FLY away from a cat–the average intelligence of the bird population goes up, and Darwin wins again.
kc
@Elie:
I may not be evolved enough, but I personally wouldn’t judge anyone harshly for declawing a cat, as long as they are otherwise exceptional pet owners.
tanman
Wow, John, you are almost as passionate about this as Sully is about circumcision! FWIW I agree with you, cats should keep their claws. I think there are treatments where the claws can be capped with plastic tips to minimize the damage they do without mutilating them, but really I think the best way to go is just to train them and give them something they are allowed to scratch.
geg6
@Elie:
Well maybe the part where, because you are defensive about purposely mutilating your cats, you decide to blame Cole for a tragic accident that he had no hand in other than not realizing that Tunch had gotten out and by trying to protect Tunch from an iffy dog.
Larime the Gimp
@Elie: …Yeah, because CHOOSING to amputate a living creature’s fucking fingers is TOTALLY the same as letting your cat out into a back yard he can’t get out of. And then playing the it’s-your-fault card? Wow.
kc
@geg6:
I was looking at Rottweiler pups on the Net recently, and it’s pretty hard to find a breeder that doesn’t dock the tails. Further Googling revealed that some Rottie owners are overtly hostile to people who DON’T dock their Rotties’ tails.
Jackie
John, you got this so right.
kc
@Violet:
Jesus, people DO that? I thought Cole was making that up.
CaseyL
Word! to John, and to everyone weighing in against mutilating doggies’ ears and tails.
My cats – who, BTW, have always had cat trees and cardboard scratchboards and loads of toys – have scratched the hell out of my furniture since forever. I frankly don’t care. So the sofas are a little fuzzy around the corners; I have happy cats.
The only, only time I know of that declawing was a correct option was when a friend of mine had a cat who grew from an adorable kitten into a frankly psychotic adult. Hated and attacked everyone (except my friend), and consistently drew blood. My friend is extremely anti-declaw, would almost rather have cut off her own fingertips, but it was either get the cat declawed or have her put down.
The Tragically Flip
I’m increasingly a fan of giving animals formal legal rights. Cosmetic modifications and other unnecessary surgeries would be violations of those rights.
This business of abandoning them because you want to move or someone has allergies and so on really upsets me. Poor little creatures, welcomed into a family and then ditched when inconvenient. Who could do that?
Lokahi
Many if not most of the declawed cats we receive at Austin Pets Alive have noticeable behavioral issues, from an increased tendency to bite (without claws, it’s their only remaining line of defense), to fearful, anxious, anti-social behavior. So beyond the totally abhorrent cruelty, declawing can cause problems far worse for both cat and humans.
So I appreciate this righteous rant, which I’d love to pass on to those people coming in looking for a cat to declaw…
Linda
The only cat I had that was declawed was one that came from a shelter. He was 6 years old, and an awesome cat–the best I ever had. However, he nipped a lot, and I think it was from the insecurity of not being able to defend himself. He was put up for adoption with his 6 year old sister, (because of allergies, they said), and I don’t know how they could bear to let go of him.
I’m glad you are thinking of adopting an older kitteh. Everybody wants to adopt kittens, but they’re going ot grow up anyway, and old guys need love, too.
Lokahi
Many if not most of the declawed cats we receive at Austin Pets Alive have noticeable behavioral issues, from an increased tendency to bite (without claws, it’s their only remaining line of defense), to fearful, anxious, anti-social behavior. So beyond the totally abhorrent cruelty, declawing can cause problems far worse for both cat and humans.
So I appreciate this righteous rant, which I’d love to pass on to those people coming in looking for a cat to declaw…
janeform
@thalarctos: Also velvet. When I got my couch reupholstered I did it in velvet to make it scratch proof. My kitty kept on shredding an old chair so it worked out great.
MaryJane
As a sucker and servant of four rescue cats, I finally stopped the useless scolding and surrendered one of my armchairs and the recliner. They’re cat posts/beds now and I’ll get new furniture sometime, maybe.
We’ve had a few of those cheap cardboard scratchers and a carpeted cat tower that my brother-in-law made but nothing worked until I found this PetFusion Scratcher Lounge</A> Three of the kitties love it and it really trims their claws well. The third is just a stinker and still uses the edge of the stairs.
It only makes sense — if perfect furniture is important to you, don't have kids or indoor pets.
eta: haven’t figure out the link thingie yet. Obviously. Oh well.
geg6
@Suzanne:
That may be but I have a (now deceased) friend that who bred Danes and another that has two and none of them have had their tails mutilated. And Clara (the breeder friend) probably had dozens of Danes over the years of our friendship.
A health issue is one thing. Doing it because you think it looks cool or is what has been traditionally done is a whole other thing.
Suzanne
@Elie: I never let my cats out primarily because I am scared that some cruel assholes will torture them, or they’ll get hit by cars. Some sick fucks like to torture cats, and one of mine is a black cat. Black cats are tortured more often, from what I hear.
A few years ago, my older daughter, who was a preschooler at the time, accidentally let our cat PJ out. We searched for her, but had no luck finding her. One day about three weeks later, I realized PJ was in our front yard, but was too scared to come near us. We finally coaxed her inside after about four hours. She was never the same cat. She had previously been healthy and outgoing and bold and playful, and after that day, she was skittish and meek, and she couldn’t adjust to change anymore. Two years ago, we came home from work and she was dead on the floor. No obvious injuries, just….dead. I have no idea what happened while she was gone, but it obviously scarred her soul in some deep ways. And she was only seven when she died, and we don’t know what killed her.
Elie
@geg6:
Ok — that came across more heavy handed than I intended. But I think that the chorus here is pretty lop sided. My first cat Max had all his claws and was killed in the back yard just like Tunch. It was a horrible experience and I donot blame John or anyone. Similarly, I do not want to be accused of mutilating my cat by some stranger who does not know me or my intent. I declawed them many years ago and its done. Bill has passed on. Buddy is still here but I can’t glue his distal phalanges back on. Its done.
I don’t appreciate judgment any more than anyone else here. I consider myself an animal lover and certainly enlightened in most things related to animals. We all make mistakes and are less than perfect, though try to be better with time. Allow for THAT, would you?
InternetDragons
It felt great to see this post – partly because when you’re being feisty (and laughing at Tunch memories in the previous post) I can see a bit of the healing kick in.
My father was one of the first veterinarians to begin to flatly refuse to declaw cats. He said, “I'[m not in the torture business”. He had a practice in S. California, and you cannot begin to imagine the angst and drama and hostility this caused among clients who just INSISTED that they HAD TO declaw their cats.
He never budged. Bless his heart. Now it’s becoming pretty much the norm to discourage declawing. If he were alive to see that, I know he’d be delighted.
Your senior cat(s) are out there somewhere, John. You know, it makes me crazy that people will dump an animal after 10, 12, 15 years (I’m not talking about the situations where folks pass away or become too ill to care for their pets). It’d be kinder in a lot of cases to just euthanize them than stick them in the shelter.
Anyway, take your time, you’ll know your cat when you see it. And never stop your righteous rants.
And @Dave, if you are so easily distressed by pet posts, this isn’t the blog for you, and all your rudeness won’t change that. Go find someplace that caters to your apparently narrow tolerance range.
magurakurin
@thalarctos:
you are so fucking wrong.
1.4 billion to 3.7 billion is the estimate of the number of slow and stupid birds that cats kill. A year. In the United States. The number one cause of human caused bird deaths. Outdoor cats suck. It’s great you love your cat. Me, I could give a shit about cats. But the greater cycle of life that supports the planet..pretty important. Keep your fucking cat inside.
cats kill billions
Nylund
I fully agree. With a scratching post and a little bit of training, I’ve never had a problem with cats scratching furniture (and I’ve had 4 in my life).
I also suspect that my cat having claws is the reason my cat and dog are best buddies. Although I never witnessed it, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dog’s deference to my cat is the result of one good cat scratch from one of their first encounters. Nothing makes me happier than when I see the two of them cuddle up together. It’s so cute and I’m so thankful they get along so well.
TaMara (BHF)
Oh, and BTW, if you could all turn on your magic NSA approved viewing screens and watch me type away, you’d see I have a 2-inch long, DEEP scratch from the top of my nose to the tip.
This is from my mom’s 3-legged cat that I accidentally picked up the wrong way, touched his stump, which freaks him out, and he grabbed me with his front paw – in order to not fall. I wasn’t going to drop him, but he didn’t know that.
It’ll heal. My fault not his. Furniture can be replaced, scratches heal. But sure, go ahead, after you remove your finger tips, go ahead and declaw your cat.
Elie
@Larime the Gimp:
fuck you.
You don’t know me or what I am about. Save your judgment for your own behavior. Unless you are perfect, most of us have a few things to work on.
geg6
@Elie:
I can accept that you made a mistake and probably wouldn’t do it again. But the pros I know say that it creates behavioral problems in most cats. And should that cat accidentally get out, as cats are wont to do, it is completely helpless. It’s cruel in so many ways. Some cats may weather it well, but that is the exception, not the rule as I understand it.
Neddie Jingo
I was circumcised so I wouldn’t scratch furniture. Worked a treat, too.
The anti’s got to my parents before my brother was born. No snippies for him.
His living-room sofa looks like a goddamned wood-chipper got to it. He’s got a special scratching-post, but can’t train himself to use it.
Nature will out.
Suzanne
@geg6: that’s awesome. Danes are such magnificent doggies.
I think tail docking evolved for a lot of breeds before modern veterinary care, so dogs that had the thin, long, whip-like tails often had them docked when they were puppies to avoid injury later. Then it became “breed standard”. It sort of makes sense for working and hunting breeds on that context. But today, when dogs are primarily companion animals and we have good vet care, I think it’s not worth it.
eemom
Maybe animal wars are gonna replace firebagger/obot on this blog.
And maybe that’s not a bad thing.
I am against animal mutilation of any kind. And I am also against BREEDING animals, period. Fucking shelters are overflowing with beautiful cast aside creatures…..and much, much worse than that.
Concerned Citizen
Just a cautionary note: Be sure if you get an older cat, that it’s lived with other animals (dogs or human kids) before. I find that the ones used to solidarity with one person really can’t take the adjustment. P.S. Sorry about Tunch. Wicked bummer.
Elie
I have to say I am pretty surprised and a little offended by the judgmental tone some here have about not only de-clawing cats, but other procedures and whether cats should be let outside. Frankly, I would not do this again (de-claw my cat), but who are you to judge? Its great that you have clear ideas about values you want to impose on others — but there is a lot fuzziness around what is right and wrong on some aspects of this — particularly letting cats outside. I am generally a live and let live person, assuming people have good intent or maybe may not have all the recent data. But to assume the worst about those who adopt practices you don’t like — even as your own practices may not be ideal — well — lets just leave it at that.
zombie rotten mcdonald
@Nylund:
Although I never witnessed it, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dog’s deference to my cat is the result of one good cat scratch from one of their first encounters.
Our dog’s kind of stupid. There have been two or three bright pink wounds on her snout from overly enthusiastic sniffing activities.
She seems to be learning, though. The time between snout-claws is increasing.
Elie
@geg6:
do you have any cats?
John O
Never been brave enough to put it that way in front of polite company, but that’s more or less how I feel.
I just bought leather furniture way back when I had a job and though it is all scratched to some people’s horror, I love it because it doesn’t generally tear. (Except for the two holes puppy Dweezil ate in it, which I had repaired.) My arms, back, and shoulders look about the same as my furniture from Nicholai the Siamese, as he likes to jump from in front of the computer to my shoulders.
You learn to hold still, and they land the jump without digging in.
Good to have you back, John.
TaMara (BHF)
@Concerned Citizen: One of our local shelters does the coolest thing with cats. They color code their behaviors (shy, outgoing, lovers, aloof, etc) and then before people adopt, they are color coded, too.
Then they match the people to the pets and have dropped their cat returns down to almost nothing because of it.
geg6
@magurakurin:
It may make me sound like a terrible person but I hate birds. Dirty, disgusting and vermin ridden. I am not a cat but I’d take a cat over a filthy bird any day. Not that I think it’s fine for cars to kill birds, but I can’t get very worked up over it. Some cats are miserable being cooped up inside all day. They have a right to go outside and do what cats do if that’s what’s right for the cat. Now owners who let them run wild are little better than the a users and mutilators, IMHO, and that’s who you should have a problem with, not responsible cat owners or people on farms who need them as barn cats to keep down the vermin.
lahke
Someone above mentioned plastic claw tips (SoftPaws is one brand). You glue them on the claw, so the cat can still make scratchy type motions, but no damage is done. I tried that on my cats and mostly it worked, but for my big girl it was a real problem. Instead of falling off as the claw lengthened it stayed on and ended up embedding in her footpad and causing real pain. I gave up the claw tips and just live with lots of scratching posts.
Elie
@eemom:
well, if you are against breeding animals and also against mutilating them, as in surgical castration, you have an interesting quandary, no? Perhaps birth control pills?
marduk
TLDR the comments but YES John Cole. And also my heartfelt condolences for your loss. As a longtime reader almost never commenter it somehow felt like my loss.
Mike in NC
Declawing a cat is unconscionable.
Neddie Jingo
@eemom: Yeah, I hate that too. Little fuckers using up all our oxygen, panting and barking and licking their balls. Did you know that on a hot day, a dog emits more carbon dioxide than a Peterbilt truck? Methane, too, but that’s a different rant.
Oh! Breeding. With a D.
Forget I mentioned it.
thalarctos
@thalarctos: ah, there is another thalarctos here :)
And yet, Yutsy now has to be Yatsy, because FYWP.
dance around in your bones
I remember a New Yorker cartoon about a cat that had been de-clawed, de-tailed, de-legged and was basically just a lump of cat, and the owners crowing about how easy it was to care for or something? I can’t find it now, but to me it said everything about the mentality of a person who would de-claw their cat.
eta: Here’s the link:
http://www.condenaststore.com/-sp/I-had-him-declawed-de-toothed-de-whiskered-de-legged-and-de-tailed-New-Yorker-Cartoon-Prints_i8544067_.htm
geg6
@Elie:
No, I do not. I’m not a cat person. I have dogs. Non-mutilated ones. But my sister has a rescue cat that is psychotic. It was declawed before being abandoned. Poor crazy cat.
MikeJ
Can we just train the cats to only eat starlings? Everybody wins that way. Nobody is going to mind if the starlings get killed off and the kitties have some fun too. It’s win-win.
TaMara (BHF)
@Elie: Actually, I think after what you said about John and Tunch up-thread, everyone is being pretty polite to you. That was beyond awful.
Elie
@geg6:
Wow — interesting.
So birds get the short end of your “right to life” shtick — they are so filthy? Hmmmm…
So cats should be free to kill birds as a reflex — (which they do — even if not hungry) — cause they should be free and birds are filthy virmin anyway.
Ok nature girl — got it!
InternetDragons
@Elle –
It’s a blog. People debate. If you personalize this stuff too much, you won’t enjoy blog life much.
And I do get to be judgmental about things that I assess as being cruel to animals. The “who are you to judge” argument doesn’t hold much water because it’s just an attempt to shut down the debate entirely and assume that anything anyone does to their pets is just peachy.
And that ain’t the case.
It doesn’t mean that I think you were a horrible person 14 years ago. But I do think you were misinformed, and I don’t think that’s a terrible thing to say.
Outside cats is a tough one, and I think most reasonable people would agree that the classic “barn cat” is sort of in a category of its own. But maybe folks DO disagree with me on that. That’s fine. It won’t hurt my feelings =P But in today’s environment it’s reasonable to assert that pet kitties do in fact belong inside.
I realize there’s a debate to be had there, but there’s also nothing wrong with being judgmental about it. I’m not interested in being neutral about animal welfare. I can appreciate that you don’t want to – and shouldn’t be – trashed for decisions you made long ago. But you also don’t have to take it SO personally and get so defensive over it. It’s not all pointed directly at you.
kc
@magurakurin:
Don’t believe everything you hear on NPR.
zombie rotten mcdonald
Our first cats were declawed. As Elle said, we were young, and didn’t know any better. But they were perfectly sweet, and didn’t show any of the problematic behavior that others have said cropped up. They were never outside cats, though.
Our next cat was a rescue, and had already been declawed. He refused to stay inside, though, and it seemed he had little problem defending himself; he also racked up a relatively impressive kill count of little creatures that I had to clean up. Cats will be cats; but eventually his wandering ways were his downfall; he left one night and never came back. Car? Dog? no way to know.
Our current cats are not declawed, like I said, we’ve learned better and did a better job of bringing a little training. Ample scratching, and they seem to really like the cheapo throw rug in the foyer; What the hell, it gets replaced every couple of years anyway, and from what I can tell, whatever miracle fiber it is made of doesn’t seem to be susceptible to kitteh claws.
But yeah, why all the judgmentalism, folks? No room for people to make mistakes or have a different working arrangement with their pets, I mean owners?
Elie
@TaMara (BHF):
I apologized and acknowledged my heavy handedness. It was not my intent. Would you like more?
geg6
@Elie:
Um, chill. I never said anything like what you’re insinuating. Learn to fucking read. I’ve been holding my temper after what you said to Cole and would have no problem ending that bit of self-control on my part.
magurakurin
@geg6:
seriously?
Bob In Portland
Cole, this is a song I wrote twenty years ago about having to put down my cat Epiphany.
I worked as a letter carrier then. I’d come home tired and sweaty and she’d hop up on the bed and rub her head into my sweaty armpit. Or if I was on my stomach she’d climb up on my back and curl up.
Hide the razor blades before you listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeVSwtAlS90
The Other Bob
I don’t agree that cats always belong indoors. When outside, they are the most happy. They hunt because it is their nature. Circle of life and all that stuff.
Elie
@geg6:
since I have now apologized to you twice with this and TaMara once — I consider myself having apologized about what I said about John. You wanna fight some more about that, not sure what that gives you.
Many of you are way too judgmental about this topic and while I read I may be defensive, I also do not think that there is any balance in most of your point of view. I consider myself a decent and fair person — not perfect by any means, but open to acknowledging when I am wrong. How about you?
TaMara (BHF)
@Elie: You can’t un-ring a bell. And then you continue to harangue everyone here who does not agree with you and put forth ridiculous arguments to belittle them.
So, sorry if I didn’t think your apology was sincere.
Eric U.
we had a cat that dumped us — twice. It was always for one of our neighbors. I think we had too many cats and he preferred to be alone
Persia
@kc: I have a beautiful wooden bannister in my house.
Well, it was beautiful. Now it’s. Well. More of an abstract art piece.
I’d still never declaw a cat though. Like Cole, it makes me irrationally angry.
Kobekid
Pesticides and habitat destruction (in other words humans) kill the majority of songbirds in the US, by far.
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=326
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=894
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=1012
Elie
@TaMara (BHF): @TaMara (BHF):
Not sure I understand what you are saying? You are right, I cannot — literally its impossible to unsay what I said. So now what?
As for haranguing people — not sure what you mean there either. If I apologize and address my imperfection, what else is there? If I say I am being judged, is that wrong? Since you jumped me first, and I apologized for what offended you at the time, what issue are you still having besides just holding a grudge? No — I do not agree with how some of you hold yourselves up to be some standard that you then impose on others. That is not a harangue. Its just a statement.
geg6
@Elie:
Done. With. You.
@magurakurin:
Yes. Don’t like birds, don’t like the bugs crawling all over them, don’t like to watch or listen to them. They repulse me. Doesn’t mean I think they should all die. Just as I don’t think all cats should be forced indoors because you don’t like them.
And can I just say, I have no idea how I am here defending cats. I don’t much like most of them either. Tunch being the obvious exception, of course.
RJ in West-of-Fuckall Tejas
@Elie: I have indoor cats. I’m judging you. You did bad. Never do it again, OK?
Kobekid
“Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and modification caused by human-led activities (i.e., industrial and residential development, logging, crop farming, livestock grazing, mining, road and dam building, and pesticide use) have taken an extreme toll on threatened and endangered wildlife populations at an alarming rate. With breeding grounds devastated and access to food and other resources diminishing, it’s no wonder that we’ve seen such a decline in species diversity.
Yet we still see—in the press, in non-peer-reviewed publications, and in public policy—people blaming wildlife decline on cats. Sidestepping the issue of human destruction to focus on trivial but sensational issues, such as the so-called ‘cat versus bird’ debate, only diverts attention away from the enormous and far more dangerous impact of humans.”
http://www.alleycat.org/Page.aspx?pid=325&srcid=324
Elie
@geg6:
Ditto
I think your response speaks for itself. We all have different opinions and values. Imagine that.
mai naem
Surprised threads got so many replies and nobody mentions those claw covers that they make. I remember reading about them in the paper. They’re similar to fake nails. Not sure if they glue them on or slip them on but they last about 3 mos. and they’re shaped in such a way that they cat can’t do any damage with the claws but they have to be replaced with the growth of the claws.
Suzanne
@geg6: I don’t think anyone is saying cats should be kept indoors because we don’t like them. It’s because they can upset ecological balance and are at risk of injury from other animals and humans. It is because I love my cats that I keep them safe inside, and whether or not I “like” birds, they have a right to exist, as well, and are an important part of our ecology.
Suzanne
@mai naem: I tried the claw covers on Scout. She chewed them all off in 48 hours. Not the best product.
kc
@Kobekid:
Thanks for posting that. I managed to screw up my link to Vox Felina, another good resource.
dance around in your bones
One of the most successful scratching ‘posts’ we ever had was a long piece of driftwood we picked up on the beach. The cats gravitated to it like it was full of catnip – maybe it was the dead fish/seaweed smell that clung to it, I don’t know. But they would claw away at it like maybe a fish would pop out or something.
Oh, the other thing I was going to say in regards to cats and their claws? Watch out if one is sitting on your lap while you are wearing only shorts – if they get startled and jump off? you will be hurting. Happened to me a bazillion times. But I’d never take off their claws – I just grimaced and bore it, haha!
PurpleGirl
@Yatsuno: Dobermann tails: I’ve been told that they have very long, very fluffy tails and if they grow naturally, they would sweep the ground and get bruised and bloody; further, they would have trouble healing.
Persia
@Suzanne: That’s what I do. I don’t have a safe place for cats to go out – way too much traffic – and so they have a pen so they can run around and chew grass and menace bugs. Works pretty well for them and me.
Karen in GA (who really needs a better name)
When we bought our house, I was all proud of myself for buying real grownup living room furniture. It was comfy, It looked great, and my cat Phoebe put a very conspicuous slash in the loveseat the first day we had it. FFFFfffffuuuuuuu–
After some time had passed, and I had tried everything to stop her, and nothing worked, and my non-cat-person husband’s frustration had peaked, I sat there with the phone in one hand and the vet’s card in the other.
And I said fuck it. I’m not maiming an animal to save an object.
Hubby understood when I explained it that way, and he got used to the damage.
Anyway, that’s why God made Ikea. Ektorp sofa and loveseat, cute, $50 to replace the slipcovers as needed. Not as comfy, but a lot more comfortable than trying to live with myself if I’d had bits hacked off my cats. And the cats are a lot more comfy too.
Fuck that declawing shit.
Kobekid
no worries kc and thanks for the Vox Felina reference just visited it for the first time. Outstanding!
MathInPA
Surgical declawing is amputation. To be blunt, behavioral difficulties are not a good reason for amputation. There are some; they involve actual deformation or other damage that endanger the cat. I’ve been real lucky; all six of the cats I’ve loved were intact (bar spayed/neutered). Honestly, I’d rather not call it “surgical declawing.” I’d rather call it amputation of the fingertips or something like that. Make the damn point that it is not some eensy little convenience procedure.
AMVA on the practice:
There are some cases where continued ability to use claws can make a cat a danger to itself or others. A cat with inner ear or muscular problems, or something similar, that continues to insist on climbing comes to mind. So does a cat that self-harms. Our Marc– who virtually tried to declaw himself– is wearing an e-collar now for just that reason. But long before we’d consider even the non-surgical alternatives, we have our stopgap, the e-collar, until I have an income again and we can take the poor boy to the vet, and with the vet, if we can convince her that, no, really, it’s not a food allergy, we did check, will have something for him. I’ll go for kitty prozac before I see him amputated.
What are the alternatives? Well, FCFS is behavior modification and preemptive maintenance. Cats are intensely intelligent, social creatures. If you have just one and leave it alone with no toys, well, you’ve got a critter with claws, certain instincts, and who is now immensely bored. Adopting cats two at a time significantly reduces the problems with clawing, as does behavior modification, such as using a squirt bottle or other harmless but startling thing to get them to stop, and giving them lots of attention when they’re not clawing. If you hit or scream at your cats to get them to stop sharpening on things… (a) fuck you, (b) you’re teaching them to be violent, (c) fuck you, and (d) it won’t work, you’re making them MORE nervous and unhappy, plus in conclusion, fuck you.
Another big one is to have toys, sharpening posts, and cat-trees available, and yes, combos are awesome:
Behold, our cats’ feline throne. I have a lot of digital pictures of our sweeties lounging in that thing. A really effective way to get cats to use Approved Scratching Surfaces is to sprinkle catnip on them. There are also catnip sprays which have a variety of uses other than getting the cats to toke out; we sprayed our new dogs with the stuff to help the cats to stop treating them as evil replacements for their lost Remus. Unfortunately, all of these things cost money. I think that one of the biggest mistakes that can be made is the idea that if you’re poor, you don’t deserve a pet. No, to put it another way– I think that building codes, lease obligations, and other ways of denying companionship to poor people is another one of the myriad ways that our society punishes people for being poor. :/
I note that a lot of these solutions will also help with aggressive cats, too, plus the minimum bar of SPAY OR NEUTER. If that fails, there are temporary synthetic caps, and if you’re very gentle and dexterous, you can do trimming and other grooming. Of course, temporary synthetic caps are also another expense. :/
magurakurin
@geg6:
It’s just the nature of a blog discussion. We really aren’t very far apart in our opinion. cheers.
eemom
@Elie:
Jesus, get a fucking grip.
PurpleGirl
@Nylund: My friends’ cat, Rowdy, was being chased by the first of the retired racing greyhounds. Rowdy got to the top of three steps to the bedroom level and turned around and went SWOOP with one of his front paws. It grazed the dog’s nose. She was shocked, surprised, a little scared. Forever after the cat and the greyhounds lived together, tolerating each other. (We think Sardy told each other greyhound, in turn, about the cat and claws.) Anyway, every so often Rowdy would sit on the top step and just look at the dogs (and with a little grin on his face). They’d stay, standing in the hallway, wanting to get upstairs to the bedrooms.
Dead Ernest
@Neddie Jingo:
Damn you Neddie Jingo.
I read that post and, like a cat chirping out its attack plan and awigglin’ its hindquarters before attacking some modern-day feathered dinosaur, I read through the comments to make sure I was gonna be uniquely clever with a play on circumsized kitties.
…post after post no one else bit.
I was just about to leap, then there was you.
Grrr.
Hate to curse a kindred spirit, but I hope they don’t let you outside for a week. That all the poultry you get comes out of a can.
Steeplejack
@Dave:
Jesus Christ, dude, it’s been two days. Why not give yourself a timeout for a week if it’s too much for you to bear?
moderateindy
Except Cole what if the choice is having your toes cut off or being killed? because let’s face it that’s what actually happens to cats that are turned in to a lot of shelters. Had a friend whose cat was rather nasty and would scratch her children constantly. She finally decided to have it’s front paws declawed, rather than putting it in a shelter.
I had a girlfriend whose cat used to come up and bug you for pets and would let you know that she was done wanting attention by nipping you or taking a swipe. This I am told is a fairly common characteristic in cats. So,I personally am not a cat person because I rather not have a companion that would regularly injure me intentionally, that’s what girlfriends are for.
The Other Chuck
moderateindy beat me to it: vets will do declawings because the alternative is often that the cat will be put down. It’s the least horrible alternative the vets can choose.
What often happens with declawed cats is that their paws become very sensitive, they hate dealing with the roughness of most litter, and go outside the box on something more pleasant to rub their paws on, like carpet. So they end up abandoned anyway. So yeah, those owners are pretty much assholes.
Bubba Dave
My first cat, Onyx, was declawed before I adopted her. She was a sweet cat, not a lot of alpha to her, so when I adopted a kitten named Rajah who was pushy as all get out I ended up removing her front claws to give ‘Nyx a fighting chance. In retrospect, that was absolutely the wrong decision, and if I could undo it I would.
After Onyx died, when I adopted again, I figured Rajah was tough enough to handle an uppity little kitten no matter how many claws she had, and that was my best chance to break the cycle. Murphle (short for Murphy’s Law, because she’s a black cat adopted on Friday the 13th and Lucky seemed too obvious a name) is fully claw-equipped and so will all future BubbaCats be.
My point is, furniture figured into that decision not at all; it was all about what I thought was best for the resident pets, and while I made the wrong decision I believe I was more idiot than asshhole there.
(Oh, and all my cats are indoor cats– really the only option for apartment living, IMO.)
The Other Chuck
@Kobekid: You think domestic cats aren’t part and parcel of habitat encroachment?
JessicaWVU
Personally, I save a ton of $$$ buying discontinued furniture off the showroom floor after I point out a scratch in it to the sales manager. I figure B is going to go flying across it and some point and add some more character to it anyway.
Gustopher
Agreed, it is cruel.
But, if someone wants a cat, and cannot have one with claws (or thinks they cannot, or whatever), they should go straight to Petfinder and find themselves a nice, sweet old cat that someone else has already mutilated the paws of.
Lots of older cats out there that need homes, many already declawed. Until we convince everyone that declawing is terrible, there will be a supply of pre-declawed cats, so you can get your declawed cat ethically.
Of course, I also encourage people new to cats to adopt a leukemia positive cat, and keep it indoors — it’s a lot less commitment than a kitten that will live for 20 years.
Some people think I’m a sociopath.
nancydarling
I’m late to this thread and haven’t read the comments. I hope all you “holier than thous” don’t eat feed lot beef (it’s just great to spend the last several weeks of your life standing knee deep in shit with no shade and eating feed that bloats you up). Or eggs from caged hens. Or chickens raised in football field size sheds where the lights are kept on 24/7. Or CAFO raised pork.
If you don’t do any of those things, then I’m willing to read your rants about people who have their cats de-clawed.
Spaghetti Lee
I’ve had three cats, all declawed, all strictly indoor. They never had any major behavioral problems (one of the two still with us is basically as friendly as a dog), were all housebroken, and generally the fat-and-happiest little bastards you’ve ever seen. Maybe it depends on the cat?
Mnemosyne
The only time I was seriously bitten by a cat (trip to the ER, quadruple antibiotic, scar still visible 15 years later), it was a declawed cat. It was my brother’s cat, who I knew very well and had taken care of many times before, but he was a biter because his claws had been removed.
All three of my cats have their claws. We take them to the groomer’s once a month to have their nails trimmed. When we got new furniture, we doused the claw-available surfaces with Feliway spray and have had very few problems. We have multiple scratching posts and boards in every room. You really can train them to only scratch where you want them to — I promise!
eemom
@nancydarling:
Not that anyone is listening at this point, but this is kind of what I was trying to get at above.
The abuse of animals by humans is so infinite and endless, and is perpetrated and manifests itself in so many ways. In a community of people, like this one, who mostly do love animals and mean well, what you are invariably going to get in any discussion of the subject is an endless series of individual fixations.
goblue72
@nancydarling: I’m glad somebody said it. I mean shyte – self-righteous judgment for dinner anyone? We declawed our cat and she’s perfectly content. She’s a 100% indoor cat – no birds or other critters need fear getting killed in our backyard. We tried everything – multiple types of scratching posts and endless training. Didn’t work. We tried those plastic caps you glue on their nails. She just chewed them off in a week. We tried trimming her nails down regularly – she just used the furniture to sharpen them. $3,000+ of ruined furniture later (and damage to the apartment), we had her declawed. Some people might be fine with furniture that looks like it was run through a wood chipper. I’m not one of those people. So please spare me your finely tuned sense of injustice. I spent all day, every day of my workweek literally building housing for the homeless and working poor. What did you do today?
I’m not going to sit there and over-anthropomorphize an animal while shoving a feedlot fed beef hamburger into my maw (while finishing it off with buffalo wings and BBQ spareribs). As far as I am concerned, if you eat meat that is anything but the most humanely raised, 100% organic, completely pasture raised livestock, then you participate in the mass torture of animals raised in conditions that can only be described as nearly sociopathic. So I find it a little hypocritical to adopt a holier than thou attitude about declawing a cat – esp. considering that Wilbur the Pig was quite possibly more intelligent than Mr. Kitty, at least before Wilbur got turned into BBQ.
Mnemosyne
@eemom:
Here’s something else, though — we have finally reached a tipping point of people deciding that it’s not okay to declaw your cat. That point was probably only reached about 5 or 6 years ago (if that) so it’s not at all surprising that the senior cats that Cole is looking at are mostly declawed, because in a lot of places, that was just what you did 8 or 10 years ago when you had an indoor cat. I think it was partially a remnant of the old idea that you can’t train a cat, but once people realized that, yes, you can train a cat to do things you want them to do, it dawned on them that one of the things you could train them to do was claw their scratching posts instead of the furniture.
My family had declawed cats when I was a kid, but I never did it to any of my own cats when I was an adult because it never seemed right and, frankly, our declawed cats developed other behavioral problems.
The outdoor or indoor cat is IMO a separate question. My cats are all indoor only and have all of their claws.
Pinacacci
Re: docking tails, just wanna say that if having an undocked tail were such an issue for a dog evolution would have taken care of the problem.
Mnemosyne
@goblue72:
Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but of the five cats I’ve owned as an adult, none of them had to be declawed. I was able to train all of them not to scratch the furniture.
Gemina13
My SO snarled because Lucky would rip the boxspring with his claws to wake us up (usually at 3 am) so we could watch him eat, scratch his head, you name it. Did he insist that I get Lucky declawed? No. He took the cardboard boxes you get 12-packs of soda in, tore them apart at the seams, and inserted them between the mattress and boxspring so that they hung down to protect the boxspring’s sides.
With the exception of one (who died at 2 years old from being hit by a car), all of my cats have been indoor cats. And for that reason, I’ve left their claws intact. Of course finding out what it does to them cemented my desire to keep their claws where they belong. And right now, I too would give everything to have Lucky clawing at the boxspring once more. It was only last week that I took the cardboard shields off the bed, and he’s been gone for a month now.
Gemina13
@nancydarling:
Local, grass-fed beef, eggs from a backyard chicken farmer, pork damn seldom unless I can get to where it’s raised and see for myself. Anything else you want to know?
Gemina13
@mai naem:
Just be careful on how much glue you use with Softclaws, or any of the other varieties out there. Too much, and you end up having to snip the nails and plastic sheaths as the nails grow, because the cats can’t chew them off. I made that mistake with Lucky, and ended up buying a Furminator nail grinder after I finally got the sheaths off his claws. I’m so glad he had a forgiving nature. Any other cat of mine would have smacked the hell out of me.
Gemina13
@The Other Bob:
I agree with you on that score. But I kept my cats indoors because for most of the last two decades, I lived in neighborhoods with sizable coyote populations. One of my best friends in college lost her cat to coyotes. Ever see how much of a mess a shredded cat corpse makes? I have. Hence, indoor cats for me.
Goblue72
@Mnemosyne: well bully for you bucko
InternetDragons
It’s intellectually dishonest to try and spin away from the basic issues around declawing cats by trying to claim that unless you’re a vegetarian you can’t have any opinion about it.
Change – like the growing understanding of how unnecessary and wrong it can be to declaw – occurs in incremental steps, and is typically moved forward by mere, less-than-perfect mortals. If you are trying to claim that advocates for change have to be perfect in every way, then you’re trying to stifle the debate and/or don’t want to have to look in the mirror.
Trying to shut the whole discussion down by inserting feedlot practices into the discussion is just silly. My own father (the veterinarian I mentioned earlier who was one of the first to refuse to do declaw surgeries) declawed our cats when I was very young. The difference is that he simply acknowledged he’d made a terrible mistake because he hadn’t thought things through at the time.
He didn’t go all angsty and create elaborately defensive arguments about it. He just owned up to the fact he’d been badly informed, was wrong, and took steps to ensure that the mistake wasn’t amplified. What a concept.
Goblue72
@InternetDragons: no one is claiming you can’t have an opinion mr straw man tilter. Just that its the height of hypocrisy to assume a morally superior position to declawing an animal while at the same time eating animals. You don’t get to conveniently shove aside the hypocrisy just because it weakens your position.
Is it cruel to declaw? Sure, maybe. Is it cruel to eat animals, esp conventionally farmed ones? Yes.
I own my cruelty. Do you?
InternetDragons
@GoBlue72 –
You didn’t say that folks here couldn’t have an opinion. You just made it clear you’d dismiss it ;)
I suppose it’s easy to scream that it’s hypocritical to be against declawing and still eat meat. I don’t see it that way. I think it’s one more illustration of how damned hard it is to arrange our lives in a way that honors all of the things that are important to us. Which is why it’s important to acknowledge the successes when they happen (yay for greater understanding of the realities of declawing) and still be willing to look in the mirror and own up that more is to be done (don’t know much about how that beef gets on your table? Maybe it’s time to learn a little more about it).
I do happen to be vegetarian, in part because I’ve had more direct experience with slaughterhouses than most folks. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have more work to do on how I live my life. And that remaining work doesn’t mean that my opinions are of less value. It just means I’m human.
I’m sure that writing “I own my cruelty. Do you?” felt really cool and all, and it’d be stupid-easy to snap back at you in the same spirit, but I don’t want to. I see most of us here on this blog trying pretty hard to do the right thing with our respective lives. Yeah, I do hope the people who had pot roast for dinner this weekend might be willing to take a look at the realities of the meat industry. But that doesn’t mean their opinions about declawing, or any other aspect of animal welfare, are any less valid.
And I’m not a “Mr”. Peace and g’night!
eemom
Point 1 to Internet Dragons.
0 to self-righteous asshole, and undoubtedly Mr., 72.
JMO…..like I said, a deeply fraught subject.
Batocchio
I’m with you on this one. After we moved and our cat got attacked by a dog (and survived), we kept her and all subsequent cats indoors, but never declawed any of them. It did lead to a shredded couch, but oh well.
coffeego
I recently had to euthanize my poor beautiful and wonderful Maine Coon mix, Chopin, who at the ripe old age of 19 was not responding to the drugs meant to treat his lymphoma. He was skin and bones and had stopped eating and drinking. I still cry at the thought, and it was with Tunch and him in mind that I donated to the animal rescue supported by this site.
My roommate and I adopted him when he was 12. He was really depressed and needed a new life after his owner moved away. When he was a very young cat he was declawed on all four paws. It made him very aggressive and bitey. He had a furious temper. The first night he was here I had to lift him with oven mitts on because his snarling and biting were so terrifying. It took months if not years of love and patience to calm him down to the gentle giant I love and miss so much. But he would never allow his paws to be touched. It was more than your hand was worth to try.
I don’t judge his former owners for having him declawed — leastwise I don’t think they were bad people — but it was a traumatizing thing for him that marked him forever. He was by necessity an indoor cat (but I would never have let him out anyway — too many cats get run over, even in my quiet neighbourhood) but even so I wish he had been intact. I think he would have been an even happier boy if so. My other cat was a rescue who came to us with claws, and for all that he has ruined my wooden dining room chairs and shredded my box spring, he is my treasure and friend.
P.S. (passive-aggressive script): I am a vegetarian who only buys products like eggs that aren’t born of cruel industrial farming practices, if that’s the necessary standard for weighing in now.
Lurker
I currently live in Belgium and here, it is illegal to declaw a cat. That’s at least one good thing to say about the Belgians.
My girl and boy claw everything in sight and regularly confuse me with a scratching post. That’s cats for you!
goblue72
@InternetDragons: here’s the thing – i don’t anthropomorphize my cat – or the meat on my table. the pig is an amazingly tasty and versatile – and tasty – animal – whether in bacon form, ham form or roasted loin form. superior even in yumminess to the cow – even in steak form. the pig is also likely as intelligent as my cat. i think its silly to raise one’s cat (or dog) to some higher pedestal, merely because its furry and cute. they are animals. they serve their purpose – whether as food or companion or both.
i certainly didn’t feel “cool” about what i wrote. i didn’t write it feel “cool”. I just think the stench of smug (and squishy headed thinking) on this topic is rather fierce and drenched in hypocrisy. but thanks for confirming my ongoing belief that your average vegetarian is filled to the brim with smug.
Lurker
@Elie:
So, John is responsible for Tunch’s death because the critter slipped into the backyard?
Wow! That is really a low blow!
WereBear
I got an email from a man with a 13 year old cat. Declawed, the proper arrangement of the feet and tendons had deteriorated until the cat’s feet were useless bags of meat and they were walking on the ends of their forearm bones and he had terrible traumatic arthritis, even in his hips, because cats anchor themselves for good stretching with the front feet, and he had not been able to do it properly for thirteen years.
He loved this cat and now it has to be put to sleep and he said, “I wish I’d never done it.”
It’s not just that the cat is defenseless outdoors. It’s that the cats has the tips of their toes amputated.
And, guess what? They walk on their toes.
WereBear
And for all the folks saying “My cat is declawed and they are fine” I have to point out YOU DON’T KNOW THAT.
Cats are so good at hiding their pain that you don’t know if they have ones. Plus, the gradual damage doesn’t show up for years.
I’ve had way too many bitey cat in rescue and each and every one of them was declawed. People who say, “That’s just how cats are,” are also wrong.
If your cat is not as affectionate as they would be as a whole-pawed cat… how would you know?
Lee
Meh. We do major abdominal surgery on female cats (spaying) and no one blinks an eye. But somehow declaring an indoor cat is more inhuman?
My wife is a veterinarian. The procedure for declawing has advanced a lot in the 20 years she has practiced. Currently it is much less invasive (no incisions are required) and significantly less risky than spaying. If your vet is still using a scalpel to declaw, they are doing it seriously wrong.
So stay on your high horse about declawing just hope that no one realizes the hypocrisy when you support spaying.
Persia
@WereBear: One of my cats has Esinophilic granuloma. The vet says it’s one of the worst cases she’s ever treated. When it starts flaring up the only way we generally can tell is that her grooming goes to hell (it ends up on her lips and tongue). She’s not crankier. Sometimes she’s a little more tired. The vet says it must be incredibly painful.
And fuck all of you if you think it’s ‘hypocritical’ to have different standards for an animal under your own roof, or the morons who are trying to compare spaying with declawing, one of the greatest false equivalencies I’ve seen on this blog. And I’ve been here for years.
Nora
Two years ago, when I got my two cats from our nearest shelter, I had to sign an agreement that I would NOT get them declawed. Not that I would have done that anyway, but I was glad to see that our (no-kill) shelter was trying to change people’s views on the practice.
Lee
yeah people tend to get really testy when you point out their hypocrisy.
John Carter
A number of years ago some “birder” commented in “Birds and Bloom” about how terrible it was that cats were allowed outside and, OMG!, ate birds. She basically blamed cats for all the nasties that happen to her beloved birds.
Then in the same comment, she described a “beautiful pair of hawks that frequent her back yard and occasionally(my emphasis) “harvest” a “few” birds finishing with “if it means sacrificing a few birds for such a beautiful pair, then it’s worth it.”
I don’t know if it was just hypocrisy or abject stupidity on her part. but such is the “birder crowd.” It’s ok if my animal does it but not yours – almost Republican in nature, no?
I guess them there purdy hawks (and owls and eagles and other flying predators never eat any birds – or must just eat the “bad ones”, eh hosers? But them outside cats, well…damn them!
Jado
Our cat was mutilated by the vet we sent him to in order to get neutered. My wife gets a call from the vet’s and its the receptionist saying “yeah, we have your cat, was it just neutering or did you want him declawed as well?”
“What? Uh, no, just neutering.”
“Oh. Well, we are halfway done with declawing. Do you want us to continue?”
Much yelling and gnashing of teeth. And we never went to that vet again, told everyone we knew, and they soon went out of business.
So we ended up with a declawed cat (thankfully, only fronts). And they did such a poor job that he would occasionally get infections in his paws from the remaining necrotic tissue.
Lurker
@Dave:
John is in pain and deserves all the comfort and support we can give him.
If that means turning this thread into “Emopet Central” as you so indelicately put it, so be it!
Oh! And fuck you for being so disgustingly insensitive!
thalarctos
@thalarctos: is this blog big enough for two thalarcti?
InternetDragons
@goblue72 –
Dang, you almost managed a civil post but had to throw an insult in at the end.
But it looks to me like you’re assuming that anyone who is a vegetarian or who objects to declawing anthropomorphizes animals into little furry cute humans.
That isn’t the case, any more than it could be said that anyone who opts to eat meat is a mindless brute who doesn’t care about the environment. Both assumptions are extreme and wrong-headed.
Animals are companions. They are (frankly) farm tools. They are research models. They are a source of food. I don’t object to people eating meat, and I understand and accept the need for appropriate animal models in some areas of research.
My choice of vegetarianism is extremely personal and based on events I don’t care to discuss here, but which have nothing to do with the experience of most folks.
However, if we are going to acknowledge the importance of our animals as tools or research models or as food, I simply believe it’s also important to treat them as humanely as possible. I’m not naive enough to believe that the need for slaughterhouses will ever go away, or to believe that every egg-producing hen will be given an idyllic little scratching yard of her own. But I do believe (and try to work toward) a world where food animals are treated much, much better than they currently are.
My RL work is focused on improving health care for humans, but my volunteer time goes to the critters because I believe improvements are in fact possible – though we have a long way to go yet.
And if you want to call me smugly hypocritical for that stance, feel free. I think you’re just looking now for reasons to insult folks rather than genuinely discuss difficult topics.
Lurker
@Lee:
What hypocrisy about spaying?
It is absolutely irresponsible to not spay/neuter your cat. There is an over-population of feral cats, all of them living miserable lives of fear, hunger, and diseases.
Are you saying that we should contribute to these animals’ misery by letting our cats reproduce at will and comdem litter after litter to horrible lives? You are a sick person.
frazamatazzle
Jeebus people, tone it down.
This thread reminds me of your standard Corrente “Obama-is-Satan” thread in it’s over the top absolutism, except this time its directed at what are probably the majority of indoor cat owners. Cole is welcome to say what he wants on his blog and that’s cool, but I am amazed at how suddenly the consensus here is that getting your cat declawed for whatever reason means you are Dr. Mengele. It is this kind of caricature of a position that is red meat for conservatives and just gives them a showcase, right or wrong, for how vitriolic the left is.
Pogonip
I think if you want beautiful furniture, you’re better off without pets. Or kids. Both groups are innocently destructive, spill things, get diarrhea, throw up anywhere at anytime.
I would like to say a word about dog mutilation. It will stop when, and only when, people refuse to buy a cropped or docked dog. My mom once bred poodles. Nowadays I am happy to see the occasional poodle with a normal tail, but in the ’60’s you couldn’t sell them if they weren’t docked. You take them to be docked when they are 2 days old, while the tail bones are still soft, because if you waited longer you’d be subjecting them to even more pain. Don’t know about standards, but 2-day-old miniature poodle puppies are too small for anesthetic. You bring home a boxful of puppies screaming in pain to a frantic mother, and you have to swatch their weights closely for several days and force-feed if they are in too much pain to eat. Please don’t help perpetuate this. If you deal with the kind of breeder who reserves puppies before they are born, tell her you want yours intact; if you go shopping for an older pup, try to find a breeder who doesn’t dock and get your puppy from her, and, very important, let the AKC know why they’re not getting a registration from you. They’ll change all those docking, cropping breed standards if it’s in their financial interest to do so.
Pogonip
That’s “watch their weights.”. Fvcking auto correct ought to be illegal.
The Other Chuck
@John Carter: The hawk is not a domestic animal numbering in the hundreds of millions. It doesn’t get its meals from a can.
skrelnek
@MathInPA: I trim my two cats’ front claws with a standard fingernail clipper. They’re 100% indoors, to the point of being terrified of the world beyond my apartment. It works very well, and while they don’t particularly like that I do it, they don’t resist. Of course, I’ve had them since they were 8 weeks old, so they got used to having their front paws handled very early. I’m guessing it’d be a lot harder to try this with an older cat.
skrelnek
I trim my two cats’ front claws with a standard fingernail clipper. They’re 100% indoors, to the point of being terrified of the world beyond my apartment; I wouldn’t leave them defenseless if they ever ventured outside. Trimming works very well (as long as you’re careful to avoid the little vein), and while the cats don’t particularly like that I do it, they don’t resist. Of course, I’ve had them since they were 8 weeks old, so they got used to having their front paws handled very early. I’m sure it’d be a lot harder to try this for the first time with an older cat.
Vlad
When I was a kid, my parents had two of our indoor cats declawed on the front. They know better now, though, and feel very bad about it in retrospect. When they brought the second one home and he had those bloody bandages wrapped around his tiny feet, my mom cried and cried and said never again.
C’est la vie, I guess. My little buddy still has all of his claws, and while he drives me crazy by tearing things up around the house, it’s a small price to pay for his company.
StringOnAStick
Our current kitty is a rescue who has her claws and was trained to not scratch the furniture; I replace the carpet on her scratching post every 2 months because she’s hell on that, but everything else she leaves alone. Now that I know it can be done, I will train properly in the future rather than just giving up without trying (and I have never thought declawing was OK, ever). I will adopt senior kitties until the day I die.
All my prior cats were furniture clawers, and my mother couldn’t wait until my first cat passed so she could get everything recovered. Late in life she’s become a cat fanatic, so now the shredding is no big deal. Apparently it was just a matter of bonding depth.
I became sensitized to the treatment of cattle, chickens and pigs this past year, so grass-fed beef, pastured chicken & eggs is now the only option allowed at our home. Lasater beef in eastern Colorado is top notch, and if you live in the surrounding states shipping is free. Pastured eggs are now easy to get here around Denver, but I am officially off pork until I can find a decent, humane operation and so far, no luck. I tried vegetarianism for years, and felt awful, and my one experiment with veganism was a carbohydrate-fueled disaster, and what made me get tested for wheat allergy (yep, I’ve got it).
I struggle with the argument from a vegan friend about why some animals are pets and some are food, though I must admit I find the “honey is wrong because it exploits the bees” vegan argument to be just plain silly. Truly there are bigger issues than this with regard to what is humane or not. We all have to find our way on this stuff, and we’ve decided that for us the extra cost of supporting humane ranchers is worth it and we’re lucky enough to be able to afford it. I try not to judge where people stand on this or preach about it, but I am willing to answer questions when asked, and that seems like the proper middle ground.
Dennis_H
My SO and I were looking for apartments in the Boston area that would take her (now our) cat. We told every realtor multiple times that we needed a cat-friendly apartment, and every realtor told us that would limit our options.
After many long days of searching, we thought we’d finally found a good apartment and filled out the paperwork. When we got back to my place, the realtor texted and said the landlord had cat issues and was the cat declawed, and if not, would we consider declawing it. It took a great deal of effort on my part not to offer to break all of the realtor’s fingers for him, but I did tell him there was no way we were taking the apartment.
We eventually found a place that would take Missy-cat as well as the two of us, and she’s quite happy with her scratching post, her sun ledge, and her claws intact.
John Carter
@The Other Chuck:
Gee, guess that makes it ok, huh?
Last time I checked, birds were not domestic animals either. And I do believe there are just a tad more of them than dogs or cats.
Wild cats don’t get their meals from a can either but that doesn’t count, right?
I’m really sad the woman will miss some hawk food while bitching about cats eating some of the 25 trillion birds on the planet.
Oh, and those hawks don’t just eat birds. But I guess you know that, too…and don’t care.
Lee
@Lurker:
You do realize we are talking about house cats here, right? Not feral cats and not ‘barn cats’. We spay our house cats because we don’t like them going into heat. Spaying is an abdominal surgery that is quite painful and is significantly more dangerous than declawing.
Modern declawing is nothing like it was in the past.
Pet owners make decisions from life (breeding) to death (euthanasia) and all sorts of little decisions between. Declawing and spaying are just 2 of them along the way.
I’m not sure how you treat your house pets, but mine don’t have those problems.
Jeffery Campbell
We have gotten all our cats (6 and counting) from kill shelters so as to rescue them from certain death. One of them was already declawed when we got her and the other were not. I had the other 5 declawed. I do not love my “things” more than my pets, but I do not want my things destroyed. All of my cats have lived or are currently living out their days indoors in comfort and I hope happiness. Do they miss clawing things with their front claws (the back ones still exist)? Perhaps. Do they love live more? Perhaps.
Does it make me cruel to think that this is the price they pay for a peaceful, contented, continuing, existense? So be it.
I’m really very sorry for the loss of your beloved cat. I know you are heartbroken.
Paul in KY
Completely agree with post. Feel so sad for cats maimed in this manner.
Paul in KY
@pat: I;m sure there are problems, you’ve just never noticed them.
Paul in KY
@Elie: Elie, you may judge away.
Paul in KY
@geg6: Cats don’t seem to kill enough starlings. The birds that get whacked are the sparrows & finches & whatnot.
Wouldn’t mind if every starling was eradicated from the Western Hemisphere.
Paul in KY
@PurpleGirl: fluffy they are not. Same length hair as the rest of them. I think the person who told you that was pulling your leg.
Paul in KY
@goblue72: Pigs are more intelligent than cats.