General Chat

I was disgusted to find out that someone actually had this done to their cat. It was In the U.S.A its not allowed In England or In most civilized countries,thank Goodness! the reason their cat was de-clawed was because it was scratching the furniture,I was horrified. Cats scratch, provide a scratch post!! or better still if dont get a cat!! To do this to a cat is just cruel, unless its for medical reasons E.G Infection in the paw,no other reason is acceptable!

Nothing really is suprising what people do to their animals(pets?) over there,Ive even seen them with piecered ears-!!!

Roxanne it is very popular to get that done out here to their cats, also I do think this is because they are house cats you never see a cat were we are. Not sure if it is anything to do with the other wildlife (turkey vultures and eagles as such). I do know that my old next neighbours had 2 cats and I never new this until they moved and I do think that they had their claws removed. When I visited a friend in Australia about 10 years ago one of her neighbours had just arrived from Canada and she had a labrador and a cat and they had both of the animals declawed before they arrived in Oz, not sure how true this is but she said it was common in Canada to do this to both cats and dogs - I asked why and she said to stop the wooden floors being scratched!! I cant say I like cats claws - whenever I have been scratched or used as a comfy spot it has hurt but I could never put a cat or dog through that - the owners wouldnt like it if I took them to the DR's to have their nails pulled out one by one would they??? Debs x

Ultimately you have to blame the vets for performing the procedure. Deb is correct. Most cats in the US are house cats and are never allowed outside. Rose

Debs I was just about to say, I believe it to be very common due to the large majority of cats out there being house cats. Have an english friend in Florida who has a house cat - not declawed I hasten to add - but I understand the risk of diseases etc that they are vunerable to outdoors is very high hence keeping them housebound ............ That's not to say I agree with it - just my understanding of why.

I have to say that I have been here for over 2.5 years and if I have seen 3 cats thats a lot! Everyone seems to own dogs but if they do own cats then your right htey are house cats. We have those horrid reptile things - you know those things with no legs!! No I cant say the word apart from sydneys, anyway the wildlife I believe would be a danger to cats including racoons ect. Rose your right it is the vets who do this but I dont think many people would have cats if they couldnt have the claws removed. Anne my sis in law lives in Florida and we go down there quite often, and I have never seen one down there! Debs x

A french friend was given the option of having to leave her rented home or get rid of her cat incase it scratched the house . She had it declawed as didnt want to get rid off her pet.I had not heard of it being done before and my four need theirs to climb out of reach when our pup decides to play. xx Jill

An interesting point is that a lot of people in the US think it's inhumane to let your cat outside and run he risk of being hit by a car. Thinking about it, it's hard to distinguish what is worse - being run over or having your claws removed. I've seen so many threads on here from people who have lost cats this way. Rose

Rose when you think about it your right that is one reason people dont let their cats out, I am not sure about your area but here we have a really high population of squirrels (I love them!) anyway whatever road you drive on you will find a dead one! I have actually seen a car aim for one and kill it - I wanted to slash the mans tires cruel g**, I have even had my hubby remove one that fell out of a tree onto the road before a car squashed it. There is nothing worse than road kill - especially the deer! I would rather keep my pet in than have that happen. Our neighbours call my daughter the dog whisperer, because when they go away they ask her to dog sit, we now have a few families whose dogs move in when they vacation. Debs x

Yes cats do scratch, but a scratching post doesn't always stop them. My cat likes to scratch wallpaper, he does it continuously to the point that we have only lining paper up and then we paint that. When he scratches a section of it, we have to rub it down and then repaint it. This happens on an almost daily basis. The last lot of decorating lasted 3 HOURS before the cat got to it. My hubby would gladly get rid of the cat because of this, However I would not re-home him. Yes he's a pain in the rear end, but he is very loved in this house. We have scratch posts but he doesn't use them, although my other cat does. Pat

I also think the claw covers for cats are a bad idea....Awful, how would a cat climb or defend its self? www*softpaws*com (change * for dot)

Hi Pat I have 4 cats of varying ages 18 - 10 - and 2 of 3yrs........ I have 2 scratch posts - which they DO use - but my second eldests fav spot is the bottom stair !! She started on it 7 years ago when it was laid ( I was away for 3 weeks) - it's now back to the hessian !!!!

Pat My old neighbour had about 5 cats and I remember they used pull at the carpets, there were threads hanging everywhere, these cats were spoilt, they even got fed better than the womans husband lol. I dont have anything against cats but cant say I really like them, they look very cute and I think its great if people want them I just personally dont and when we rented our house out one thing we did stipulate was we wanted no pets, that went for cats and dogs. I think the reason I am not a cat lover is because of the claws! They give me the heaby jeebies - they hurt when they scratch!! lol.Everyone to their own I say. Debs x

Anne, He's fine with carpet, he wont scratch that. He just loves wallpaper though! If he finds a bit thats coming away, he will flick at it with his paw untill he can get hold of it in his teeth, then he will give it a yank an pull as much off as he can! Debs, I love my cats, wouldn't get rid of them for the world! The wallpaper issue is getting a bit of a nightmare though. We've tried everything suggested to us by the vet, but nothing seems to deter him. Pat

Deb, We have a problem with coyotes here and cats are on their menu. They even dug under the neighbours fence and got their 2 huge geese! I see a lot of posters for missing cats. Unfortunately, it's not hard to guess their fate. Our cat stays in and I trim his claws so they don't get too long. I use sticky tape on the corner of the sofa he likes to scratch. Rose

Pat Thats the same as my kids they drive me to despair sometimes but I wouldnt give them away lol. Its habit for your cats most probably, do you think they like the stone (wall) feeling on their claws as if they are sharpening them? I dont think any human controls a cat - they only do what they want to when they want to dont they? My ex neighbour loved hers to pieces too, I remember the cats getting her hubbys bit of steak and dragging it from the side to the floor, she just picked it up wiped it off and cooked it and served it for his dinner! lol, he never knew for weeks. Debs x

Rose You must be near the mountains then? I havent been that way yet, off to Niagara and Boston on Saturday. We see the huge eagles circling over head and I bet these big birds would as soon have a cat for dinner as they would a squirrel! Those turkey vultures are grosse too.. they just sit on the side of the roads eating road kill yuck! they wont move when you walk by either! We dont get coyotes just possums and racoons ect. As I said I very rarely have seen a cat just dogs. Debs x

Debs, I have no idea why he does it. It drives my partner mad, but he knows i'll put up with it and that he has to aswell! I had to go away last week for a couple of days, Partner forgot to get cat food whilst I was away, so ran out. He came back from work, warmed up his dinner of liver and bacon then gave it to the cats because he'd forgotten. He ended up having toast for dinner! lol. im sure he thought the cat would tell on him! Pat

hi Debs and everyone, Im glad there are more of you that think this isnt a good idea. Both my cats are indoor cats ,yes, they do scratch things other than their scratch post. We have just replaced a sofa that was well and truely destroyed by themlol but thats part of having cats,isent it? If you want perfect furniture dont get a cat, Im probably extreme but my cats have full run of our house,they go where they want to,im not that fussed about material things they can be replaced,my cats cant:-)) I do think this should be banned,ive seen a film about the procedure and the cats are in so much pain after, its just cruel. people should be educated about this.

Pat I think that is really sweet of him, he didnt have to unless he knows the cats can talk and would tell lol. Just shows you these men are big softies really, our neighbours accross the road have a puppy lab that we look after if they both work a Saturday or go away and she lies down for hubby as soon as he walks in the room because she knows he gives her belly a really good ole rub!! lol Debs x