General Chat

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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!