San Francisco May Ban Declawing Cats

Sosie said:
All my former cats are clawed. I have the cat scratching posts for my cats. They loved the posts; even they scratched them all the time, and they slept on the posts. I still have the posts here in my living room and one of my bedrooms when I will get a kitten or two in the near future.
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Purretty Please, TWO! :D

Just think of them to keep company to each other while you go somewhere else for a few hours.
 
I've had the experience living with a cat whom was declawed and one with claws. If I were to choose, I'd leave the claws on even though I am sometimes on the receiving end of the swipe. What's more important to me is that the cat is able to defend itself from other strays or predators. The declawed one has little to no chance of surviving since it can only bite and use size to only fend off other small animals. What's amazing to me is that the declawed cat tended to bite a lot in place of clawing and the one I'm with now (with claws) almost never claws at people. He has a hardy nature compared to the other cat. But my parents don't like the fact that he has claws since he likes walking on their shoulders often...
 
Buffalo said:
What do you think of it? I never own a cat so I was surprised to learn that declawing does change the cat for worse. It does make sense.
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I hope this trend spreads! :mrgreen:

Declawing cats is like amputating a human's fingers because of the way the claws are attached to their paws. Not only that but it makes them more aggressive since one of their defense mechanisms is taken away.
 
MoonDrifter said:
I've had the experience living with a cat whom was declawed and one with claws. If I were to choose, I'd leave the claws on even though I am sometimes on the receiving end of the swipe. What's more important to me is that the cat is able to defend itself from other strays or predators. The declawed one has little to no chance of surviving since it can only bite and use size to only fend off other small animals. What's amazing to me is that the declawed cat tended to bite a lot in place of clawing and the one I'm with now (with claws) almost never claws at people. He has a hardy nature compared to the other cat. But my parents don't like the fact that he has claws since he likes walking on their shoulders often...
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Those are generalisms that don't apply to all declawed cats.

My cats were house cats, so they didn't have to defend themselves from predators.

My cats never turned into biters.
 
Reba said:
Didn't happen to any of my cats.
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Do you realize the physiological implication of declawing cats, though? It's like cutting off the ends of your fingers. Too cruel a thing to do just for protecting furniture, in my opinion.
 
if you ever decided to replace carpets so the cat won't damage the carpet when the cat is repeatly scratching at the same spot to try get in a bedroom....which is why my friend's mom is ordering her to get them declawed cuz of carpet. She doesn't want them declawed but her mom wants them declawed....geez. In my opinion, it's her cats...not her mom's. I would love to take care of her cats rather than having them getting declawed.
 
There are alternates to declawing, like SoftPaws (little caps you put over the nails so nothing will get scratched up) or you can clip the nails every couple of weeks. Get a good cat tree and teach the cat the difference between "good scratching" and "bad scratching". Cats NEED to scratch, to shed their nails, and it just feels good for them.

It's just stupid to have a cat and then buy leather furniture, or to consider getting a cat and NOT think about what might happen to the leather furniture.


My girls get their nails clipped every now and then, but I mainly leave them alone. I only clip when it actually HURTS for me to have them sitting on my back or shoulders. Willow doesn't care for shoulder-perching, but her nails have a tendency to curl over, so if I don't watch it, they'll grow long enough that I have difficulties getting the nail clipper at the right angle to clip the nail. Her dewclaws will try to grow into the foot if you ignore it too long. She has torn her nails off a few times, when she'd get a nail hooked somewhere. That's not fun, trust me. I still wouldn't declaw her because her feet are already sensitive, I hate to think how much worse they'd be if they were missing the tips of her toes.
 
Yup, I'm against declawing, too!

I have two cats, both with claws but trimmed whenever needed. Trained them not to stretch the furniture and such things... have few things they can stretch on. That's what those idiot people should have done... training and show them where they are allowed to and what-nots. Simple!

One of my old friends told me that he learnt a lesson after declawing his indoor-outdoor cat, and one day his cat was chased by a dog trying to climb the tree but was caught and killed. He then realized how important the claws are for the cats. He has gotten another cat then and won't declaw it ever.

It's just why there are cats 101 and dogs 101 or such TV shows to instruct the idiot people making easy money.
 
My daughter's two cats are NOT declawed and they have plenty of scratching posts and trays. They have no personality. They are not friendly. One is mean and one is practically catatonic. Neither one will cuddle.

My declawed cats were very intelligent, playful, and lovable. Any time someone sat down they would jump into the lap and snuggle.

I don't think claws are the main factor in cat behavior.
 
If a declawed cat got outside, and another cat wanted to fight, he would have no claws to protect himself. They use claws to capture small insects, etc. also. I do think cats sense if another cat is "different"....dunno if they play upon that.

The issue of "debarking" dogs comes to mind also. Some people find it cruel, but in the most extreme cases (such as a dog that will bark at anything that moves), it's the only recourse if they want to keep the dog as a pet. It happened to me, and my Vet was extremly reluctant to debark my dog. So the Vet only "partially" debarked my dog....her bark was very low sounding and not normal.....

IMO, cat and dog owners, if they are truly responsible, and chose to declaw their cat, or debark their dog, if the reasons are valid, and they plan to keep the pet a lifetime, then it's up to them......But things do happen, and they have to part with the pet due to unforeseen circumstances. And if they cannot find them a home, some of the animals are just "put outside" to fend for themselves.
 
Reba said:
My daughter's two cats are NOT declawed and they have plenty of scratching posts and trays. They have no personality. They are not friendly. One is mean and one is practically catatonic. Neither one will cuddle.

My declawed cats were very intelligent, playful, and lovable. Any time someone sat down they would jump into the lap and snuggle.

I don't think claws are the main factor in cat behavior.
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Reba, your cats and your daughter's cats are only a few cats. But the general trend is that cats become more aggressive because they are left with one less defense and can suffer from phantom limb pain since declawing involves removing the entire phalanx.

Declawing Cats and Humane Alternatives - Long Term Effects

DECLAWING: What You Need to Know

FAQs on Cat Declawing, Declaw Surgery and Feline Scratching Behavior
 
Reba said:
My daughter's two cats are NOT declawed and they have plenty of scratching posts and trays. They have no personality. They are not friendly. One is mean and one is practically catatonic. Neither one will cuddle.

My declawed cats were very intelligent, playful, and lovable. Any time someone sat down they would jump into the lap and snuggle.

I don't think claws are the main factor in cat behavior.
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Of course, declaw is okay if you want keep cats in house at all time, however if you want to decide about put cats away so need handover to animal shelter instead of left outside on road and become sprayed, it's sad because many people don't handover cats with declawed to animal shelter if they decide not keep cats in their property.

Left cats with declawed in road is bad because they have no way to defend.
 
sequoias said:
if you ever decided to replace carpets so the cat won't damage the carpet when the cat is repeatly scratching at the same spot to try get in a bedroom....which is why my friend's mom is ordering her to get them declawed cuz of carpet. She doesn't want them declawed but her mom wants them declawed....geez. In my opinion, it's her cats...not her mom's. I would love to take care of her cats rather than having them getting declawed.
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I bet their carpet is berber, not recommended if you have cats so get textured plush or saxony carpet.
 
Declawing cat is an illegal here in Germany and many countries around the world.

I don´t declaw all of my cats. I didn´t know exact about declaw until I learn from IslandGal´s thread and got shock.


 
Foxrac said:
Of course, declaw is okay if you want keep cats in house at all time, however if you want to decide about put cats away so need handover to animal shelter instead of left outside on road and become sprayed, it's sad because many people don't handover cats with declawed to animal shelter if they decide not keep cats in their property.

Left cats with declawed in road is bad because they have no way to defend.
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It goes beyond just leaving the cat defenseless on the street. Declawing involves removing bones in the paws. It's a form of amputation.
 
Liebling:-))) said:
Declawing cat is an illegal here in Germany and many countries around the world.

I don´t declaw all of my cats. I didn´t know exact about declaw until I learn from IslandGal´s thread and got shock.


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Me too. I never heard of declawing until I saw on AllDeaf. Oh, wow... :(
 
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