I am working at a vet clinic and can assure you that after declawing surgery the cat is not well at all .

aww. don't beat yourself up about it. you didn't know, it's OK. They still love you!

anyway, I have 2 cats and I'd never have them declawed. i didn't even know about all of this stuff until just now when i read this thread...but it's always seemed cruel to me. We just trained our cats to stay away from the couches and things with a spray bottle. and we have these new couches now...and I think it's the material that they're made out of but the cats don't scratch them anymore.

i agree they need to be kitten, both my moms cats are declawed and they did really well, and they are the best cats ever, they had no problems and they didnt SEEM to be in pain, but i wasnt in his paws neither

Ok DECLAWING DON'T DO :thumbdown !!! YES THEY DO REMOVE THE FIRST KNUCKLE!:mad: also a spray bottle and some double sided tape will stop scratching cats hate when things stick to thier paws so tape is great also they will do bad things if they don't have toys or a scratching post to play with my cats like the kitty cardboard box from petsmart it was $10.00 great investment they hated the scratching post.

People might consider it cruel. I tried everthing possible suggested to get my cat away from her destructive ways to no avail. I finally gave in and her her only front paws declawed. She was a bit sore for a day or so but recovered quickly. She has no problems from it and it has helped save all my new furniture, carpets and children.

Curious.... What makes docking tails, cropping ears and removing dew claws okay and declawing a cat inhumane?

Well I'm not saying one is any better or worse that the other. I will say though that a cat's claws are meant for protection where as a dog's ears aren't going to help it much in that way. So many people do get their cat's declawed and say at the time its not going outside then years down the road the cat ends up outside, we had this happen with a neighbor in my old house, I'm not saying that this is always the case or will be the case with the original poster, but the thing is you never know what could happen in 5 years. Also experiences are different with everybody I do know that both the cats I knew that were declawed just had more of an aggressive attitude, I didn't know them before the surgery though so it may or may not have had anything to do with the attitude. I didn't say not to have the cat declawed(not saying you said I did) I just really think double-sided tape is cheaper and has worked for us so why not try that first, as well as other suggestions, before putting the cat through that. You wouldn't want to put any animal through a surgery to correct something that may be corrected in other ways.

In the end I just think that a cat's claws are more necessary to it than a dog's tail is to it, I'm not saying that I agree or disagree with docking or clipping of ears etc. And if I'm not mistaken, which I could be, aren't a dog's dewclaws removed for preventative measures, so that they don't get caught and torn on things?

I do think there is a legitimate reason for removing dew claws to prevent them from being caught on something and ripped off. Also if an owner is negligent in nail clipping the dew claws grow curved and will grow into the skin.

I think docking tails, cropping ears and declawing is cruel and should not be done. I actually think tails and ears might be worse than declawing because they are done for no reason whatsoever just because we like how they look. I'm not judging anyone for doing this because the poll taken in the last few weeks clearly shows that most Americans prefer the tails to be docked.

Declawing cats is being outlawed in some places, since it is considered cruel and painful.

I don't know I'm a little ify on this. Yes there is a "reason" to declaw but what is it? So the cat doesn't scratch up furniture/carpet. I don't know that that reason is really any better than docking a tail because you like how it looks. Techinically they are both selfish reasons, you are not doing it for the animal but for what you want. I'm not defending docking or condemning declawing just throwing out my opinion.

The only reason for declawing a cat is the furnitures . All the persons that come to the clinic gave us this reason . My cat have her claws and she never touched one piece of furnitures or injured one of my Yorkies . She is more like a dog , very funny to look at her .

I just had to throw that out there... I'm not condemning nor condoning it (though all my cats were/are/will be declawed).

It's all altering our pet in an unnatural way. For whatever reason, some practices are just more accepted than others.

I think docking tails and cropping ears are worse. It's usually done without anesthesia and without any pain management. At least with declawing the cat is under and can be given some sort of pain medication afterwards.

JMHO

I think docking tails and cropping ears are worse. It's usually done without anesthesia and without any pain management. At least with declawing the cat is under and can be given some sort of pain medication afterwards.

JMHO[/QUOTE]

Ear cropping is never done without anesthesia .

Actually the pain meds is optional with declawing cats at a lot of the vets around here. I think that's horrible... It should always be mandatory and shouldn't be just about how cheap a person is willing to go.

Hm, didn't know ear cropping was done under anesthesia. Good to know... Why don't they do that with tail docking and dew claw removal then?!


My vet automatically gives pain meds after any surgery. I believe my cat got two weeks worth after neutering/declaw. The dogs got a weeks worth after their spay/neuter.

It's relatively cheap (I think it was maybe $8 or so), so I don't see why they wouldn't at least offer it... And if a pet owner doesn't want to spend that little amount to keep their pet as comforable as possible, they don't deserve to have it!