Calling all our US buddies, we’re wondering if you could help us out?
Here, in Australia declawing is illegal..thank god! It is a horrible, inhumane and brutal thing to do to animals for purely selfish reasons. There is no plausible reason you could have (apart from health reasons for the cat) to remove half an animals toe. If you are too lazy to keep a cats nails trimmed short, get a fish!
So the topic came up in conversation in the All for Women forums (it’s in a private area, so can’t show you) But basically one of our only American members was telling about her sister getting a new kitten for Christmas, and getting is declawed . Because ” it’s normal here like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches” for “safety reasons”. WTF?
It’s been awhile since we have dealt with the general cat owners out there, just you super special cat bloggers. We know Americans still declaw, but we have some questions we’d love to ask you guys….
- How common is it really, Surely these days it isn’t as common as PB+J sandwiches?
- Are people becoming educated and more aware of the safe and human alternatives?
- Are there laws or regulations against it in any states?
We would love to hear everyones opinions and stories on the subject!!
34 Comments
I’d hate to think it’s that common in the US, but I’m not a vet so I wouldn’t know. I can tell you that all the American cat owners I know, including myself, are vehemently opposed to declawing. I wish it were banned here!
There are no laws against it. Certain vets will refuse to do the procedure. I don’t think its as common as it once was as people are more educated about the procedure and breeders (like Kaze’s) write into their kitten contracts that it is not allowed.
Hope that helps with your questions.
No laws against declawing here, but we are so glad our rescue society writes it into every kitty’s adoption contract.
I’m an Aussie but I just had to comment on this - I think declawing is inhumane and a horrible thing to do to a cat (or any other clawed creature!). I didn’t realise it was illegal in Australia - I just thought it wasn’t smiled upon, so it’s great to hear that we have good standards here when it comes to things like this! And it’s good to hear that some American vets refuse to do it.
I don’t think anyone who allows their cat to go outside gets it declawed, and I know several breeders and adoption agencies make potential owners sign a contract stating that they won’t declaw their new kitty. However, it’s still a fairly common practice for cats who stay indoors exclusively, and I’ve never heard of a vet refusing to do it, though I’m sure there are some.
I understand the objections to declawing and overall, I agree, but I think your statement that it is “horrible, inhumane, and brutal” is a bit over the top. I have a gorgeous orange tiger, and when he first wandered into my life, he lived at my boyfriend’s for a while. Before he was three months old, he devastated a brand-new sofa, two pairs of designer jeans, and the corner of the kitchen cupboard, regardless of all rational attempts to keep him from clawing or direct his attention to a scratching post. We kept his nails trimmed, which just seemed to heighten his resolve to sharpen them, and we even tried those glue-on plastic caps, which he chewed at like a crazy thing. Both the nail-trimming ritual and the plastic caps made him extremely agitated and unhappy. Ultimately, when the choice was between having him declawed and saying sayonara, I relunctantly chose the former. The operation was very quick and painless, and he was back to his bouncy self the following day with no ill-effects in body, mind, or spirit. He’s been claw-free for nearly four years now and is as content and well-adjusted as any other animal I know (in fact, better than most).
So please don’t judge those of us who have declawed too harshly. My cat doesn’t think I’m brutal or selfish, and he knows me quite a bit better than you do.
I don’t think there are any laws against it, although this makes me unhappy.
There probably should be more education; I think a lot of people just do it because they think it’s a normal thing to do.
I think its so barbaric I hate it & the excuse of a total indoor cat is pathetic as well, my Stitches is a 100% indoor cat, she has scrathing posts, never uses the furniture & if needed I will get her claws trimmed at the vet but NOT removed! Wonder how the owners would feel if their parents had their fingers removed to stop them touching stuff?!
Our information is probably 15 years out of date. At that time my person worked in a vet. That vet swore up and down it didn’t do anything to the cat–it was just fine because the cats don’t use that part of their nail. They *recommend* not sending these cats outside, but many do go outside.
There are no laws (nor are there laws against ear crops and tail docks for dogs) against it.
However, many no kill shelters either require that it won’t happen or strongly discourage it.
I don’t know what the policy is of my regular vet. No doubt my holistic vet would be in total agreement with you. I am sure there are vets who don’t do it. Lots of vets no longer do ear crops and some even refuse tail docking. I think it depends upon their comfort level.
I don’t hear about it a lot right now. I think that in so many ways the US is so messed up (not just about pets but how we care for our poor and elderly) that while getting laws against dog fighting are happening and strengthening laws against gross violence against animals and educating people about spay and neuter are often mentioned, the cosmetic type surgeries (declaw, tail docking and ear cropping) are not very much in the general news.
Thank everyone for stopping by, and letting us know what you think. We are glad it seems G is the minority.
I guess it is so much harder for you guys to bring in any sort of laws. Declawing has been banned for quite some time here, as has ear cropping. Tail docking (think that maybe just selected states tho) has been recently banned as well.
It is sad that laws need to be made to protect and prevent any cruel treatment, to animals and humans.
I think the important thing to note in this case is that when you decide to take ownership of a cat, you have to understand it will probably scratch stuff.
Believe me G, my three piece sofa is in tatters. I have claw marks in many of my clothes and I don’t own designer jeans or any other designer clothes for that reason.
My cats have scratchers, a tree outside in the cat park and all sorts of things they are allowed to scratch. I trim one cat’s nails all the time but only because I do not have to sedate her in order to do it.
Despite the large financial cost of replacing things like fly screens, sofas, expensive bed linen etc that gets clawed and scratched, I would never consider getting my cat declawed even if it was legal - mainly because I do think it is an unnecessary procedure and I just don’t like the idea of a cat not being able to defend itself if necessary. Maybe the owner might not let the cat out but what if you got broken into, or somebody let it out by mistake?? Those are the concerns I have about declawing.
G is a bit shallow and has a skewed sense of priorities. Dogs chew stuff, cats scratch, if you furniture and designer jeans are more important than the well being of a living creature, then by all means…lop something off- like YOUR fingertips! You first G, just like a cat, at the first knuckle. See how harmless you find the procedure then.
We have all of our claws. Really the woofie causes more damage than we do since he can’t retract his claws and since he has black claws they are harder to trim without hurting him. You never hear about anyone declawing a dog though. No, we aren’t going to declaw the dog.
We do claw the furniture sometimes, but not too badly. Vincent who came before was much worse about doing that so the furniture is already clawed up and we only claw where he clawed before. We’ve found that those scratchers that are made of corrugated cardboard strips are the best things to keep us from being bad. We are so good about using them that Mommy is finally considering new furniture.
I don’t think the procedure is that common here, and I would certainly NEVER have it done to any of my cats. I volunteer at a cat rescue shelter, and sometimes an adopter will request the procedure be done along with the spay or neuter. The vets will do the procedure if it means getting a homeless cat a good home. Some of these cats stay at the shelter for many, many months. But probably fewer than 1% of the shelter cats get declawed before they are adopted -it’s pretty rare thank goodness. I have also noticed that declawed cats are more likely to be biters.
I feel sorry for any poor cat going to live with the woman you mention and G for that matter. Ignorant twits!
I am glad they do not represent the majority of the cat owning public here.
You are lucky in Australia to have laws to prevent such cruelty, lets hope that one day the rest of the world can follow.
Let me preface this with saying I would never declaw another cat as I do agree that it is not nice to the cat and its completely selfish of the owners to have the procedure done. However when I was younger and less educated this was par for the course.
But, 2 of my cats are declawed. Yes I’m posting anonymously because if you knew these cat’s you’d all be shocked and probably hate me hence the reason I never talk about it. I also know at least 2 other blogging cats who are declawed. After declawing my second cat I swore I would never do it again when I witnessed the distress and discomfort and I never have and never would.
I do want to say that the declawed cats did adjust fine and they have not had any of the nasty problems that are associated with the procedure.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I agree that it is inhumane and should be illegal. But don’t come down on people who just aren’t educated about the procedure. I live in shame that I had this done to two of my family members but I can’t undo the procedure and they lead very normal happy lives despite my selfish decision. I had to fight long and hard with my DH about future cats not being declawed but I won. Its an uphill battle and until vets say they won’t do the procedure I don’t think it will stop. I just try to educate where I can.
My eldest cat is declawed. It was done 18 years ago when an apartment manager insisted. I was young and stupid and I went through with it. I should have just moved. I’ve felt guilty ever since. Poor Kali can’t defend herself as well from her pesky brother. She became a biter, big time. I regreted it as soon as I picked her up from the vet’s. I would never ever do it again. I hope that someday I can let go of the pain. I’m crying now just to think that I’m responsible for hurting one that I love so much. She’ll be crossing the Bridge sometime in the near future and I pray her claws come back for her over there.
J,
I applaud your story. For many people like you, they ask their vets and their vets tell them it is okay. How can you think differently if the one person who should know can tell you that it doesn’t harm the cat?
We’ve been owners of declawed cats. One came that way and one very large 8 pound at 6 month male liked to sit at the top of the curtain rod and the Woman could only imagine what would happen later on. This happened in 1990 when her vet insisted it was perfectly find for cats because they don’t use that part of their claw anyway.
He had few issues with it–he always over jumped his jumps but he had been quite the velcro kitty before. No doubt he learned to do that. Other than that, he seemed to have no problems. Alas we can not go talk to him now.
We are not proud of this fact but we did what we thought was best with the information we had. Would we do it again? Not a chance. We were given an ultimatum by a boyfriend for Georgia–either she gets declawed or I go. Georgia is not declawed and he is the not the male I complain about…
Gemini gets soft paws because she scratches. Declawing has never even come up. It is in my contract that I wouldn’t ever be declawed, however I don’t think the thought has ever crossed the woman’s mind.
J and Tyler, thanks for stopping by and sharing your stories. My rant was really not directed at people like you, and I am sorry if what I said may have upset you..it was not my intention.
I guess it should be said, my gripe is not really with people who did it many years ago, and or when people really didn’t know any better, or know how horrible it is. 20yrs ago, that would have been common. But today, that really isn’t much of an excuse to have it done in this day and age. Surely vets are trying to educate people when they come in asking for this procedure, or even the internet.
What has my blood boiling is when people know how awful it is, what exactly is done to the poor cats and the after effects and go ahead and do it anyway. You try to educate them, but they are too selfish to see past their own needs.
Leigh, I certainly didn’t take your post as being a rant against anyone who declawed a cat! I think it really was a plea to try and understand something that sounded foreign. We each read into posts what we read into them!
Certainly our own guilt and shame over having made a decision we now regret plays a part. We can only realize that it’s not a mistake we would make again.
An interesting discussion you have going on here!
Good post - maybe you someone could make a badge for all the cat blogging community. Cat bloggers against declawing or something more catchy and we could be advocates for keeping our kitties safe. It is really uncommon in New Zealand, and vets are not allowed to declaw either.
Thanks for dropping by my wee blog. I love yours. Nice santa hat!!
Greetings from Florida. First of all, Leigh, I ADORE your blog and have told lots of my friends about it — hope that’s okay.
Now I, too, have cats — neither of which are declawed — per my wishes as well as the contracts I signed with the breeders.
As for vets refusing to declaw — that’s not my experience. As long as vets make money declawing — some of them are going to keep on advising to have it done. So disgusting. I have a RagaMuffin, the breed is known to have “soft paws” meaning they don’t claw much at all — even when getting baths. Now, my blue point, traditional/applehead Meezer is very quick to put out her claws — she’s never really destroyed anything but it is her intinct to scratch — it’s up to we owners to provide plenty of appropriate places for scratching.
Whenever I can, I always try to spread the word that declawing is not necessary, period.
Declawing is only performed in NSW if the cat would be euthanised without it. It is a last resort. In all my years as a vet nurse, I only saw one declawing performed. The surgery itself was fairly easy, but I would hate to think of the pain the cat was in afterwards, even with pain meds on board. Think about getting the top third of all your fingers cut off - that’s declawing.
There are many humane ways to prevent your cats from scratching the furniture. They even have this little plastic caps called soft claws that get glued on top of the cat’s claws. Unfortunately in the US, it is standard procedure to get a cat declawed.
Leigh,
Nothing you said upset me. My feelings of sadness were there before you read your post. So no worries for me.
Merry Christmas!
Lynn, Ty’s mom
I never knew what was involved in declawing until fairly recently- like in the last year or so. I’ve never had a cat declawed- thank goodness no guilt there- but I never thought anything of it before that.
I guess I had always assumed that they just removed the claws somehow- not the whole top of the toe!!
It’s interesting the different attitudes of a cat person and a non cat person towards cats. There is a level of tolerance in the cat lover that you just don’t find anywhere else. Case in point- I LOVE cats. Absolutely adore them. I’d have 3 if I could. My husband refuses to have any. I’ve asked why and I am perplexed when he answers. He is completely intolerant of the fact that they sometimes can scratch furniture, that they tend to knead with their claws when they are happy, that they attack and pounce. All the things that are just matter of course to a cat lover. It’s just part of being a cat.
Oh well.
I think any cat lover that really knows how a declawing is done is against it, but there are way too many that just don’t know.
My mom had a Cat a long time ago that she had declawed. She said she would never, never, never do that again. It was very painful for the Cat and it broke Mom’s heart. Later the v-e-t told her it was like cutting off a humans fingers at the knuckles. She shudders everytime she thinks about it.
Merry Christmas to you all!
Have never had a cat “declawed” and never would. Yech. Just knowing what the procedure actually is sickening. There isn’t a piece of furniture I could own that would make it worth the pain I could put a beloved pet through. That being said, if it would mean the difference between a cat having a home or being destroyed…well, I can see that some people might make the decision to “declaw”. Just not me or mine.
I’d like to state that it’s not standard procedure in the US, at least not in the western part of the country. My parents never declawed their many cats except for one that my dad had done after they got divorced. More than a decade later, we still argue about it sometimes.
Yes, it happens, but I don’t think it’s fair to suggest that most Americans do it.
Declawing is evil and inhumane … and, unfortunately, totally legal in San Diego, California.
Meowy Christmouse!
DMM
Anyfing that hurts kitties is bad. Purry Christmas ya’ll!
Leigh, oh no don’t think I thought you were attacking anyone, just having a very intriguing discussion!
I just have so much guilt about what I have done and while my sweet cats do not complain it eats me up knowing I did that to them. I do wish it were illegal here but there are a lot of things I wish were illegal and aren’t.
I do hope that as time goes on people become more educated and it stops!
Let me play devil’s advocate… How is this type of mutilation any different than spaying or neutering? Sure, it can be argued that there are certain aspects of spaying/neutering that allow the cat to live longer, but one can also argue that in the case of G, her cat might have been sent off to the pound and possibly put down.
It seems both spaying/neutering and declawing are MOSTLY for humans, yet the former is revered. Seems a bit of a hypocrisy for indoor cats, really. If having clawed up clothes and furniture are part and parcel of having a cat, so should marking and meowing, no?
I’m on the fence about declawing, really. I just don’t get why people think it’s such a horrible thing to declaw. Sure the surgery is described as this horrible procedure, but one could also describe spaying/neutering in vivid terms as well. Do animals as such know the difference and if so, does it hurt them?
I inherited a declawed cat and it seemed rather gentle and sweet. Never had a problem with her biting or acting untoward. I now have a cat with claws (which is fine because he uses his scratching post… most of the time).
shes obviously a selfish woman who cares more for her possessions then her pets. i have lost many an item and been clawed to peices before but mine all still have all there claws. we dont even trim ours because they have so many scratching posts. i valus my pets and pets safety more then my stuff. and its not common here as she makes it sound but its easy to get sone, but i dont think any decent vet should do it. i know 1 cat blogger that had it down to her cat but its because her and her husband cant be scratched for their health reasons but they love the cat. thats the only excuse, for health reasons.
*blink* T..I have no idea how you can compare desexing to declawing, being selfish and only for humans?? How on earth is reducing cruelty, neglect and mistreatment due to overpopulation. The destroying of 100,000’s of cats around the world every year…how is that not in the best interest of cats??
Look, it’s amputation of the end of the cat’s paw. If people don’t want to live with a cat with all of its paws - then jolly well DON’T get a cat for Pete’s sake.
For God’s sake people, get a different sort of pet.
I have three cats and four cat scratchers. And there is soemthing very illogical about comparing neutering with amputation.