Declawing Cats

Unfortunately it is not uncommon here in the USA though it seem to be getting less popular. I had a cat declawed by a previous owner and she did pretty well, including catching mice on occasion. We had a kind of cranky cat when I was a teenager and I had to hold him wrapped in a towel so my father could trim his claws. So I can see why some people might do that under some circumstances thought I doubt I would.

I have had my cats declawed as well as not. When I lived in the city, I had my cats declawed to save my furniture. My cats were indoor cats and never went outside. Now that I live in the country, my cats are indoor/outdoor cats. They have their claws. I will say that my furniture is not as lovely as it was when we lived in the city. It is a mess!! When will I replace my furniture? When my cats are gone.
I will say that when we moved to the country one of our cats that had been declawed had no trouble hunting... he caught more mice and birds than the two we have with claws...
As for the stretching and scratching exercise - my declawed cats still did all of those motions, just without ruining my furniture and floors or scratching my arms.
My declawed cats were loved, well cared for, and happy. Would I do it again? You bet -- especially if I lived in town and I couldn't send my cats outside.
YMMV
LBC

I have heard of this. For the most part I agree with you and there are other ways to keep a cat from scratching including nail covers. I did have a friend who adopted a very feral cat, actually the cat adopted her. While being a sweet cat it would play VERY rough. My friend had moles on her arm that her doctor was concerned about. He told her she had to do something because they couldn't keep getting deep scratches. She did declaw her cat because the doctor told her too and then felt really bad about it. I don't know that she would make the same decision again. On the other hand, the cat has a home indoors and a really nice life. So many kitties don't and some people would have taken the cat to the pound.

It is fairly commom. I used to work in a vet office and it was the one surgery that would make me cringe. It is basically like cutting off a persons knuckle. The noise it makes is pretty disturbing. The vet I worked for did not like to do it, but did. He did it because he thought if a cat was going to a great home and the owner would only take it because they didnt want to have their furniture ruined, or the cat would sit in the pound until it was euthanized, he would much rather do the surgery.
It is too bad people arent educated a little more on keeping their cats claws. I left my cats claws in and you can tell by looking at some things in my house. I try to divert his scratching by having posts everywhere. I just figure it is what makes my house a home.

Declawing cats is cruel. It is like cutting of your own fingers. It is painfull and causes much stress on most cats. Many Vets will not do the procedure, but many will because of the $.

I am a veterinarian and while declawing is not as popular as it used to be, people still request it. And yes, it involves amputating the tip of each toe at the knuckle so that the growth bed for the nail is removed and the nail does not just keep growing back. I know it is illegal in the UK and Australia, as well as many other countries. Here in the US, people seem to accept it as necessary when their cats become more destructive than they can live with. In some cases, owners cannot afford to get scratched and have it possibly get infected (they are diabetic, or have a compromised immune system in some way) so declawing the cat is an option. Unfortunately, some people are semi-forced into having it done because they have a lease agreement that requires that all pet cats be declawed.

The surgery is done under general anesthesia. When I have performed it, I have used every method of pain control at my disposal (including locals, opioids and NSAIDs - some vets are not as proactive when it comes to pain managment). Most cats seem to do okay with it as long as it is done at an early age (often at the same time as spay and neuter). I prefer that it be done as a last resort - when trying to train the cat to use a scratching post, keeping the claws trimmed, etc. is not working. I would agree though that it is not natural and try to get owners to think long and hard about their reasons before deciding whether or not to have it done. I work in emergency medicine now so I am not expected to do declaws as an elective surgical procedure. Some vets will argue that it is better to declaw a cat and keep it indoors than to give it up, or kick it outside.

Interestingly, I am originally from Michigan, moved out to New England after finishing vet school, practiced out there for 11 years before coming back to Michigan. People do not declaw their cats out there nearly as much as they do here. Out there, I might have done 3 or 4 a year. In Michigan, when I was in general practice, it was 3 or 4 a month. Out there, people would ask me about it but feel terribly guilty about having it done (and yet also feeling like they had no choice). In MI, many people don't seem to give it a second thought. They adopt a new kitten, it's 8 or 9 weeks old and they want to know how soon they can have it declawed. And they want all 4 paws done (which I won't do) instead of just the front paws which do 99% of the damage. When I ask them why, they just respond that their other cats have always been done this way. It's like they can't even consider the alternative. "Because our other cats have always been" is not a good enough reason for me. There have been some people that wanted their cats declawed (like 1 girl who wanted her 12-year-old cat declawed because they were getting new leather furniture and did not want it ruined) where I have flat-out refused to do it because I did not believe it was in the pet's best interest - it was strictly for the owner's convenience. It surprises me that there can be such a different attitude from one part of the country to the next. I believe one community in California tried to ban declawing a few years ago but it didn't stick.

I do wonder how cat owners handle their cat's clawing behavior in countries where declawing is not an option (and in many of these same countries, cropping of ears and docking of tails in dogs is illegal as well - something that is still done routinely in the US strictly for appearance).

I have 2 cats and refuse to get them declawed. I personally don't think it's right.. that's like yanking out of nails to me. It started when my dad had my kitten declawed when I was a kid and she died because she was allergic to the anesthesia. I was heartbroken. My thoughts is that is their natural self-defense as well, if something should happen, fire in the house and your cat runs out and doesn't come back for a day or two they got to be able to protect themselves. Sadly M., you will see that alot of people don't care about animals and will run over cats and squirrels quick just to save 5 mins to get somewhere and will throw their pets in the pound if they move, etc. It is heartbreaking to me... my cats are a part of my family.

It's less common now than it used to be, and I agree with you... it's horrible.

I have done this in the past when I had my first cat 23 years ago. I didn't know how cruel it was back then. I was young and ignorant about things like that and like your friend, didn't want my furniture destroyed.
Fast forward to 10 years ago, I met and married my now husband, and we adopted two cats. I still wasn't sure at that time about declawing so I asked him about it and he said absolutely not! He is also European (Germany) so I think that it's a thing that more American people do than anywhere else. We have a cat scratching tree thing, and were told to rub catnip into it, that seems to keep them from scratching the furniture.

I am sad to say that it is really common here in the U.S. I too am an animal lover and have adopted 3 stray cats. They all have their claws and I wouldn't have it any other way. My cats are both indoor/outdoor and they love to scratch the trees outside. I have had very little scratching issues with them indoors, probably because we have a doggie/kitty door and they have access to outside whenever they like. Declawing is so cruel, I hope it will become a thing of the past!

It varies on how common it is. I have two cats that are declawed and two that aren't. One cat was done after she launched herself at me and my husband swore he was going to take her to the pound. I told him let me take her to the vet and get her fixed and declawed. Getting her declawed saved her life. Now why did she launch herself at me. I had just spanked my oldest son who in her eyes was hers and she didn't want me spanking him.
With our other cat it was a matter of us being at our wits end to get her to stop tearing up everything and anything thing. I'm not joking,carpets,curtains,sheets, mattresses, clothes, and the list goes on. We tried all the toys and such that cats supposedly love to claw but she wouldn't touch them. We tried the rubber sleeves over the nails..yeah she chewed those off. So we had her declawed as well.
So in both cases it was a matter of declawing or pound in my husband's eyes. So I picked the lesser of two evils. I will also say my cats are solely indoors.

I agree with you, and yeah i have known a few people who have done that, and yes it is cruel, If the cat gets outside they have no defense from a stray dog, cause not they can't fight back or even get up a tree. I love cats and I would never think of such a thing, if you have scratch posts in your home and put furniture protectors on your furniture there is no reason to do that, and if you feel you would have to do that get a dog. J.

it's incredibly cruel. People should realize that these are animals, not toys, and if they want a cat, they should get a scratching post or resign themselves no not as nice of furniture. Or have their own fingers removed at the tip to see how it feels.

I think it's horrible, plus I think it's quite emotionally stressing on the animal. I mean imagine taking away something that is completely normal for the cat to do and not being able to do it.. The cats I have known that were declawed they all ended up being very weird and violent cats. They couldn't scratch so they started to bite and HARD.. If they still had their back claws they would learn to use those to attack people. I'm sure it's not all de-clawed cats that do that but it has been all the ones I have met, while the other cats that have not been declawed have never been as violent. I wish it would be illegal unless like the vet said there was a medical reason for the owner to have to be weary of scrathces..
I grew up in a household that always had cats (my parents would foster cats so it could be quite a few). Some damage is going to happen.. just like if you have kids things get broken or if you have a dog something is going to happen.. usually you can make the situation better by having the right toys, using repellent (natural), have a spray bottle of water around to correct them when they do scratch things you do not want them to scratch and the use of catnip on the things you would like them to scratch to draw them to the areas.. I think it's something you just have to accept if you are going to have a cat in the home..