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Declawing: How would you like to have no fingers?

Oct 19 '00 Write an essay on this topic.

When people get a cat a question that often surfaces their mind is, "Should I get my kitty declawed?". Below I will give you arguments for it and against it and then I will bless you all with my point of view. First though, I would like to explain the process of declawing your cat in more detail.

The Procedure:

The actual procedure of declawing your cat is called an onychectomy. During this procedure they amputate the toe at the last joint which removes the claw from the bone. If you don't get the picture, imagine this. Look at your hand. See that knuckle right below your fingernail? Well an onychectomy on your hand would be an amputation at that knuckle right below your fingernail. Yup chop, chop and it's all gone...OUCH is all I have to say that one!

Hey I'm all for it!

Some very common arguments for declawing are:

*I don't want my cats ruining my furniture or scratching on my carpet. By doing this I can save my house.

*If you have multiple cats, this will prevent my cats from fighting.

*I won't have to worry about my cats scratching me or my children. I'm doing this for safety reasons.

*This is my cat and I can do whatever I want with it, so there!

*I plan on keeping this cat indoors anyway so it will be safe and it will not need claws.

No Way! I could never do that to my babies.

Some very common arguments against declawing are:

*It is a very painful procedure for a cat to have to go through. Older cats take longer to recover from the procedure.

*Surgical complications can occur after the surgery such as infections, partial regrowth of the nail if it is not completely removed, and accidental removal of part of their pads (just to name a few).

*The cat will never be able to defend him/herself from other cats.

*It will lose his/her inability to climb to certain places when outdoors.

*This is a procedure that people do just because it will be more convenient for them as a pet owner.

*Not all cats are destructive. You can train a cat to use a scratching post or pad.

*You don't need to declaw your cat when you can just "clip" their nails.

Now for my "three" cents.

I feel that I can offer my opinion to you about this topic because I have four cats and consider myself "knowledgeable" enough. Out of my four cats they have never once scratched me intentionally and I mean that. They all have the sweetest hearts and are just adorable around children. My little Boxer, the one that I adopted from the humane society, is great around the little ones and even if kids pull her tail or try and poke at her, she will just sit there and take it like a doll. My little Debbie just meows all day long and you can just roll him up into a ball (he's like dough) and he would never lay a paw on you. My little Buckwheat is the scaredy cat. He'll run from you before you even get the chance to look at him. Lastly, my little Lucky is the spoiled brat. She won't scratch you but she will nibble on you lightly if you pick her up the wrong way. From my experience with cats, I can honestly say that my cats would never hurt a soul with those claws of theirs.

So what other reason is there to declaw them? The furniture right? If your furniture is going to mean MORE to you than your cat is, then maybe you should seriously re-think about getting a cat as a pet. If you can't accept the way a cat is naturally then just don't get one. How would you like it if your fiance said to you, "Honey, I won't marry you unless you chop of both of your feet so you can be defenseless and all mine"?

So have you figured out my opinion on the whole topic yet? If you have read my little section about the procedure you would know why I feel this way. Put yourself in your cat's position and picture getting your fingers amputated at the joint right below your nail. Feel good? No, I don't think so. Would life be fun if you had no tips to your fingers? This procedure is torture and should be illegal in my opinion. This is why some vets won't even perform this procedure.

If what I am saying still is making you think twice about getting your cat declawed then let me tell you about another story that I heard about. There was this cat at the humane society with only three legs and someone who walked into the humane society asked the worker, "Why does that cat only have three legs?" The worker replied and said, "That cat only has three legs due to a botched declawing procedure." What had happened was that the cat was in so much pain after the procedure, he started chewing on his own leg. He ended up chewing so much off it that they had to amputate it. This one of the saddest stories that I have ever heard. That poor innocent cat had to go through all that pain and suffering just to find himself abandoned at the humane society. And you know what? I'll bet you that no one bothered to adopt him and he just got put to sleep. That just breaks my little heart. How can people do such things to animals???? It really bothers me. An animal is supposed to bring love and joy into your home, so therefore they should be treated like children and should NOT be treated like a toy. I hope you really think twice if you plan on declawing your cat ESPECIALLY if it's already a grown cat.

Groverchick's Conclusion

I urge everyone out there NOT to take the easy and not to mention LAZY way out by declawing your cat. With a little time and effort you can actually train your cats to only scratch on designated areas of your house or on scratching posts. It's even easier to train them when they are still kittens. If your excuse is I can't find the time to train them then you really shouldn't even think about having a cat. Another alternative is having your cats nails trimmed every few weeks or so or getting those caps that you can put over their claws. This is a much better alternative than chopping it all off. If I can at least change one person's mind about declawing their cat I will be overjoyed with happiness.

Thanks for reading everyone.

Remember educate yourself on this before you even start thinking about amputating.....=(

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