Declawing cats causes them lifelong pain. It’s time to ban the practice
Declawing cats causes them lifelong pain. It’s time to ban the practice
Author: Eric Troncy | Douleur animale, bien-être animal, Université de Montréal
Why even have a cat if you're going to mutilate their hands?
Like, just get a dog if you can't handle the claws.
I mean historically people didn't necessarily think of it as mutilation, even if now most people understand it to be extreme. Many cats have bad scratching habits and people don't know to train their cats not to do so. Some will definitely trash your furniture and people looked at de-clawing as a way to stop it vs giving up the cat for adoptuon. Are all cats even trainable to not scratch? I don't know personally.
I'm kind of curious how banning declawing of cats influences rates of abandonment and euthanization. I had many cats when I was younger, some which were bad scratchers and got de-clawed and others which weren't prone to it so didn't get de-clawed. I'd like to get one now but know my wife (and I probably) won't be able to tolerate our furniture and drapes getting tore up if I can't train it not to, and I hate the idea of adopting one only to give it up later, so I'll likely not get one at all. I wonder if and how many get put down simply because fewer adopt them when de-clawing is banned.
Scratching is part claw maintenance and part territorial marking / decorating. And it feels good for them! If you catch a cat scratching the furniture, scolding them will usually get them to stop. Most cats will quit scratching the furniture entirely if you give them more appealing things to scratch. It has to be a good height, very stable, and have a texture they like.
Simply clipping the tips of the claws goes a long way to prevent furniture destruction, when combined with a scratching/climbing tree. Some cats like sisal but others prefer carpet on the posts. I have a routine with my present cat where she knows if she jumps to a certain place she'll get a couple Dental Treats, but before she jumps I briefly check her front paws. If there's a longer, sharper nail, I clip it, just the tip. Then I put up the treat. That way she never has to put up with more than one or two snips. I use a regular toenail clipper, but a big sharp quality one. And turn it because claws are taller than they are wide.
Cat nail caps are not a perfect answer to this problem, but still an infinitely better one than amputation (please don't use the term declawing as it's extremely misleading).
There's also ways to encourage your cat to use scratch pads and the like instead of your furniture (cats hate citrus for example, so a bit of that where they want to scratch and they'll find a new spot immediately).
I wonder if and how many get put down simply because fewer adopt them when de-clawing is banned.
I wonder about this, but in regards to the housing crisis. It’s hell trying to find a new place to live, but trying to find an affordable place that ALSO allows pets? As someone looking for a home myself, it seems like almost everywhere has “No pets, no smoking” as a rule.
I don’t have a pet so it doesn’t apply to me now, but I know people stuck in a shitty apartment that’s falling apart, just because they adopted a puppy (of unknown breed origins) a few years ago. That puppy grew, and now even places that allow pets say that he’s too large to be permitted.
I would love to adopt a pet. But this human housing situation spells bad news for strays and shelter pets everywhere.
Wait, it's like forbidden in almost all countries
While onychectomy is banned in at least 38 countries,
Should be, but wishful thinking that it is.
It's legal in the US, and sometimes even recommended by vets.
I met someone who had it done because she trusted her vet's advice. Her cat completely changed.
Declawing cats should be called "cutting the fingers off of cats so they can't scratch anymore".
As bad as declawing can be, there is something worse: cutting the tendons so they can’t flex their claws anymore.
I had a cat I adopted off the street that had that done, and because he couldn’t scratch things his claws had grown through the pads of his feet.
:(
It's illegal in Québec.
Good!
We would never consider it because we had kids and dogs and the cats needed their claws. But yes it should be banned. We don't declaw dogs.
I wish we'd trained them to sit still to have them trimmed, as now the kids are grown and dogs not puppies either, but it's no big deal. Just don't get expensive furniture.
When I first heard some countries did this it was like 20 years ago. I thought at the time it was news because they'd stopped - clearly I was wrong :/
How much pain do you think most cats cause others, simply for existing?
We also need to ban non-vegan cat food
Im sorry the world is uglier than you think it should be, but having that attitude and capping it off with an implication that it's okay to cause another being lifelong pain simply because of their nature makes it pretty clear that you don't so much want a more ethical world for other creatures as much as you don't like cats.
I hope you stick to pet rabbists and guinea pigs, my friend. It's okay to be vegan, but if you're vegan and are against the type of food cats and dogs need to survive, just don't get a cat or a dog. It is very simple. They are not vegans. They never will be vegan and forcing them to be vegan is not very vegan if we still live by the idea that veganism is against animal abuse. Would you force a penguin to eat vegetables too?
You take up air others should be breathing, but we let you live.
Are vegans allowed to keep pets?
My dude, others simply don't see the beauty of this shitpost. Marvelous
I thought they banned this like 20 years ago
The simple fact that we still call it "declawing" is so infuriating... I've had to tell a lot of people around me that it actually is an amputation.
Agree. My younger self thought it was just a nail removal instead of severing the ends of their fingers and toes.
Because that's what the people doing it told us it was and kids don't know better.
TIL 😱 Poor little kitties, why are humans so thoughtlessly monstrous?
Because the sole reason for having animals is the emotional fulfillment of humans, however much it is dressed up as "for the animals." So whatever is annoying about these little fur balls is just removed as it serves no purpose.