Love your cats, don’t declaw
Written By Jenny Wu on
This is a bit of an unexpected post, and was inpsired after I found out a well-known Youtuber had just declawed her kitten. A string of curse words immediately ran through my mind, many of which I wanted to write in a comment on her blog. Then I wondered, did she even know what she was doing when she chose to declaw her poor kitten?
Not going to lie, I actually considered declawing when I first got Shelly, because I stupidly and selfishly didn’t want her to scratch our leather couch. However as soon as I found out what declawing entailed, I immediately dropped that thought. Shelly did indeed scratch up the leather couch (along with the carpet and occasionally our arms), but that’s what cats do.
Then a couple months ago, my husband and I watched a documentary on Netflix called The Paw Project. It wasn’t until watching that I truly understood how horrifying the declawing procedure was and how selfish human beings are (as if I needed a reason to dislike people even more).
#TheTruth
- Declawing is cruel and offers no benefits whatsoever to the cat. You are amputating the last joints of their toes, which means portions of the bones are actually removed via laser or some creepy guillotine contraption. Imagine cutting off the your fingers at the first knuckle – that’s what you’re doing to your cat.
- There are plenty of humane alternatives to declawing, but either owners are unaware or just too lazy, so they seek the easy way out. On top of that, veterinarians, who swore an oath to do no harm to the animals, fail to educate owners on these alternatives because they want to make some quick money.
- Declawing is banned in 38 countries, including most European countries. At least people there understand how unnecessary and cruel this procedure is. Sadly it’s still a very common procedure US and Canada.
- Cats, unlike dogs, instinctively hide any pain or discomfort they feel. So just because your cat “seems” fine after you’ve chopped off their toes does not mean they’re not in pain. Many of the complications from declawing do not manifest until years later – nail regrowth in the tissues, reluctance to use litter box, etc.
- Cats are living creatures. They are not stuffed animals that you can just do whatever you please with for your own convenience. If you can’t stand the scratching, then don’t get a cat.
It breaks my heart that people are choosing the well-being of their material goods over their fur babies. So if you know anyone with cats who are considering declawing, please, please, PLEASE talk them out of it. There’s absolutely no reason why this procedure is necessary (unless the cat itself medically requires it) and I believe if owners knew what declawing truly meant, many of them would decide against it (or at least I hope so). I just wish someone informed that Youtuber before she chose to declaw her poor kitten.
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Comments & Questions
Mina
This is so heartbreaking, I'm a 100% with you on this. If they can't stand the scratching they shouldn't get a cat in the first place. Declawing is cruel and should be illegal.
Jenny Wu
Thank you Mina, it's a shame that many cat owners and vets out there don't feel so the same way :(
Cat
Eep, the thought of the last joints being amputated like that makes me cringe. It's really unfortunate that the US doesn't ban declawing like many other countries have. I feel like people who declaw their cats don't realize what it actually means. Plus, let cats be cats! If they aren't prepared for cats scratching up things and making an effort to train them to stop, then they probably shouldn't even have a cat.
Jenny Wu
I agree, that's why I really wanted to raise some awareness with this post - even if it means just educating one owner, that's good enough for me!
Liv
I remember witnessing my friend declawing her cat because it didn't hurt him. He hid the discomfort or what ever it was he felt. I don't have cats but wasn't until I was reading an information pamphlet on why you should not keep big cats as pets that I learned what it actually is. Cats' claws are not nails, they are bones! Poor things. :(
Thanks for raising awareness! :)
Jenny Wu
Oh that's terrible :( I can't believe the vet didn't offer your friend any alternatives or training methods, but just agreed to declaw. I hope your friend's cat is doing ok! Some cats do manage to live a "normal" life after being declawed, but it's just so unnecessary in my opinion.
Alice
Oh gahd. Geebuz. I never agreed with declawing either. I may not own a cat (I have a dog but whatever, that's not the point) but I agree that declawing is like...stripping cats off their natural traits, if that makes sense. I'm not sure what words to use other than "natural traits" but you get me. It's what makes cats cats so declawing them sounds like a horrible violation to me. Ugh, I never watched videos regarding declawing because I don't have the nerve to watch it; it's like that one time where I, out of curiosity, watched how people killed sharks just for their fins. augh, horrible. no way.
I actually watched a video on youtube the other day about how cats express their love to their owners. one of them includes clawing the owner's leather couch so as to claim ownership or so it was said. that makes me think that maybe that's how cats "communicate" to us. nevertheless, i wonder why can't owners just discipline their cats or something instead of ripping away what they're naturally born with. i pity the cats whose owners decided it's totally fine to declaw them. sigh, poor fluffballs :(
Jenny Wu
Exactly how I feel! It's very selfish of people to only want the "good" traits of a cat but none of the "bad". To me that's the same as removing a dog's teeth for chewing, but for some reason it's ok when you mutilate a cat :(
Cats do express their love in very subtle ways, and judging from the state of my leather couch, I'm happy to report that both my babies love me very much ^_^
Cassie
I got my cat declawed :'( I had no idea!
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Jenny Wu
Oh no Cassie :( I hope your kitty is doing alright! I can totally understand owners not fully understanding what declawing is, but I can't believe the vet didn't provide any additional information!! That's very messed up, and I hope you'll find a better vet that cares more about your cat than about making money. *hugs*
Liz
My mom wanted to get her cat(s) declawed at one point, but...we've lived on farms, and like with placing a collar on a cat, declawing them only means they'll not be able to climb trees and/or defend themselves against predators—I mean, really, when they claw things, it's not to destroy something, but to sharpen their claws or to, well, stim. (Look up Asperger's cats for the reference.) Cats can be trained to scratch other things...and people can always buy a doormat (like those rope or carpet ones) for their cats if they don't want to invest in a scratching post.
I mean, they cost a lot more than getting cats declawed, and...well, when you live on a farm and see various ways animals need to defend themselves—like cats against coyotes—the idea of declawing any cat just feels so...selfish. :/
There are these claw guards that can be bought at most pet stores that are rubber-like plastic and slide onto cats' paws. They're available in many colors and work well for temporary use; I'd never suggest them for permanent use, because they do fall off, and if your cat eats it, well >.<l
I don't think I could watch the movie you two watched on Netflix, but...I never knew that the declawing process consisted of basically removing the cat's toes. I always only imagined it being a process of removing fingernails or toenails, and...that's a repulsively painful process to endure, so I didn't understand why anyone would want to put an innocent animal through it. :(
Jenny Wu
Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to imagine what could happen to an outdoor cat without its claws! D: It sounds like your mom eventually decided against it (I hope?), so that's always good.
The Paw Project isn't as gruesome as it sounds, I don't think there were too many graphic scenes. But it can be a rude awakening, especially when you don't know what declawing actually is. Honestl;y they should just call the process deboning instead...maybe then people will realize how bad it is :(
Ongaku
I completely agree with you on this. It makes me so mad and my father and step mother are two people who piss me off to no ends. They do not deserve to have any animals. They feed their dogs harmful human foods - like chocolate! and they always get their cats declawed even after I told them all about how horrible a thing it was. I don't even get why they have pets because they are never home! It's like WTF. ARG! You got me all heated on this. LOL