*FFFC*

JessAnnJ

@golfingdarwinfish‌ the whole not being about to wear your own underwear into the lab, the showering after, and not being able to go to the bathroom easily would make that job very difficult for me.

ETA - I'm referring to you working in a BSL-3. I couldn't do it.

persephonerose

Emerald27 said:

@persephonerose‌ The danger, though, would be that your kitty might try to defend herself from an attack by an opponent equal or greater in strength. Cornered by a dog or faced with a cat fight, she might try to scratch to protect herself and would be 100% vulnerable. Declawed kitties really really shouldn't go outside, even if there seemingly aren't many dangers around. Not trying to flame you, I promise. Just worried about your kitty.

She has been declawed for 7 years and has taken down dogs and other cats. She catches and kills birds, rabbits, and squirrels. I promise there is nothing to worry about. She has adapted and is pretty much the queen of the neighborhood.  She still has her back claws and uses them to her advantage.

MuffinMom14

Emerald27 said:

@persephonerose‌ The danger, though, would be that your kitty might try to defend herself from an attack by an opponent equal or greater in strength. Cornered by a dog or faced with a cat fight, she might try to scratch to protect herself and would be 100% vulnerable. Declawed kitties really really shouldn't go outside, even if there seemingly aren't many dangers around. Not trying to flame you, I promise. Just worried about your kitty.

Thank you for this. I had two declawed cats once, and once I realized what I had done, I vowed to never do it again. And, I've come REALLY close to thinking about it again because our furniture is a MESS. But. I can't do it. It's my personal soap box, not everyone else's, so I try not to get upset about it. I know some people think there are no alternatives, and honestly, the alternatives don't work for everyone. I guess I'd rather see a cat declawed than killed at a shelter.

MuffinMom14

Nicb13 said:

Emerald27 said:

@persephonerose‌ The danger, though, would be that your kitty might try to defend herself from an attack by an opponent equal or greater in strength. Cornered by a dog or faced with a cat fight, she might try to scratch to protect herself and would be 100% vulnerable. Declawed kitties really really shouldn't go outside, even if there seemingly aren't many dangers around. Not trying to flame you, I promise. Just worried about your kitty.

Thank you for this. I had two declawed cats once, and once I realized what I had done, I vowed to never do it again. And, I've come REALLY close to thinking about it again because our furniture is a MESS. But. I can't do it. It's my personal soap box, not everyone else's, so I try not to get upset about it. I know some people think there are no alternatives, and honestly, the alternatives don't work for everyone. I guess I'd rather see a cat declawed than killed at a shelter.

Declawing is so painful for them and unless things have changed, it's a pretty brutal procedure

Nothing's changed. It's extremely painful and confusing. And cats don't show pain like dogs. They don't show weakness, so anyone who says "they're fine, they didn't even know," really has no idea whether that's true or not, but I'd guess it's not. My one cat acted "fine," but my other had a REALLY rough time, and it was completely unnecessary for her ever to go through it. I feel so bad to this day.

I'll never forgive myself for doing it 10 years ago with the two cats I had at the time. My furniture sucks now. But. It's gonna suck anyway with kids, I suppose.

MuffinMom14

@FamousEA yeah that's not available here. But, even if it was painless...the aftermath is still confusing, and I'd forever be terrified my cats would accidentally get outside. It's like waking up without your finger tips, dude, when you did not sign off on that shit. 

We just clip their nails every week. That really does a decent job. When we get lazy and forget is when we notice they are scratching the couch. And honestly, it's only the two girls. The boys use the scratching post.

golfingdarwinfish

JessAnnJ said:

@golfingdarwinfish‌ the whole not being about to wear your own underwear into the lab, the showering after, and not being able to go to the bathroom easily would make that job very difficult for me. ETA - I'm referring to you working in a BSL-3. I couldn't do it.

@JessAnnJ

Thankfully it was for a relatively short amount of time; I've been out of the lab and in a boring office for years!  

If you don't mind my asking, what does your DH do/work with that he's in the BSL-3? That must be quite stressful for you at times.

persephonerose

I know people have a strong opinion on declawing but every situation is different. I would say my cat's behaviors were extreme. If it had just been tearing up furniture I would not have declawed her. But for no reason we or our vet could figure out she would go into the corner of a room or closet and shred the wall, the carpet, the foam under the carpet, and into the plywood underneath. She would continue to do this until she had paws full of splinters and her nails were broken and bleeding.  If we were home we would have to wrap ourselves in towels and try to pick her up and put her into a crate until she calmed down. 

The rescue had warned me of this before I took her home, but it is devastating to watch a cat do this to themselves.  I will never regret declawing her because she has never had another episode since.  I always feel that people do it as a last resort, not because they want to be mean and cruel to their cat. Yet there is so much shaming for people who do it. 

JessAnnJ

golfingdarwinfish said:

JessAnnJ said:

@golfingdarwinfish‌ the whole not being about to wear your own underwear into the lab, the showering after, and not being able to go to the bathroom easily would make that job very difficult for me.

ETA - I'm referring to you working in a BSL-3. I couldn't do it.

@JessAnnJ

Thankfully it was for a relatively short amount of time; I've been out of the lab and in a boring office for years!  

If you don't mind my asking, what does your DH do/work with that he's in the BSL-3? That must be quite stressful for you at times.

---END QUOTE---

I sent you a PM

MuffinMom14

persephonerose said:

I know people have a strong opinion on declawing but every situation is different. I would say my cat's behaviors were extreme. If it had just been tearing up furniture I would not have declawed her. But for no reason we or our vet could figure out she would go into the corner of a room or closet and shred the wall, the carpet, the foam under the carpet, and into the plywood underneath. She would continue to do this until she had paws full of splinters and her nails were broken and bleeding.  If we were home we would have to wrap ourselves in towels and try to pick her up and put her into a crate until she calmed down. 

The rescue had warned me of this before I took her home, but it is devastating to watch a cat do this to themselves.  I will never regret declawing her because she has never had another episode since.  I always feel that people do it as a last resort, not because they want to be mean and cruel to their cat. Yet there is so much shaming for people who do it. 

I disagree with the people doing it as a last resort thing. The VAST majority of people that I know who have done it just do it as soon as they adopt the cat. They don't even wait to see if the cat even ever uses the damned things. Maybe that's just here? I don't know. It's REALLY common here. 

Your specific situation sounds like a nightmare, though. I will give you that. I can honestly say I have NO idea what i would have done in that situation. At. All. I mean, even before hearing that story, I "know" you well enough from the boards to not think you are a monster for doing this or whatever. I didn't want you to think I was all thinking I'm better than you or whatnot with my earlier posts on the subject. Like I said, it's just my soap box, and I get worked up about it. Not everyone does, and the truth is that many, many cats are declawed, and if that means they are not euthanized, then I can go with that, I suppose.

I'm tired of seeing people posting on Facebook, trying to rehome their cats, and the first question from posters is always "is it declawed?" So, it's like. A double whammy. I'm upset that people are getting rid of cats and upset that other people would only want one if they were declawed. My cats are SO gentle. Just the two girls scratch at the couch. That's it. Now. I know I don't have kids yet. And you should never say never. But if one would become aggressive, I'd spend a lot of time with the cat, teaching the cat, teaching the kid, etc. before I'd rehome/declaw. Just thinking about myself in that situation tears me up. Hopefully, I won't have to know what I'd do, because my cats will continue to be awesome.

persephonerose

@SPurp13 I guess where I am, and growing up, it was uncommon for people to declaw. We mostly lived in the country and had barn cats growing up. I know here, our vet will not declaw unless you have tried other things and he views it as a last resort.  So that probably influences my view on it. I have never experienced someone declawing their cat, just because. 

MuffinMom14

persephonerose said:

@SPurp13 I guess where I am, and growing up, it was uncommon for people to declaw. We mostly lived in the country and had barn cats growing up. I know here, our vet will not declaw unless you have tried other things and he views it as a last resort.  So that probably influences my view on it. I have never experienced someone declawing their cat, just because. 

Oh, it happens all the time here. And I also grew up on a farm. I'm from WV. I don't GET IT. I have heard a lot of "you're getting rid of the cats, right? You know cats kill babies, right?" So. Maybe that proves how crazy and oldschool people are here? I don't know. 

Saragoeswest

I am from the same type of cat culture or whatever as you @SPurp13‌. Everyone I know does a spay and declaw automatically as soon as their kitten is old enough. But I read about what it is and was horrified so we didn't do it. Most, if not all, cats can be taught not to be destructive. And regardless, maybe it should never, ever be done. It certainly shouldn't be a matter of course for every cat. Most people I've talked to don't even understand how extreme it is. They basically just think it's nail removal.

I despise myself plenty for having made this decision. But it was a family decision and now we are stuck with it. I almost don't want to ever have a cat again so that I don't have to ever consider this again. But I know our pound kitty is lucky to have a home and be alive and loved. And future cats will be too. Meh. Still torn. But what's done is done. She is recovering okay, btw. Pretty groggy still.

MuffinMom14

@Saragoeswest I did the same as you--did it and regretted it. So, I understand completely!

And you are right. In the grand scheme of things, this was a painful unnecessary procedure, you feel bad about it, but overall, she's in a home, and not a shelter.