[Arya]

What do you guys think of declawing?

[SpazTaz]

I'm not against it per se, but I think nowadays with things like soft paws and other similar products it's unnecessary.

[my.estrella]

I personally will never do it to any cat I own. If it HAS to be done, laser is the best way to go.

My personal opinion is that if you get a cat you shouldn't expect it to be perfectly behaved and never ever scratch ANYTHING. If you do, don't get a cat. Or give it options to scratch. There are so many different training tools available now, and toys for them to use it's just barbaric in my opinion.

[PastelCalico]

I personally will never do it to any cat I own. If it HAS to be done, laser is the best way to go.

My personal opinion is that if you get a cat you shouldn't expect it to be perfectly behaved and never ever scratch ANYTHING. If you do, don't get a cat. Or give it options to scratch. There are so many different training tools available now, and toys for them to use it's just barbaric in my opinion.

Agreed. My Persian was declawed by her previous owners as a kitten and I feel so sad for her sometimes. For one, she was a kitten so there was no way of knowing what her scratching behavior would have been like. Plus she has know way of defending herself if she were to get outside. All our other cats have claws, so not that she plays much, but it's not really a fair game. Also the idea of voluntarily amputating a cat's toes is really sick to me. I know there are probably some extreme cases with really aggressive cats where it needs to be done, but in most cases I think it's totally unnecessary. My declawed cat still practices scratching and she only paws at the scratching post.

[Arya]

I think it's one of the cruelest things to do to a cat and would never do it, unless it was necessary in case of infections or something like that. My friend's wife had their two kittens declawed and she keeps saying how it's a decision she doesn't regret. Of course she doesn't regret it, it's not like her fingers were cut off at the knuckles!

[JessP]

I had a cat that had it done and to be honest he was able to protect himself with his hind claws and did ok . But I would never do it to a cat. I think its mean and have been told its awfully painful. If a cat is given a scratching post they will use it.

[SpazTaz]

Originally Posted by JessP

I had a cat that had it done and to be honest he was able to protect himself with his hind claws and did ok . But I would never do it to a cat. I think its mean and have been told its awfully painful. If a cat is given a scratching post they will use it.

This isn't necessarily true. I've had 4 undeclawed cats....gave a scratching post to all from a cheap $15 one to an expensive $100+ one to one that was rubbed with cat nip...I've NEVER had a cat use a post.

[my.estrella]

Yeah my cat NEVER used a scratching post, or anything similar. But he wasn't too bad of a scratcher anyway.

[sboricua]

I had my cat declawed. when we had our baby they werent allowed in the room so she scratched the hell out of the carpet on the other side and We had never got our deposit back on the apt. so when we moved to our own house we got her declawed. I really didnt want to do it but the soft paws werent working. they would always come off. i never got around to doing my other cat.

[beckii]

I would never do it, I don't like the idea of my cat not having a way to defend itself. The cats I was raised around weren't declawed and yeah, I got scratched a good many times.. but for the most part it was my fault and even if it wasn't, I still didn't hate my cat for it.

I guess I can understand the fear of when you have kids, but that's why you teach your kids the importance of an animal's space and just how to interact with them.