Is De-clawing a US thing?

In article ,
says...
In my case, its the other way around! I think my cats control my life!
I've cancelled very important business meetings to take my cats to the vet -
I've cut dates short to get home in time to feed my cats... I've even
watched bad TV and slept in uncomfortable positions not to disturb them
while they were sleeping... but I draw the line at going to the bathroom...
although I do try to hold off as long as I can...

Yeah, that 3 o'clock in the morning urge can be hard to ignore, but when
there are three sound-asleep cats placed strategically around me in bed,
I do try

I've done more damage to my furniture than all my cats in my entire life put
together - I'd bet most people have, also. My sofa and loveseat look like
they were hit with a daisy-cutter just from my keys!

The little damage they've done is offset by knowing they had a good time
doing it and that they probably had a good reason! Cats scratch because it
feels good - they enjoy it. Although it would never happen, I would rather
live in a shredded home covered with festering sores rather than deprive my
cats of the pleasure of scratching...

Yep. I've only got one piece of furniture that they go at, and that's
because it's so old and ratty I don't really care about it. My nice
stuff they never touch - they prefer the scratching post, because they
get praise and treats when they use it!

Actually that's the only explanation for declawing... *excuses*...



Phil.

I guess you could add ignorance, but if a person is reading this group,
that excuse goes out the window.

Deb



http://maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm

http://maxshouse.org/Claw%20Trimming.htm

http://maxshouse.org/understanding_scratching.htm







--
"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store."
-- Theodor Seuss Geisel

Iain & Deb wrote:

There is NO excuse for declawing.

I think, however, that sometimes when we make a statement that of course
our
cats are more important than the furniture, declaw supporters assume that
means
our furniture is in tatters. It's not. It's quite possible to have nice
furniture--even very expensive furniture--that your fully clawed cats leave
alone because they have been provided with more appealing scratching
objects of
their own.


That's absolutely true. I was making a kind of wry comment, and I should
know better than to do that in the middle of a declaw argument.

No, I didn't mean you in particular. Just felt in general it's good to point
out to the declaw supporters sometimes that the assumption that clawed cats
equals tattered furniture is false.

I just
find the "reasons" for declawing so trivial that I have to laugh
sometimes - except that what they're doing is no laughing matter.

I know what you mean. Some of the reasons presented for declawing really are
laughable.

I understand your point that sometimes your cats do what they want. If
someone
has furniture that a single accidental scratch would completely ruin, well,
I
can pretty much guarantee it won't be the cats that ruin it. It will be a
guest, or your kids, or your husband, because anything that fragile isn't
going
to remain perfect very long.


Exactly.

LOL. My husband and my brother in law have done far more damage to the
furniture than our cats ever have.

Iain & Deb wrote:

There is NO excuse for declawing.

I think, however, that sometimes when we make a statement that of course
our
cats are more important than the furniture, declaw supporters assume that
means
our furniture is in tatters. It's not. It's quite possible to have nice
furniture--even very expensive furniture--that your fully clawed cats leave
alone because they have been provided with more appealing scratching
objects of
their own.


That's absolutely true. I was making a kind of wry comment, and I should
know better than to do that in the middle of a declaw argument.

No, I didn't mean you in particular. Just felt in general it's good to point
out to the declaw supporters sometimes that the assumption that clawed cats
equals tattered furniture is false.

I just
find the "reasons" for declawing so trivial that I have to laugh
sometimes - except that what they're doing is no laughing matter.

I know what you mean. Some of the reasons presented for declawing really are
laughable.

I understand your point that sometimes your cats do what they want. If
someone
has furniture that a single accidental scratch would completely ruin, well,
I
can pretty much guarantee it won't be the cats that ruin it. It will be a
guest, or your kids, or your husband, because anything that fragile isn't
going
to remain perfect very long.


Exactly.

LOL. My husband and my brother in law have done far more damage to the
furniture than our cats ever have.

Iain & Deb wrote in on
12 Dec 2003:

Yep. I've only got one piece of furniture that they go at, and that's
because it's so old and ratty I don't really care about it. My nice
stuff they never touch - they prefer the scratching post, because they
get praise and treats when they use it!


Same here, Deb. I let mine tear up an old beatup chair that I was going to
get rid of but they like it so much I kept if for them (my grandmother
should be rolling in her grave now, watching! It was hers.). The don't
scratch my good furniture. There is an ottoman (very cheap) that Shamrock
keeps scratching and I suppose his paw pads have scented it up enough so he
thinks it's his. I put a scratching post next to it, but sometimes he'd
rather use the ottoman even though he gets praise when he uses the post and
a NO when he uses the ottoman. The rest of the stuff, they rarely touch.
But when they forget, it isn't often enough to even be noticable.

--
Cheryl

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I
can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
- Helen Keller

Worldwide Candle Lighting in Memory of all Children, Dec 14, 2003 7pm in
all time zones
http://thecompassionatefriends.org/2...L/2003_wcl.htm
http://thecompassionatefriends.org/2003_WWCL/senres.htm

-this in memory of my Eric-

Iain & Deb wrote in on
12 Dec 2003:

Yep. I've only got one piece of furniture that they go at, and that's
because it's so old and ratty I don't really care about it. My nice
stuff they never touch - they prefer the scratching post, because they
get praise and treats when they use it!


Same here, Deb. I let mine tear up an old beatup chair that I was going to
get rid of but they like it so much I kept if for them (my grandmother
should be rolling in her grave now, watching! It was hers.). The don't
scratch my good furniture. There is an ottoman (very cheap) that Shamrock
keeps scratching and I suppose his paw pads have scented it up enough so he
thinks it's his. I put a scratching post next to it, but sometimes he'd
rather use the ottoman even though he gets praise when he uses the post and
a NO when he uses the ottoman. The rest of the stuff, they rarely touch.
But when they forget, it isn't often enough to even be noticable.

--
Cheryl

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I
can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do."
- Helen Keller

Worldwide Candle Lighting in Memory of all Children, Dec 14, 2003 7pm in
all time zones
http://thecompassionatefriends.org/2...L/2003_wcl.htm
http://thecompassionatefriends.org/2003_WWCL/senres.htm

-this in memory of my Eric-