'Screaming' Rabid Cat Attacks 15 In Neighborhood

CatNipped wrote:
Yeah, me too. What made me really upset with my friend recently is that I
know what I've gone through every day for 15 years because of crazy love for
this cat (just today I got bitten while I was giving her a massage - I
routinely get a tetanus shot every 7 years because of her) - and I know my
friend won't put up with that. So they'll get dropped off at the SPCA (*if*
they're lucky and not just dumped somewhere). And at the SPCA they'll
legally have to label them as biters and probably won't even try to rehome
them before they're euthed! *SIGH*


If that ends up being the case, whether or not they get euthanized
really depends on space. Most HS workers I know have a soft spot for
"problem" declawed cats because they know that they are a product of
man's lack of kindness and understanding. A lot of them get rehomed
with people who know about the behavior and work with such cats
(usually somebody within the organization). There's always a softie of
some sort who steps up to the plate...
-L.

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 18:59:54 -0600, "CatNipped"
wrote:

No, but she is the cat I referred to in other posts that I had declawed 15
year ago - before I knew what declawing involved. She turned from a sweet,
lovable kitten into a screaming, biting terror practically overnight. I
endure the bites down to the bone with nary a cross word and accept it as
punishment for what I did (and still it will never be enough to make up for
what I did to her!) I'm just lucky she never had litterbox problems because
of it - but if that changes and she does, I'll also clean up her pee without
complaint.

I really think that's the best argrument to use with people who
consider their cats as possessions/ornaments rather than family
members. When someone like that asks me about declawing, I print out
the stats on the problems declawing can cause. Granted, some declaws
don't cause these problems, some of the members of the group have
happy well adjusted cats who have been declawed - but why take the
chance. I tell them it's a lot easier to train their cat not to
scratch furniture than deal with the problem declawing often causes.
If they don't have the time or patience to properly train their cat,
and they are so concerned about scratching, they really don't need or
want a cat - maybe a room full of stuffed animals is more their speed.
Course I don't say that last part like that - but that's what I'm
thinking.

Needless to say she's always been an indoors only cat.

Wish everyone who declaws did that. I had a neighbor whose cat became
a biter after declawing and she banished him to the OUT. I used to let
him into my apartment sometimes. I thought he was a psycho-cat because
he could go from sweet/purring lapcat to demon from hell growling in
the corner in an instant. This was back before LB forced her way into
my life, so before I researched declawing for myself. Once I did the
research it became a lot easier to understand him. I once had to
rescue him from a couple dogs who were savaging him behind my
apartment. He required a couple expensive surgeries, eventually
recovered from the attack - and still the neighbor let him out.

We built
a ramp up to my bed and other places because I know she must suffer
arthritis - and I give her a daily massage to help relieve the pain she must
be in constantly. All this because I didn't bother to research the
procedure before I allowed the vet to do it (my landlord at the time said
she had to be declawed in order to live there, but had I known then what I
know now I would have moved in a New York second)! [Can you tell how much
I beat myself up daily for this horrendous act?]

Purrs for the day that the US joins the rest of the civilized world in
outlawing this barbaric practice.
--
Steve Touchstone,
faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Spot
with loving memories of Rocky (RB)

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