declaw or not to declaw?

"Kyla =^..^=" wrote in
news

"Annie"
i need to declaw my little mitzi because she is tearing up
the furniture but my sister says thats cruel

the vet says its fine and i believe him over my sister
because she is one of those peta nuts who puts the welfare
of
animals over that of people

annie

Hi Annie,
I'm totally against de-clawing. I think it''s cruel and in
humane
myself. What if your little beloved Mitzy somehow escaped
from the
house and couldn't run up a tree to escape from a dog or
whatever ?
We have the same probs with our 4 cats clawing up the
furniture, but
I
manicure them twice a month.
We scold them, but hey, you can always patch up
the furniture, but not your beloved cat.
I'm really not trying to sound mean, at all, just giving
you my
opinion. Please don't de-claw her.
Hug
Kyla




thank you for being nice about expressing your opinions

i asked the question because i was hoping to hear from both
sides to help me make up my mind. i guess i was naive about
that because ive learned from this that there are many people
who have such strong feelings on this issue that they will
not tolerate any discussion of alternative opinions. they
want to attack and shout down anyone who disagrees with what
they say. these are the same kind of people who threaten and
terrorize vets who declaw.

and so they make it impossible to have any kind of reasonable
discussion. they would claim there are no reasonable opinions
on the other side but they are wrong about that. there are
differences of opinion on this issue that are reasonable, but
the people who hold those opinions are not going to do battle
with these intolerant folks who bear more than a passing
resemblance to the taliban because they don't have the same
kind of almost religious fervor over this issue.

those who yell the loudest and who attack anyone who
disagrees with them may manage to control the debate with
their intimidation tactics but that doesnt make them right
and everyone else wrong.

annie

wrote in message
...
Will in New Haven wrote:

I am rather uncaring about furniture. In fact, the last thing a woman
said when she dumped me was "Bill, you are fifty and you don't even
have any furniture you care about." I was really puzzled by that
because I didn't think I SHOULD care about furniture.

Will, this gave me a good laugh. Not only because she thought you should
care about furniture, but that she thought it was somehow related to your
*age*. Not only were you some Neanderthal who didn't care about furniture,
but, OMG, you were *fifty* and didn't care about furniture! boggle The
two of you were clearly not a good match and I think she did you a favor.

My ex once said, in a fit of upset and without the slightest trace of
irony, "I'm 37 years old and I don't even have matching plates!" This, by
the way, was an accusation against me, because I was the one who made most
of the money, so it was evidently my responsibility to provide us with
the respectability of matching dishware...


We have matching plates. They're from Chinette, and are easy to take care
of. I can even buy a different brand when I want and I still don't have to
worry about them breaking.

Pam S who feels sorry for those who define themselves by their possessions

"Jo Firey" wrote in
:


"Annie" wrote in message
...
wrote in news:47eeab6f$0$36393
:

Annie wrote:

i appreciate the link but i dont appreciate the name-
calling
and the personal attacks from you and from other people

my vet said declawing should be the last resort and i
have
tried everything else so it is the last resort

What have you tried? (Seriously, I want to know. There
may
be some
things you haven't tried yet.)

Joyce


ive covered up the furniture and put out a scratching post
and a flat board with carpet on it

i tried catching mitzi scratching the furniture and moving
her to the cat post or the board and encouraging her to
use
it

when that didnt work i tried yelling no and then moving
her
when that didnt work i tried a squirt gun
when that didnt work i tried clipping her nails short

i understand she has to scratch but i cant seem to train
her
to scratch in a safe place

ive really tried hard to avoid declawing her but it seems
that mitzi is very stubborn

So what will be your 'last resort' solution if having
Mitzi's toes
amputated doesn't solve your problem? That is a fair
question and not
meant to be hostile.

it will put an end to claw marks on the furniture so it will
solve that problem

other problems may arise but i dont think that citing
examples of cats that went wacko in some other way is
representative of the vast majority of cats that have been
declawed

Bet she spent enough money on other things that there could have been
matching plates. I just heard this type argument between spouses and as I
look around the house, I saw so many "things" that if she had wanted them
bad enough like all the "collectables", she would have had them.
wrote in message
...
Will in New Haven wrote:

I am rather uncaring about furniture. In fact, the last thing a woman
said when she dumped me was "Bill, you are fifty and you don't even
have any furniture you care about." I was really puzzled by that
because I didn't think I SHOULD care about furniture.

Will, this gave me a good laugh. Not only because she thought you should
care about furniture, but that she thought it was somehow related to your
*age*. Not only were you some Neanderthal who didn't care about furniture,
but, OMG, you were *fifty* and didn't care about furniture! boggle The
two of you were clearly not a good match and I think she did you a favor.

My ex once said, in a fit of upset and without the slightest trace of
irony, "I'm 37 years old and I don't even have matching plates!" This, by
the way, was an accusation against me, because I was the one who made most
of the money, so it was evidently my responsibility to provide us with
the respectability of matching dishware...

Joyce

wrote in news:47eeb4e1$0$36370
:

http://www.softpaws.com/

thank you for that link. i will definitely check it out

I definitely don't define myself by what I own but, I HATE PAPER PLATES.
Don't know why but I don't own any and few people have ever seen them in my
house, usually when the kids leave them here. I wonder why I hate them so,
maybe that age thing again. Damn.
"tanadashoes" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
Will in New Haven wrote:

I am rather uncaring about furniture. In fact, the last thing a woman
said when she dumped me was "Bill, you are fifty and you don't even
have any furniture you care about." I was really puzzled by that
because I didn't think I SHOULD care about furniture.

Will, this gave me a good laugh. Not only because she thought you should
care about furniture, but that she thought it was somehow related to your
*age*. Not only were you some Neanderthal who didn't care about
furniture,
but, OMG, you were *fifty* and didn't care about furniture! boggle The
two of you were clearly not a good match and I think she did you a favor.

My ex once said, in a fit of upset and without the slightest trace of
irony, "I'm 37 years old and I don't even have matching plates!" This, by
the way, was an accusation against me, because I was the one who made
most
of the money, so it was evidently my responsibility to provide us with
the respectability of matching dishware...


We have matching plates. They're from Chinette, and are easy to take care
of. I can even buy a different brand when I want and I still don't have
to worry about them breaking.

Pam S who feels sorry for those who define themselves by their possessions

"Granby" wrote in message
...
I definitely don't define myself by what I own but, I HATE PAPER PLATES.
Don't know why but I don't own any and few people have ever seen them in my
house, usually when the kids leave them here. I wonder why I hate them so,
maybe that age thing again. Damn.

Not an age thing. I have fairly decent matching (not)china and stainless.
But there have been children and teenagers in and out of this house
constantly for nearly forty years now.

I hate dirty dishes sitting on the counter and in the sink even more than I
hate paper plates.

I'm also not even wild about clean dishes cluttering up the sink or
dishwasher. Charlie and I both get lazy when it comes to putting them away.

So while it's expensive in the long run, we buy and use an awful lot of
paper plates and bowls. Quite a bit of plastic utensils, and quite a lot of
plastic glassware.

I do have slight twinges of guilt when we serve ourselves an otherwise nice
and attractive meal into the paper bowls. (They are easier to eat from in
front of the TV)

We all do use the regular utensils most of the time. I have never really
got used to plastic forks and spoons. But we do use those when grabbing a
snack such as a spoonful of peanut butter or a pudding cup.

But I get over it when cleaning up the kitchen consists of taking out the
trash and wiping down the counter.

Its got so bad, tonight we are having steak in honor of college kid being
home for the day. Most of us will just cut up out steak on the platter and
then put the bite size pieces on a plate or in a dish and go back to
watching basketball or whatever.

The saying in this house is "the food is great but the service stinks"

Jo

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
...


wrote:
Annie wrote:

"Is Declawing really that cruel?"
http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs...il.aspx?bp=325
"Declawing cats is a very hot topic for debate. For many years now,
animal rights people have lied and deceived the public into believing
that declawing cats is the most inhumane and horrible procedure on the
planet. The truth is, is a common surgical procedure done under
anesthesia and if done correctly, there will not be any lasting
effects..." Then why is it illegal in almost all of Europe? PETA doesn't
have
*that* much reach...

Just one more proof (along with lack of universal health care) that the
U.S. is not nearly so "civilized" as it likes to pretend!


Who is pretending to be civilized? I'm not pretending to be civilized.
Anyone else here with such pretenses? Speak up!

We are savages one and all!


(getting a little tired of having several hundred million people all lumped
into one lot and then criticized)

Jo

Maybe my neighbors are right and I am weird. I never got the eating in
front of the TV thing when anyone else was in the house. Now, don't beat me
up, I will if I come to your house and you do it. I hate dishes but do them.
"Jo Firey" wrote in message
...

"Granby" wrote in message
...
I definitely don't define myself by what I own but, I HATE PAPER PLATES.
Don't know why but I don't own any and few people have ever seen them in
my house, usually when the kids leave them here. I wonder why I hate them
so, maybe that age thing again. Damn.

Not an age thing. I have fairly decent matching (not)china and stainless.
But there have been children and teenagers in and out of this house
constantly for nearly forty years now.

I hate dirty dishes sitting on the counter and in the sink even more than
I hate paper plates.

I'm also not even wild about clean dishes cluttering up the sink or
dishwasher. Charlie and I both get lazy when it comes to putting them
away.

So while it's expensive in the long run, we buy and use an awful lot of
paper plates and bowls. Quite a bit of plastic utensils, and quite a lot
of plastic glassware.

I do have slight twinges of guilt when we serve ourselves an otherwise
nice and attractive meal into the paper bowls. (They are easier to eat
from in front of the TV)

We all do use the regular utensils most of the time. I have never really
got used to plastic forks and spoons. But we do use those when grabbing a
snack such as a spoonful of peanut butter or a pudding cup.

But I get over it when cleaning up the kitchen consists of taking out the
trash and wiping down the counter.

Its got so bad, tonight we are having steak in honor of college kid being
home for the day. Most of us will just cut up out steak on the platter
and then put the bite size pieces on a plate or in a dish and go back to
watching basketball or whatever.

The saying in this house is "the food is great but the service stinks"

Jo

On Mar 30, 5:44*pm, "Jo Firey" wrote:
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message

...







wrote:
Annie wrote:

* "Is Declawing really that cruel?"
*http://network.bestfriends.org/Blogs...il.aspx?bp=325
* "Declawing cats is a very hot topic for debate. For many years now,
animal rights people have lied and deceived the public into believing
that declawing cats is the most inhumane and horrible procedure on the
planet. The truth is, is a common surgical procedure done under
anesthesia and if done correctly, there will not be any lasting
effects..." Then why is it illegal in almost all of Europe? PETA doesn't
have
*that* much reach...

Just one more proof (along with lack of universal health care) that the
U.S. is not nearly so "civilized" as it likes to pretend!

Who is pretending to be civilized? *I'm not pretending to be civilized.
Anyone else here with such pretenses? *Speak up!

We are savages one and all!

(getting a little tired of having several hundred million people all lumped
into one lot and then criticized)

Jo- Hide quoted text -

I know how you feel. I used to really get offended by that stuff too.
I just wanted
to scream "I am a nice person. I don't declaw, I recycle, and I
haven't destroyed
one single rainforest."
shrug I guess I finally just got used to that big paintbrush. I
don't think it's ever
intended to be taken personally. But I usually take everything
personally. :-(

Sherry