by Angella Gailey

Created on: May 19, 2010

Having had cats that have both been declawed and not, I have to go with the maintenance on this one.  I have never seen a cat suffer from being declawed.  However, I am only for taking a cat's front claws, never their back ones.  For a responsible cat owner, it is all right.  You also need to know that this is an operation and that the cat needs to be taken care of once it is brought home from the doctor's office.

The main problem that people have for cats not being declawed is that they can not defend themselves.  The first cat I had that was declawed was the big fighter on our block and she would take on anyone.  She NEVER had a problem with defending herself and quickly adjusted to not having her front claws.  The cats I have now are both declawed and if I didn't they would have seriously injured each other because they play quite roughly, and neither one of them has a problem defending themselves against the other.

Another problem that people have is that it hurts the animal.  Their right, the animal does suffer some pain, but less pain than would be caused by them getting into a serious fight and needing stitches.  It is never even enough pain to need pain medicine, like a human does when their toenails are removed.  You also have to be careful when the pet comes home to make sure they do not get an infection where the claws were.  This will cause undo stress on the cat.

One of the cats I have right now is pretty much an outdoor cat.  I have seen him bring back numerous birds, mice and insects and have had to make sure that he has a loud bell on him to prevent him from doing this.  Saying that an animal can not hunt like it can with its claws is wrong as well.  Not to mention that we have domesticated cats and they do not need to hunt.  Keeping a cat's front claws because they would use them in the wild is a weird argument for the fact that cats no longer live in the wild, but in the comfort of our homes.

The final point I want to make is that a lot of homeowners buy a cat and bring it home, only to return it to the shelter when they realize that it has scratched everything in their house.  This is especially true with families that have small children.  No matter how many scratching posts you buy for a cat, it seems it still will prefer to scratch your couches and curtains.  If it gets annoyed with your young children, a cat will naturally scratch at them to get them to stop.  This can range from a simple scratch to a deep gash that may require stitches.  Many novice cat owners feel that this is a reason to return a cat to a shelter within a matter of months after adopting it.  I would prefer that these people at least consider declawing their cats before doing this or just prevent it from happening by declawing them before it happens.  

In conclusion, I think that it is a good idea to declaw your cats and it can be looked at as a form of maintenance and not of mutilation.  However, you need to be more responsible for your pet once they are declawed.  It also has to be a decision made by the pet owner and based on how your cat acts around your house.  It also has to be seen as an option before taking your cat to the shelter because of their scratching.  I love my cats dearly and I wouldn't have them any way other than how they are.  But when I get me another cat, I will honestly think about weather I will declaw him or not.  

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