> The studies you refer to are on adult cats, in which case I agree that > declawing is not the right thing to do. It is painful and once a cat > understands the uses of it's claws (scratching, fighting, etc..) it > can cause behavioral issues.
I am not referring to any particular studies. I'd certainly be interested to know of any that say it is not still very painful and can lead to behavior problems in kittens as well. > However on younger kittens it isn't much of an issue at all. The > actual procedure is much easier and heals very quickly and the chances > of it having any issues at all is very slim This is quite a statement. Is it easier and less likely to lead to behavior problems? Sure....the animal is smaller and younger animals do tend to adjust about anything you throw at them easier than an older animal does. Doesn't mean they don't still suffer pain and have a high chance of behavior issues. > really the only real > issues i have ever seen are when the owner goes and sticks the kitten > right into a litterbox full of the clumping litter Personal experience is just that...personal experience. My parents insisted I have my beautiful Burmese kitten declawed when I was a teenager....it totally changed his personality and he became a biter (as do many declawed cats). Have you ever sat in on a declaw surgery? Or seen dozens of cats when they first come out of anesthesia? I had planned to be a vet and even went to vet school for a couple years so worked as a vet assistant for a number of years, and I have seen cats in such severe pain after this surgery that they are throwing themselves around the cage until their bandages come off and their mutilated paws bleeding all over. Most European countries outlaw this surgery and similar cosmetic type surgeries like ear cropping. But here in the US we still consider it okay to mutilate animals if it's more convenient for us. > If it is done while the kitten is young the cat will learn to defend > itself just fine with the back claws Umm, could you site the scientific studies that show this? I can site many that show that declawed cats are much more likely to be biters and FAR more likely to refuse to use their litter pan. The great majority of cats turned into shelters for peeing in the house are declawed cats. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the reason they won't use litter is because it is *painful* even after the stumps have healed. > being that I have personally declawed hundreds of cats in my day I > would say if you have nice furniture that you would mind being > scratched and the cat is still a kitten to go for it This is just so distasteful a statement to me it's hard to be civil in replying. To put ANY object like a sofa above the life of any creature is just so wrong to me. To not even give the cat the chance to learn not to claw furniture before cutting off the ends of their toes is even crueler, IMO, than someone who really has tried and decides to do it as a last resort. If someone values their furniture more than their pets, they simply shouldn't have pets, period. Here's a site from a lady that does consultations for cat owners with problems. She became an advocate against declawing in large part because of how frequently she was seeing problems in such cats like peeing on the sofa versus regular cats. http://www.goodcatswearblack.com/declawing/about_declawing.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;160198600;22374440;w Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:248909 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
