First off, I carbon copied this to the FELVOT list, so we can take this discussion over there, please reply ON THAT GROUP, not on this list: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felvot/
Well, for one, I have NEVER seen an ingrown claw on a cat. Given proper scratching surfaces (natural wood, sisal rope, carpet - and sofas, LOL) cats' claws naturally shed periodically. The older, outside sheath sloughs off much like a snake sheds it's skin, leaving a sharper and shorter fresh claw underneath it. It's been my experience that EVERY time I have ever seen a cat get it's claws trimmed (like when I took one in to be spayed, or neutered, or had dental work, etc), there is some amount of splintering of the outside claw sheath, which causes premature sheath shedding. When the claw splits and tries to fall off the cat before it is "ready", it can (and in my experience, USUALLY, starts at the tip, and begins to loosen from the tip up towards the cuticle. I've seen many times where the claw sheath was hanging from JUST the cuticle, but wasn't ready to come off, snagging on things, and actually causing my cat discomfort. Attempts to gently pull it off resulted in YOWLS and jerking away, thus I came to the conclusion that it is painful for the cat. I cannot see inducing ANY amount of unnecessary pain on my cats, thus, I am morally opposed to claw trimming, based on my past experiences. Yes, I have scars, yes, I have had cuts that bled for hours and hours, and through several band-aids. My cats come first, though, IMO. I do not believe there is any reason to trim cat claws, outside of human vanity and convenience, but I am OPEN to the possibility that it may be true that ingrown claws could exist - I have just never seen it myself, and my opinions are based on what I can back up with personal experience and personally proven fact (in other words, my opinions are based on what I have seen with my own two eyes). Maybe your Persians, in addition to having human-induced deformed faces, also have human-induced deformed feet, leading to a higher ingrown claw factor (me thinks maybe human breeding programs are at the root of most cat-evil in the world)??? Phaewryn http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html Special Needs Cat Resources http://www.iGive.com/html/refer.cfm?causeid=21303 Sign up for iGive and a percentage of your purchases helps save animals!
