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BADBADBABDBADBABDABDBADBADBABDABDBDABAD!!!!!
Is cutting ur fingers off good or bad?

Jeez, First off, even if they are de-clawed cats still can do a lot of damage without their claws. They still have their teeth, they are sharp and pointy and to me it hurts much more to get bitten than to get scratched. They can create very deep wounds that could easily get infected. When the cat realizes that he no longer has the use of his claws than he will resort to using his teeth for protection and attack. When I took mine to the vet, the vet covered his front claws by wrapping them tightly in a blanket so he could have a look at his back leg. My cat (in self defense) Bit him in the fore arm. The vet screamed in agony and went to tend his wound. There are also documented cases (which I'm trying to find now) of cats attacking small children with their teeth, going for their necks like they would kill a bird or mouse. A Human has a carrotid artery and jugular vein in their necks, both of which if damaged, a human being would bleed out in minutes and die.

I'm not mentioning this to scare you, I say it to show that de-clawing really is a pointless procedure that doesn't necessarily keep children safer. People typically do it so the cats won't scratch the furniture. But if you piss your cat off watch him come at you with his teeth, And that will hurt more then any scratch, Trust me.

But I'm afraid if you tell that to your dad, he will get rid of your cat once and for all, because removing an animals teeth unnecessarily is illegal no matter where you live and you will never find a vet who will do it.

It just seems like he doesn't want to put in the effort of finding a natural solution to the issue, He's just looking for an easy fix. Which is wrong.

Those claw caps are a super idea, I didn't even think of them. I had to put them on fifi a long time ago so she would stop clawing the couch. I haven't had fifi for a while so I totally forgot about them. If you tell your dad about them, there will be no excuses they are just as effective as de-clawing surgery and cheaper too. You put them on your cats claws, they are plastic and have little plastic smooth rounded tips on them. Anlina, you've saved the day!!!

Claw caps are fantastic. My friend uses them on her kitty because the landlord said it was that or declawing. They come in lots of colors too. smile

Personally I would never get my cats declawed because they are indoor/outdoor cats and they need a form of defense. But to keep them away from the furniture we give them lots of scratching posts and they absolutely love these cardboard box things we give them. For a while we also had to put tinfoil on the sides of the couch. The cats don't like the sound or feel of it.

Please take a look at some of the links I posted and seriously reconsider:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?page=1&t=12579755#151932260

Declawing isn't a solution to behaviour issues, which should be addressed at the source, rather than hoping declawing resolves them.

If your cat is a scratcher, declawing may simply turn him into a biter (an a cat bite is far worse than a cat scratch.) If he is aggressive, declawing will make him feel defenceless and will likely increase aggressive behaviour. Rather, you should work on socializing him and training him. You can use aversion training with a water sprayer, or clicker training to promote good behaviour (bad behaviours are not rewarding so they decrease and then disappear.)

If he's destroying furniture or carpets, provide him with his own furniture and train him to use it. It's not difficult - cats are intelligent and very trainable.

If you need some practical advice on doing this, we'll be happy to help you out, but don't declaw. It's one of the cruelest things you could do to a cat and may not solve your problems (or may create more problems for you - many declawed cats end up in shelters because they start biting or refuse to use the litterbox appropriately after the surgery.)

You plan on filing down his teeth too!!! How Cruel!!! I just went surfing on the net trying to see if it's even legal. By the looks of it, it's not legal in most places. Thank God! In many places you will be charged with animal cruelty. The only exceptions are animals like rabbits and gerbals , ONLY because their teeth actually keep growing constantly through their lifetimes. What really kills me is that people have absolutly no sense!!! Would your parents consider pulling out your healthy adult teeth just because you eat too much junk food, or cutting your fingers off!!! If it's not acceptable to do to a human being why do people think it's acceptable to do to an animal? Have you just thought that YOU are not cut out to be a pet owner?
If you must, than put him on some medication, but if and when that fails, and it will because it works in unison with training, which btw is something that you don't seem to want to even try... your just looking for a quick fix to the problem with surgery. Proper training takes months. Besides, if you do the surgery you'll have spent hundreds even thousands of dollars and you know what might happen....your cat may not use the kitty litter any more because his toes hurt. And if he can't use his teeth properly than he will have digestive problems, feeding him only soft food will give him diarrhea or he may throw up more and you will be running around cleaning all his poop, pee, vomit and diarrhea which will cause you even more inconvenience and you will eventually have to give him up. So save the poor animal and yourself some hardship and admit that YOU ARE NOT FIT TO BE A PET OWNER and just give him up. Shelters are so overcrowded be cause pets become an "inconvenience" to their owners, but at least he will be better off there with his teeth and paws intact and far away from you. At least he has a CHANCE of finding a family who will love him teeth and all.

My cats destroy things on a regular basis and I'm usually covered in scratches but I would never declaw them. My friend had her cats declawed and their personalities seemed to become very cold. Not only that, but I believe it's just cruel. Cats have claws for a variety of reasons, and like someone mentioned earlier scratching is part of their natural behavior.

First off let's be clear, Not all cats will develop an issue like not wanting to use a litter box and excessive aggression after declawing the odds are very HIGH that they WILL though, and then people are forced to give them up anyways and loose the money they spent on the surgery. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SURGERY YOU WILL HAVE SOME ISSUE WITH YOUR CAT WHILE THEY ARE RECOVERING FOR ABOUT A MONTH OR SO THAT IS 100 % GUARANTEED!!! You will have to put a goopy paste in his ears that is filled with pain killing medication, he will not like that and will bite you really badly. He will not want to use the cat litter as it will hurt his paws to have sand in his wounds. So you will end up running around cleaning poop and pee from everywhere until he heals. Then when he finally does heal he may develop an aversion to the litter just because it hurt him before for so long, so you will have to be patient and retrain him again. Then he will realize he has no defense and he will start bitting even if you do file down his teeth it will still hurt like hell, after all human teeth are blunt flat edges not pointy and sharp like a cats and If I bite you trust me you would scream too. The cat will do anything to compensate so he will bite down harder to get his point across. Then your going to have to get him a special diet for his blunted teeth which is soft, if you feed him moslty soft food he will get digestive problems causing him to throw up more and runny soft poo that smells like hell. Then people usually say enough of this and give them up to a shelter anyway, when all they had to do in the first place is be loving, patient and an attentive trainer for a few months. I can't say this enough, If you look at any humane society's statistics as to why pets were given up the #1 reason is because they have become "inconveniences" to their owners either by being sick or having behavioral issues.

HERE'S AN UPDATE ON THE LEGALITY OF FILING A CAT OR DOGS TEETH;
First off filing does exist, but only as a therapeutic solution to a pre existing medical condition. For example some cats and dogs grow excessively long teeth, that when they close their mouthes or eat the teeth cut into the gums or their "lip" area and cause soares and wounds. In this case a vet can file them down to relieve the pain of eating or closing their mouths, and vets can only file down to a certain point that even they say is not enough to correct any biting "behavioral issues". In other words they cannot take off enough to make any sort of difference to correcting a behavioral issue. It is ILLEGAL EVERYWHERE TO FILE A CAT OR DOGS TEETH TO THEIR GUM LINE OR EVEN CLOSE TO THEIR GUM LINE. IF IT IS DONE BY YOURSELF THAN THERE IS A HUGE FINE AND YOU WILL HAVE A CRIMINAL CHARGE OF ANIMAL CRUELTY ADDED TO YOUR RECORD, Which will disqualify you from owning an animal in the future. As well reading many articles about this too many people have tried to do this themselves at home, as they can not find a vet who will do it. Then these stupid people take their animal to the vet when it get's sick and the vet reports them for animal cruelty. This has happened so many times that a president has been set, NOW PEOPLE WHO DO THIS HAVE A 99% CHANCE THAT IN ADDITION TO THE HUGE FINE THEY WILL SPEND TIME IN JAIL FOR THE CRIME AS WELL. I say YAY!!!

To be clear, It is legal for vets to do this when there is a medical reason to do so. It is also legal for a vet, NOT YOU, A VET. To file them down ONLY A FEW MILLIMETER'S TO TRY AND CURB BEHAVIORAL ISSUES. WHICH VET'S THEMSELVES SAY IS NOT ENOUGH TO CURB BEHAVIORAL ISSUES. AND EVEN THAT IS ONLY LEGAL IN A FEW BACKWARD PLACES AROUND THE WORLD. Even where it is legal for a vet to do so, many will NOT do it due to the controversy surrounding this issue. They fear the trouble that may come from animal rights activists and the law if it determines that they filed down to much. They just don't need the headache. So your chances of finding one is close to nil. I say YAY, again.