Originally Posted By SuzieQ We never had our Cocker Spaniel's tail bobbed. I'm not into pinning or taping ears, either. Unless there is a practical reason, I see no reason to alter a pet beyone the spay/neuter thing. If it had been left up to me, the dew claws would still be on my Jake as I'm not even sure what dew claw are!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 Our first cat of 14 years we did have declawed at the time she was 'fixed' because she was shredding everything in sight....( front claws only) - and she was an in house only cat.....now our new kitty ( since June) - we did not have declawed because quite frankly she has not ripped into anything...she has a scratching post, and there is a wicker clothes hamper she claws every now and then, but nothing else...so we decided against it at this point....I have seen what some cats can do to expensive woodwork in a house ( my sisters cats) - and declawing is better than yelling at them all the time or keeping them confined to an area IMHO.... Since our kitten has been good for 6 months + now, I am hoping she will stay that way and we will gladly leave her be. Now the vet did tell us they have a laser procedure for declawing ( like an extra $100 )- that is supposedly less painful and quicker recovery for cats...if we ever did have to do I would go that route.
Originally Posted By debtee Sue a declaw on a dog is like a thumb on our hand. Woody and Toby have their dewclaws of course, as it's illegal here not to and I just trim it like I do all their other nails on a regular basis.
Originally Posted By SuzieQ Why on earth would the AKC have dew claws removed from show dogs!? That makes no sense at all to me.
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka When we adopted our dog, Holiday, from PAWS, we had to promise not to have her de-barked. I had never heard of such a thing. Our dog has her dew claws. They are floppy. I always imagine them getting caught or tearing. My cat is an indoor/outdoor cat and claws some of the trees around. He rarely scratches us but it has happened.
Originally Posted By officerminnie We were always told it makes a "cleaner line" on the dog, the same reason they trim whiskers right down to the muzzle(another bad idea if you ask me). When we showed our Dalmatian, she had her dew claws AND her whiskers, and was still a Champion at 14 months. We knew she was so beautiful it didn't matter whether she had dew claws and whiskers or not, so we chose not to go that route.
Originally Posted By smeeeko I have NEVER declawed any of my cats nor our current furkids. Cats can be trained that scratching furniture is not appropriate and providing them with proper outlet for their scratching needs are a necessity. When getting stuff for our place I try to imagine what Bunny (our Alexander) would do with them. We get decoupage ornaments for our tree, (which Kiki thinks is a cat toy distribution system anyway)put our fragile things behind glass and secure all our stuff properly for protection from earthqauakes and cat climbing.. I don't see a need to remove their fingers to the first knuckle (you don't see people doing that so why do it to animals?? Is my furniture more important than my cats?? IMHO no... my cats are my babies). Some places in SoCal are learning that there are alternatives to such drastic measures and passing laws against it. Cats need protection from other people or animals that might hurt them.. You can always get those cap things. =)
Originally Posted By TiggerPooh1973 I agree nuut, it's not always so cut and dry I guess. If there is a good reason, like with your cat, then it makes sense. I just think doing it to save furniture and stuff from being scratched is wrong.
Originally Posted By peeaanuut We did it to our other cat because she got herself into so many bad situations with them that it was getting dangerous. She didnt scratch, but she would climb high into places and not know how to get down. Than when she would try to get down she would fall and hurt herself. (usually behind some furniture piece and get wedges) Or in the case of our drapes we came home one day and found her hanging bent backwards upside down. Her front claws didnt latch on and she basically fell backwards but hee back claws were hanging on for dear life. It didnt help that she was just psycho all around. But now she sleeps all day since she is getting old.
Originally Posted By officerminnie Cats have dew claws too. It is the claw on the inside of the front leg, just a lttle higher up from the other claws. Kind of where a thumb might be located.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I admit I haven't read all the posts but I'm going to jump in here. No we never declawed our cats. When they were young we would "burrito" them in a towel. One of us would hold them and the other would snip, snip, snip the tips of their nails. It's not hard after the first couple of times. If they found a special place on the furniture to scratch, we use clear packing tape. Just cover the area and they'll stop. Or go ahead now and cover any corners you think they might try. We trained them early with a scratching post "nest" type thing, that is both theirs to scratch up and hang out on and look out the window. A quick spray from a water bottle with a sharp "NO" works wonders. Cats are quick learners. Our cats know the word "NO" If our cats scratched us they got a "NO" with a soft bop to their nose. All our cats are indoor/slightly outdoor. Once they are "fixed" and learn the ropes we let them out for a bit. They learn early that they prefer to be in Ours go out during the day to patrol the yard for a bit or bask in the sun, then sit at the door yelling to come in Have fun with your kitty. I hope she/he fits into your family
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 I have to cats and yes they are declawed. When I got my first cat I was not going to declaw him. Then a year later we got a new kitten. He would just rip into everything and do matter what we would do he would just turn around and do it again. My couch was being torn up. And to make matters even worse was my first cat. He didn't strach the couch untill the second one did. Nik-He (cat #2) would scrach the couch and then Buttonhook (cat #1) would scrach right after. So I had to declaw. They are indoor cats only and I've had them for 12years now. They only go outside when we move. (carring them to the car..then back in the house again)
Originally Posted By SuzieQ I envy those of you who had success with the scratching posts, packing tape, squirt bottles, etc. Trust me, we tried it all! Nipper, who lived to be 17, tore holes in the carpet around my son's door. She wanted in with the baby. She became his cat the day he was born, and no-way, no-how was she going to be kept away from him! The instant he cried at night, that cat came to our door and started yowling for us to get up. Then she'd follow me into the room to make sure I was taking proper care of Travis. Callie loved the squirt bottle. *sigh* I'd give her a direct hit in the face and she'd look up for more. When I would take a bath, she would sit on the back corner of the tub, inside the shower doors. Sometimes she would walk around the entire edge of the tub. I was terrified she'd fall in one day and tear me to shreds trying to get out LOL. She would also walk into the shower as soon as you opened the door so she could rub on the wet walls, your wet legs, and lick the shower floor. She also drank running water from the faucets.
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m debtee, you or someone else brought up dew claws. Can someone explain them to me? We adopted an older Beagle from the SPCA and they said since she had her dew claws they would need to be removed. Should I have refused that procedure? They made it sound like the dew claws could cause problems for the dog and it was beneficial to have them removed. If I thought it wasn't necessary I would have refused it!
Originally Posted By t1lersm0m Lisann, your cat looks similar to mine, although mine is black. She is beautiful. how do you pronounce her name? Neesha? Like that?
Originally Posted By Lisann22 Thanks, like Knee-sha. She is named after the city my bro-in-law found her abandoned in a fireplace, Benicia.
Originally Posted By debtee t1lersm0m please don't worry now about your beagle. You did what advice was told to you at the time. I'm sure she is happy to be rescued by you. What's worrying me is that fact that there seems to be this belief in America that a dog can be hurt by it's dew claw??? What's worse it's the Vet's and breeders that are encouraging this belief! This is just BIZARRE. Every dog I have ever owned throughout my life naturally has their dewclaws and have never had ANY injuries from it. I have heard a theory that because the dewclaw is higher up the paw the dog can supposedly catch it on something and rip it...... Never has happened to my boys and they are very boisterous with each other and play all the time! Even if this does happen it would be an accident and would heal like any other injury. The dog is born with a dewclaw. It really is like their thumb and they treat it as such, Woody and Toby hold onto their bones with their dewclaw while eating them, it's just normal to them. It seems to me that this practice must have originated as a cosmetic look for breeders, because there really is no justification from an injury point of view! I really hope this practice is stopped in America in future years, as it's completely unnecessary!
Originally Posted By alexbook >>When we adopted our dog, Holiday, from PAWS, we had to promise not to have her de-barked. I had never heard of such a thing.<< There's also a similar operation for cats. We had a cat whose previous owner had had this done, and also had him declawed. We thought he'd probably also been kicked or beaten as well.
Originally Posted By avromark Well we in North America also seem to be fond of altering the body, from multiple piercing of children to bleaching their hair and beyond.
