Should I declaw my cat?

zitrojp, Imagine your life if you had to have your fingernails removed along with an alteration to the tendons in your hand that would only allow you to lay your hands flat on the tabletop without bending your fingers properly. Imagine having your toenails removed along with something in the structure of your feet that would render your feet limited in flexibility when you walk. Humans don't really need their fingernails for protecting themselves, but cats do... At some point, your knees, hips and back would start to give you problems - because your 'posture' would not be 'natural' like its supposed to be without these alterations. You'd have to learn to use your hands in a different way due to the alterations or simply not bother doing certain things with your hands because your hands would be impaired. Something LEFT OUT of the explanation about de-clawing cats is that the normal structure of their feet and their ability to assume a nature POSTURE is actually ALTERED when they have their claws removed. Humans don't use their nails on their feet for balance - Cat's do. Humans don't use their hands to walk on and for balance - cats do - they use all four feet all the time. When they are surgically declawed - usually good methods are used and they may not experience a great deal of pain once the operation is over and they are healing up...but this is not the more important point. The most important point is that - for the convenience of YOU not worrying about a scratch, your cat will suffer permanent, non-reversible body alignment alteration. You can most definitely train your cat not to swat near your face - and this will eliminate both the worry you have about your own eyes and the cost of paying for your cat to be declawed! The biggest bonus - you won't do something unnatural, harmful and permanent to your cat. declawed cats typically develop serious hip problems and require veterinary treatment, sometimes corrective surgery a few years down the road. These problems all occur because a cat's claws are supposed to have a certain curve due to the position of the nail - when a cat needs more balance, their claws come out so they can grip, balance, and steady themselves. ALSO - when they are declawed, not just the nails are removed. The cartilage part of their claw that holds their nails in when their claws are not extended - that part is removed, too - so really - it's like the nails PLUS the tips of the 'finger' are removed...This is why - even tho' a cat doesn't use 'nails' to balance while normally standing on the floor with claws in...the cat will have to learn to re-balance - because it will be standing on only a portion of each point of where the nails and cartilage used to be. This affects the overall general posture of the cat's skeleton. Please learn how to train your cat instead of having this de-clawing procedure done to your cat.

In all honesty, no. Like explained above, declawing a cat is practically like removing a toe or finger. It does in a lot of cases, change the personality of the cat and in a lot of those cases, makes the cat more agressive. Mainly, you just have to keep expressing your displeasure towards the cat when it does take a swipe at your face/eye. Most likely, the cat is playing, possibly seeing it's own reflection in your eyes(put a cat in front of the mirror and see how it reacts sometime). More or less pushing your cat away and using a stern voice to discipline the cat after it takes a swipe will teach it that such behavior is not okay. It'll get the hint eventually.

Absolutely not!! Declawing is a despicable, disgusting and inhumane practice. In fact it is illegal everywhere in the world apart from the USA, and, I believe, Canada. In my view, people who have cats and then subject them to such pain just to protect themselves and their furniture from a few scratches are basically ni better than animal abusers. Cats are animals - not toys- they need their claws for a purpose - just as people need their nails and teeth. If you don't want a few scratches on yourself on your furniture, then either don't have a cat or learn to train it properly. How anyone can say they love and want an animal and then subject it to the pain of having its' nails ripped from it's paws for no good reason, I can never understand. The cat will not be able to climb properly, protect itself from predators, or anything else. One day I sincerely hope the so-called "civilised" USA wakes up to how barbaric this repulsive practice is, and follows Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand etc in making it illegal.

No, it is never a good idea to get a cat declawed. It changes the entire personality of the cat, and is only done in extreme situations I believe. I mean extreme.

No! No! No! One should never declaw a cat...I did such a discussion about this sometime ago abou this very subject that goes into quite a bit of detail of how inhumane and cruel this is...There ARE alternatives ...one such is to get the product called soft paws, which are like caps one can put on the cats claws..But please read my discussion about it...it may help you understand about this surgical procedure better. http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1259346.aspx

I think that you should declaw your cat. I don't know that is is mean. I've haven't seen many house cats that still had their front claws. Your cat might not like it, but I'm sure that in a day or two it will forget about it. And having cats that aren't declawed could probably cost you money from all the furniture you have to replace, and not to metion the cost of surgery for your eye when it does finally get you.