Yeah, and in some countries, cats are a main entree on the menu.

Sorry, sometimes declawing is the humane thing to do.

It's not the same? It's a different part of the cat, that is the only
difference.

A first line of defense against what? A couch? Many people, including
myself, do not allow our cats outside. There are just too many dead
cats on the side of the road and wild cats around here for me to be
comfortable with it. So their claws are useless to them. I'm not saying
de-clawing it right (I would not do it to my cats) but to someone who
cares about their car and their $2000 in furniture. I can see their
argument.

Yes..tell me about putting homeless cats to sleep! I took in a stray this
past late winter, he had hurt his paw. Took him to the vet to get his paw
checked out. He ended up staying behind and being put to sleep due to being
inflicted with Leukemia. Nearly broke my heart! I also feed about 3-4
homeless cats (2 were deserted by their owners based on fact).

How can neutering be cruel? *Not* to neuter a cat is cruel!
- Also to the owner who has to put up with spraying, meowing, looking for
cats that have wandered away, treating wounds from cat fights, looking for
homes for unwanted kittens etc.

Carola

I have a lot of sympathy for Matt the original poster.  Sorry about
your loss matey! :( It sucks big time.

Neil - Your comments in your reply were out of order.  You need to be
respectful when someone has lost a pet they obviously cared about a
lot, despite your personal views on de-clawing.  I completely agree
with you on de-clawing by the way, but your response was harsh and
unnecessary.

On what Matt has told us in his original post, it appears that
everything went smoothly until they tried to revive the cat. Putting
aside your personal opinion of cats being de-clawed, to me it would
seem that the actual de-clawing part of the operation was not the
reason why the cat passed away. A lot of operations with cats are
successful, however there is always an element of risk involved and
sometimes unfortunately it may not be possible to revive a cat.
Perhaps this has more to do with the injection used to revive them. It
may be difficult to determine the precise dose needed for different
cats.  Unfortunately this is just one of those things.  A lot of cats
are killed in the road by cars, and that is pretty horrific and messy.
If there is any consolation from this, then at the very least it was
painless and he passed over peacefully. Not much consolation I know
when you have lost a pet you loved.

Pookie - I agree you need to have a heart when someone has lost a pet
they loved.  I am personally against de-clawing and would advise
everyone who keeps or intends to keep a cat against it. On the subject
of circumcision, I would personally say that this also is mutilation.
I wouldn't go around telling Moms who have done that to their sons
that it is wrong though whether that is for religious reasons or
whatever.  I wonder what would happen though if boys were given the
options of choosing for themselves whether they are circumcised or not
when they turn 18 or 21, as opposed to not having any say in the
matter? I wonder which option most would choose?  Of course if you
have been circumcised as a baby or young child then it may not make
any difference to you today. I do know that there are many who have
though, who wish that choice hadn't been made for them.

Getting back on topic...

As I have previously said on the subject of de-clawing and with the
deepest respect to Matt, I believe you should 'never' get a cat
de-clawed.  It doesn't just change the cat physically, but it also
affects them mentally and psychologically changes their personality.
Even if the operation had been a success, the cat would still have
been psychologically damaged.  It wouldn't have been the same cat.
Cats rely on the claws for survival in the wild. Cats as pets are no
different. Whether you let them out at night or in the day, they are
then 'in the wild' and need those claws. Without them they would feel
a part of themselves missing, a very major and vital part that they
rely on.  If the cat had been de-clawed it would have felt like an
injury to the cat.  Cats use their claws to help them climb up trees,
cling on to things, hunt, stretch, catch and kill things, and defend
themselves from other cats and predators. Without them they are at a
huge disadvantage.  Even if you are only playing with your cat in the
home and he is chasing things, at that point despite being indoors he
is in predator mode and is 'in the wild', he needs those claws and
teeth to catch that piece of string, toy mouse or feathers you are
swaying in the air.

You have to be willing to take a little damage to some of your carpets
and furniture if you are going to have a cat as a pet.  I wouldn't
advise you chose a cat for a pet if you are not prepared for all that
it entails. The same goes for Chinchillas and other animals that need
to scratch and use their teeth too.  We just learned to accept that
some or our furniture and carpets are going to 'get it' from the cats
claws.

You can train cats though to an extent whereby they know that certain
areas are off limits and they are in big trouble if they try to go
there.

Ditty - Personally I don't believe de-clawing can ever be the humane
thing to do. It is only humane in terms of the owners needs. I fail to
see any way in which de-clawing can be humane for a cat; it doesn't
benefit the cat in any way, and puts it at a major disadvantage as
well as damaging it psychologically. It is something that only
benefits the owner.

Whayface - I'm not a bleeding heart anti de-clawer, I do disagree with
your viewpoint though. I personally believe that life indoors is not
much of a life for a cat. I also believe that a de-clawed cat doesn't
enjoy the life or freedom of a normal cat. It puts them at a major
disadvantage and can damage them psychologically.  Perhaps if
de-clawing were done when the cats are very young it wouldn't affect
them to the same degree. Nonetheless I still believe the practice to
be completely wrong, and something that doesn't benefit the cat in any
way, but harms them.  It only benefits the humans. A de-clawed cat is
not a cat, in my opinion.

Todd - We allow our cat out every day.  Roads are dangerous, however
they are dangerous for us humans as well as cats. We don't stay
confined inside because of this.  This is what life is all about. It
is about freedom.  Vehicles on the road sometimes kill cats and that
is unfortunate.  I would say a majority of cats though would learn
very quickly that roads are dangerous and generally they will stay
away from them when they are busy with noisy traffic.  

I would rather my cat be able to go outside and enjoy all the benefits
and freedom and take the small risk that is involved naturally in
"nature" (i.e. laws of natural selection) than for them to be
artificially confined to a life indoors were they miss out on a lot of
the activities a normal cat, claws included, would engage in.  

Once a cat has been de-clawed, it would effectively be cruel to let
them venture outside.  I don't see the argument to someone who cares
about material goods, whether that's a $2000 couch or a $50,000 car,
above that of their pet. If they do care about their couch more, then
perhaps a cat is not the best choice of pet for them in the first
place? You can replace a couch and a car, but you can never replace
the same cat.  That is my opinion and is where I stand on that.

Phil - Our cat is not neutered.  Neutering would prevent any cancer in
that part of the body if it were no longer present :)  Of course it
doesn't mean that 95% of cats would have got any form of cancer anyway
had they not been neutered.  Our cat is very chilled out. He is asleep
half the time.  He is also extremely hygienic. He always seems to be
paying attending to a certain part of his body with his tongue. It is
most amusing especially if you have it on camcorder with commentary :)

Our cat is extremely friendly.  He has not been in many fights. In
fact another male in the neighbourhood that is half his size, and has
more likely than not been neutered bullies him.

Technically, you could say that a cat, which has been neutered, is no
longer male or female. It is then asexual.

Does neutering benefit the cat as well as the owner?  Does it "really"
make that much of a difference?  Granted it may be the responsible
thing to do, however is it not natural for female cats to be in heat
and males to get stressed out now and again? Is this not just what is
known as 'nature'? Is it necessary for both sexes to get neutered?
After all we are talking about contraception here, albeit permanent
contraception.  Can a male or female cat get a vasectomy? Is neutering
the only option?  I haven't really formed much of an opinion yet on
neutering.

Carola - Why do you believe it is cruel to "not" neuter a cat?  We
have never witnessed our cat spraying?  Perhaps this is something he
might do outside? He certainly doesn't do anything like that inside :)
As for Meowing, that is what cats are supposed to do naturally is it
not? :) It comes as standard with the purring, scratching et cetera.  

Our cat has never wondered away for more than one day at the most.  He
usually comes back every evening when he is hungry.  We often let him
come and go as he pleases.  As far as cat fights go he has never
really been in any!  The vet did say she was surprised that he had not
been in a few being a male.  However our cat sometimes gets bullied by
a small black male cat half his size that is more likely than not
neutered and is quite aggressive. Our cat, which is pretty big and
strong usually just runs away or avoids him altogether! I am actually
quite dismayed about that, and the fact he is being bullied.  I have
been training him a lot to chase things all over our living room.  We
have never had any major wounds to treat for our cat. Just a slight
scratch from another cat, probably the small black aggressive one that
is likely neutered.  

As for unwanted kittens, I would tend to agree that "contraception for
cats" is a responsible thing to do.  I don't know whether I would
personally include neutering as that form of contraception.  

It just didn't happen for our cat.  When I use the word "our", it is
technically not "my" cat, my sister is the owner, but she moved back
home so it has become the family cat now.  She was actually going to
get him neutered and had pencilled in a date in her diary to do so,
however she went through a very difficult and trying time in her life
and by the time it came up again, the cat was too old for it, it was
already past the stage were it should have really been done.  I
wouldn't ever change the way he was now though, he is perfect the way
he is. I believe he is how a normal British Shorthair, claws included,
should be, well, apart from the bit were he doesn't do anything when
that little black cat charges for him :)

Phil - (again:) Our cat is fully clawed. Damage to carpets and
furniture is minimal or hardly noticeable. Even if there was
noticeable damage, you can get it repaired, have a throw over if it's
a couch or eventually just by new furniture anyway.  There are things
you can do to prevent damage.  Even training your cat not to claw
certain items of furniture is a good method.  

Perhaps also, a lot of people posting in here would find that their
cats had they been allowed to go outside on a regular basis in the
first place, their claws would have been kept worn down by their
ventures in the outside world, e.g. climbing up trees, walls, charging
to catch prey et cetera.

John