[trisham]

Agreed. The only thing that I will say about declawing a cat is that it's better than the alternatives of sending it to a place where who knows what will happen to it over time, or having it put to sleep. Some cats are incredibly destructive. The operation is performed with anaesthesia and post surgery pain meds. To me it should be a last-ditch effort by an owner who loves his/her cat, and wants it to spend the rest of it's long life with him/her. Such cats must be indoor cats for the remainder of their lives.

We very much like, but don't own cats as Mr. t. is terribly allergic to them.

[trisham]

the rest of its long life

[Monkey Face]

I have no argument with that. I had a declawed cat, but at the same time, I learned that in Germany, and other European countries, you can be jailed for declawing a cat.

That’s not to say you need to “get rid of” a destructive cat. Some cats are just that way, and cannot adapt to “captivity.” If there is no alternative to the destructive nature, then by all means, have the cat declawed. Euthanasia is not an option as far as I’m concerned. Only old age and incurable disease should warrant putting an animal to “sleep.”

[TheOldLady]

Hi Trish and Face!

We have three cats who have all their claws, and we live with the damage.

They do have all sorts of places where they’re allowed to scratch, such as the 7’ cat condo we built for them and several kitty caves
and other plush, upholstered just-for-the-cat places to sleep and/or sit and scratch.

It works out pretty well. Thank goodness Vellux blankets are cheap. They can really tear them up, but we just toss ‘em and buy more
to cover the stuff we don’t want torn up and/or covered with cat hair.

[Rodamala]