Really, all it takes is a little training of the cat owners instead—trim their toenails and make a scratching post available.
Cats don’t scratch people unless they’re abused or they have been taught that rough play with their claws out is acceptable.
I agree with you. I’ve never had a kitten that I couldn’t train NOT to claw and scratch things it shouldn’t. And I’ve had a LOT of kittens over the years. Full disclosure: Mine have always been indoor/outdoor cats who go out and come in when they want.
Should there be a law against it? Probably not, though I would NEVER declaw a cat myself. Also, I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this, but it is getting harder to find a vet who will even perform the procedure as a routine matter. Mine won’t. (Don’t know if he’ll do it for “medical reasons,” and I’m not sure what those “medical reasons” would be.)
I think that in the future we will se more and more vets refusing to do it. So...NO on the law.
Regards,
Sorry, but that’s not remotely true... I’ve seen those arguments and my experience is that they are just as nutty as the new agers who claim your thoughts can change the physical world around you.
Its a nice idea, and may work for some, but it does not work for all. I remember one such coworker who presented those arguments to me, and bragged about how her cat never scratched anything... then one day she came home to find her very expensive leather couch shredded...
As to cats only scratching people when they are abused, that’s another laughable one. Cats can and will scratch folks when not playing and were not being abused, the cats may not have intended to scratch anyone, but they have, and with small children in my home I am not going to have to deal with a child having a scar because of a cats decision to use or not use its claws while in contact with them.
The reality is, cats are PETS, and its up to the pet owner to decide what and how they wish to care for their pet. Declawing is not abuse, it is not neglect. The simple reality is, go ahead and pass these sorts of laws, and you will just increase the number of neglected cats in the world... but you can feel better at night because you will somehow think you have made cats lives better... ignoring the fact that you have condemned millions more to die in shelters or live on the streets.
"Really, all it takes is a little training of the cat owners instead—trim their toenails and make a scratching post available."-9YearLurker
Depends on the cat. I've had cats most of my life and enjoy the company of two right now. The older of the two cats is simply too lazy to scratch anything. The younger, female will not ....WILL NOT be reduced to scratching a post or corrugated cardboard panels either. She prefers my wallpaper, vinyl chair covers, and wall panels ($$$ owens corning fabric covered fiberglass panels).
We've treated the fabric with deterrent sorats, provided dozens of climbing towers and commercially available scratching posts to no avail. I've nailed the scratching posts to the walls she preferred - even spraying the posts with scents to attract her. She pulls the panels down and tears away at the repaired wall paper instead.
So far, I've been able to re-affix the fabric to each of the fiberglass panels, but eventually they will need to be replaced. I worry about her paws getting cut up by the fiberglass bits she paws at (feels like a splinter), but so far, no injury.
Keeping both kitties nails trimmed is the best option for us thus far.
I've adopted declawed cats in the past. I personally cannot bring myself to declaw my cat, despite the damage she creates.
FWIW, she uses those paws to embrace my cheeks every morning as I come downstairs. She reaches her paws through the railings to reach my cheeks - where the stairs bend 180 degrees at a higher level - just to say good morning as she pulls her wet nose to mine. She never uses her nails, just the pads of her feet to embrace us. Who would want to change that?
Why NY needs a law to address this is lost on me.
I’d like to learn how to train these new cats from scratching the woodwork around doorways. Ours were really messed up by our previous cats. I think we’ve paid almost $9000.00 in cat fees that are non-refundable, so I’m not too worried about it; but I’d like to keep it from going further. (How much does it cost to replace the woodwork around a door, anyway?)
If they’ve gotten used to scratching the woodwork, will they switch to a scratching post if you put it near the woodwork?
-JT