Declawed

[Bryce]

i went to a breeders house to look at sum pups for sale and he said all his pups were declawed is that bad for a dog?

[miakoda]

I'm going to go out on a branch here & guess that he meant to say that the pups have had their dewclaws removed. The dewclaws are the toes on the inside of the legs....like thumbs. Dewclaw removal is common in some breeds, but not in any of the 'pit bull' breeds.

As for pups being declawed, I've never heard of it. A declaw is when the very tip of the toe is taking off to remove the claws (no it's not just the claw that's removed, the entire end of the toe is chopped off). It is a common procedure for cats whose owners are too lazy to buy them appropriate scratching posts & the like.

[maximusflys]

What he meant was the thumb nail on the side of dog's feet and is pretty normal in alot of dogs to have the declaws removed.

[Bryce]

yea i might have misunderstood but im pretty sure he said they were declawed

[Bryce]

yea i feel stupid

[ABK]

It is a common procedure for cats whose owners are too lazy to buy them appropriate scratching posts & the like.
You are quite knowledgable, but I have to disagree w/ that comment Mia. My mother had several cats & almost all of them had their fronts declawed. When I got out on my own & got my own cats I figured I would leave them "au naturale" & just provide them scratching equipment. I had always heard if they were provided proper equipment that inappropritate scratching wouldn't be a problem.

Yea, right. My cats have scratching posts, scratching disks & even a floor-to-ceiling cat tree to scratch, to include the cat-nip scented type. These cats have more scratching items then most kids have toys. But guess what they scratch? My carpeting, my walls & my door facings. Sure, they use their cat toys. But my house has sustained hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars of damage due to inappropriate scratching & I have learned my lesson.

All my cats hereafter will be declawed!

[mikelia]

I have had many many cats over my lifetime, have 4 currently, and have never had a cat declawed (aside from one rescue who came declawed). I have never had a problem with my cats scratching on things they are not supposed to. If they ever have, they were given shit for it and didn't do it again.

Not to hijack the thread, but being one case IMO doesn't mean much.

[Michele]

yea i feel stupid
don't feel that way. You've come to a really great forum to learn and educate yourself..:)

[ABK]

I have had many many cats over my lifetime, have 4 currently, and have never had a cat declawed (aside from one rescue who came declawed). I have never had a problem with my cats scratching on things they are not supposed to. If they ever have, they were given shit for it and didn't do it again.

Not to hijack the thread, but being one case IMO doesn't mean much.Do you have any secrets you'd like to share mikelia?? I have done everything "by the book" as far as to keep a cat from scratching, to include busting their butts when I catch them doing it. Yet they still scratch both their stuff AND mine. PM me if you'd like, any & all help is appreciated!!!!

[Old Timer]

more than likely it was the dew claws like was already stated.but as far as cats i hate em myself filthy sneaky animals.they bring nothing but ring worm and parvo along with them,always scratching and clawing and spraying everything.never would own a cat to me the only good cat is a dead cat,but a lot of folks like em.have to say if i was a cat person though they would be declawed front and back.

[bahamutt99]

We have to trim our cat's claws regularly, because he is a sneaky little bastard that will break whatever rules he can when he thinks he can get away with it. Anytime something new comes into the house, he assumes its there for him to jump and scratch on. He has his own scratching post, but I'm not going to turn my house into a kitty museum so he can have a wide selection of claw sharpeners. He just needs to obey the rules. (Can you tell I'm a dog person?)

As for dewclaws, Loki had hers removed by the breeder. I don't care if they get done or not, but I doubt she misses them.

[laurajean]

When I was a girl, we lived in the country and had un-declawed cats, who went outdoors. I guess they did their scratching out there. The problem with declawed cats is that they then have no defenses so must be kept indoors. Many people I know with indoor cats seem to have a problem emptying their litter boxes and their houses smell.
Most of my cats have been indoor-outdoor cats, but then I generally lived in the country so it was cool...no neighbors to be bothered by the cats using the neighbors' as bathroom facilities. Now that i live in the suburbs, I know that this is a problem for some people.
I guess this rambling has nothing to do with declawing dogs. I had a Weimariener that had her dewclaws removed and know that it is frequently done on hunting dogs to save them injuring their dewclaws as they run through the brush.
Never heard of it for "pit bulls" though.

[ABK]

Yea, I trim my guys' claws regularly as well. It curbs it somewhat, but they still scratch where they shouldn't. And it makes me pull my hair out b/c I bought TONS of cat scratch items for them! I will say in their defense that they DO use the items I bought for them, but they still scratch on my stuff too!

We always had indoor-outdoor cats too & I did not have this problem when they could go outside & scratch on all the trees they wanted, but sadly we have moved from a farm into a neighborhood & for their safety & the consideration of my neighbors they must stay indoors.

I am thinking of just getting a big ole tree trunk to put in the house. Maybe that would stop them! lol.

[Tonka03]

yea i feel stupid

Dont feel stupid... the stupid part would be to never try and undertsand and then talk about it like you knew what you were talking about!!


Tony

[Phebes]

Yea, I trim my guys' claws regularly as well. It curbs it somewhat, but they still scratch where they shouldn't. And it makes me pull my hair out b/c I bought TONS of cat scratch items for them! I will say in their defense that they DO use the items I bought for them, but they still scratch on my stuff too!

We always had indoor-outdoor cats too & I did not have this problem when they could go outside & scratch on all the trees they wanted, but sadly we have moved from a farm into a neighborhood & for their safety & the consideration of my neighbors they must stay indoors.

I am thinking of just getting a big ole tree trunk to put in the house. Maybe that would stop them! lol.
Now we had one. It was a drift wood tree trunk and there was no bark. We polished it and put it on the hearth. Looked really nice but the cats didn't like it. LOL
I guess they prefer my antiques. I have a 125 years old dresser I have had for 40 years and Emily a 3 1/2 legged cat that can't go outside, because she could injure her stump, thinks the corner on it is her own scratching post.
If anyone figures out how to make cats scratch were they should let us know cause I live with 6 that can't go outside and they have pretty much destroyed my carpet with the scratching not to mention some furniture.

[coolhandjean]

more than likely it was the dew claws like was already stated.but as far as cats i hate em myself filthy sneaky animals.they bring nothing but ring worm and parvo along with them,always scratching and clawing and spraying everything.never would own a cat to me the only good cat is a dead cat,but a lot of folks like em.have to say if i was a cat person though they would be declawed front and back.I feel the same way...I have never been a fan of cats, and cats know it. I have been attacked by many cats that supposely "never" done that before. lol.

[ABK]

I feel the same way...I have never been a fan of cats, and cats know it. I have been attacked by many cats that supposely "never" done that before. lol.Maybe they sensed your negative energy? I know if a cat (or most any other animal) feels stressed if will attack. If the cat "knows" you don't like it, this may put the cat on edge, thus setting the both of you up for a bad interaction.

But I doubt it's anything personal. I'd guess it's a reaction to the negative energy in the environment. I don't think evil cats sit up at night thinking about how to attack you.

In fact, I know they're not. They're up e-mailing MY cats giving them tips on how to further ruin my house!! ;)

[Old Timer]

I feel the same way...I have never been a fan of cats, and cats know it. I have been attacked by many cats that supposely "never" done that before. lol.now i never have been attacked per say.i mean they have fuzzed up on me and started hissing but i have a noise i can make with my mouth and they head for the hills.i guess cause it sounds like a snake hissing they don't like it but it works.but Dave (TEXAS PIT DOGS) always told me he would say Jesse you know cats are half and half.and i said what do you mean by that,and he said they are half in and half out.and again i said i don't get ya Dave.he said they are half good and half evil.they have the eyes of a serpent and they have been known to suck the life out of a infant because they smell the milk on a baby's breath.and i do agree with him something about them look evil and you really never do know what a cat is going to do.to me they show no emotion now i don't know if it is just because i have never experinced cats or really been around them or not but i can't never tell what a cat might do like you can with a dog.but like i said i just don't like em not even as mousers there are plenty of little terriers in my opinion that can do just as good.

[ABK]

A lot of ppl don't understand cats & as such there are a lot of myths surrounding them. (such as cats sucking out an infant's breath - this is not true, see link: http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.htm), that they are devils in disguise or that they can even cause storms out of their tails.

Often times if a person is hostile toward the cat, the cat will repsond in kind - such as hissing & puffing or even attacking.

But cats are just like any other animal. I don't think they harbor devils murder babies or cause storms. Nor are they good or are they evil. They're just cats, just like a dog is a dog or a bat is a bat.

As for emotion, they show plenty of emotion. I have had my cats cuddle w/ me, jump in my arms to be petted, beg for food, show annoyance & in the case of y'all they showed stress & fear.

[Old Timer]

A lot of ppl don't understand cats & as such there are a lot of myths surrounding them. (such as cats sucking out an infant's breath - this is not true, see link: http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/catsuck.htm), that they are devils in disguise or that they can even cause storms out of their tails.

Often times if a person is hostile toward the cat, the cat will repsond in kind - such as hissing & puffing or even attacking.

But cats are just like any other animal. I don't think they harbor devils murder babies or cause storms. Nor are they good or are they evil. They're just cats, just like a dog is a dog or a bat is a bat.

As for emotion, they show plenty of emotion. I have had my cats cuddle w/ me, jump in my arms to be petted, beg for food, show annoyance & in the case of y'all they showed stress & fear.now i don't know about the fancy article but Dave told me that he saw with his own 2 eyes the funeral for a infant when he was a boy where the family cat jumped up into bed with the baby sat down on it's chest and was trying to get the milk that it smelled on the girls mouth and killed the baby.and to me they do look evil and have the eye of a snake wich is THE most evil animal in my book.but like i said i just don't like cats and i don't trust em one bit.i get a evil vibe off of em and i go with y gut.never seen them do anything myself but i do belive what my best friend told me.

[cheekymunkee]

Maybe they sensed your negative energy? I know if a cat (or most any other animal) feels stressed if will attack. If the cat "knows" you don't like it, this may put the cat on edge, thus setting the both of you up for a bad interaction.

But I doubt it's anything personal. I'd guess it's a reaction to the negative energy in the environment. I don't think evil cats sit up at night thinking about how to attack you.

In fact, I know they're not. They're up e-mailing MY cats giving them tips on how to further ruin my house!! ;)
AND mine!! I swear these damn cats have torn up my house WAY more than my dogs ever even thought about. Once these 4 are gone ( if they don't outlive me & they probably will) there will be no more.

[ABK]

Yep, same here. And I thought dogs were hard on a house! :rolleyes:

But after these ones pass & if the Lord wills I out live them, I will get more. I can't live w/o at least one kitty in the house. But it WILL be declawed!