bankston:

The Barking Army

Do you REALLY know what DECLAWING is? If you are considering declawing, you should know the facts.

Cat’s claws are not like our finger nails; their claws are closely adhered to the bone. In order to remove the claw, vets must remove the bone connecting the paw to the claw, so they are literally REMOVING the last joint of your cat’s “toes.” Picture that. Now do you see why declawing is inhumane? It’s a VERY painful surgery, with a painful recovery period. Think about this…when your cat is recovering, they can’t just “rest,” they use their paws EVERYDAY! Can you imagine JUST having surgery and having to use that part of your body RIGHT away? That would be extremely painful. They are amputating the bones from an animal just so your curtains don’t get scratched up.

Now you may say, “my cat is an indoor cat, it doesn’t need claws!” Well, what if your cat gets OUT? What will it have to defend itself with?

There are solutions out there to stop your pet from clawing the furniture. First, scratching posts are important to have in your home; they should help direct your cat away from the furniture. You can also make sure your cat’s nails are trimmed!

There is ALSO a solution called “Soft Paws.” Soft Paws are glued onto your cat’s front nails and do not allow the cat to physically scratch, but you need to be careful with that solution, learn the pros and cons before you apply them, and also know how to properly use them. You can also speak to your vet about ways to direct your cat to use a scratching post.

This makes me want to cry and rip off the fingernails of any person who has done this to their cats.