This is not going to be a popular position, I am not going
to make a lot of friends
with this one.
I have three cats. All of them are declawed and
spayed/neutered.
One of the cats, Gilligan, was a rescue kitty. He was found
on one of the
barrier islands in the Indian River (Hence,
"Gilligan") and he was my mother's kitty.
He was declawed when she got him. He was chosen by mother
after my father died.
When my mom moved in with us, there was no question,
Gilligan would be coming with her.
He was (and still IS) a wonderful pet. He stayed by my mothers side, on her bed, literally,
until the evening (July 4th) she died. (which, by the way, is more than I can
say for Hospice).
At the time, we had a kitty named Pyewacket. A black jungle
cat , who was HUGE in his prime, with green eyes that glowed in the dark. He
was also neutered and declawed. We hand-raised him from, I think 4 weeks old
and thought we'd never get him weaned.
Pyewacket, my beloved
kitty, died a month after my mother died. We had been treating him for several years for thyroid problems, and he
had a heart attack one sad Saturday night.
This time of year, actually today, I'm missing my
mom--today, Oct. 25 is my mother's birthday...and October...well Pyewacket
really loved Halloween.
Today, we were in the Melbourne Mall and saw a "pet
rescue" store front, and me being
who I am, I never can resist and went in. I was looking at all the animals and
there he was. A HUGE black kitty. He's an adult named "Nero". He
doesn't have a "bite history" and I was getting on the floor (he was
in a lower cage) to see if he might communicate with me. As I was doing this, I asked the woman who
was in attendance "Is he declawed?" and she said "No he's
not". She began talking about something called "soft claws"
which is re-applied every six-months.
She continued "It would keep him from destroying your
furniture." I replied "I'm not
worried about my furniture. I'm worried about my other animals."
She continued "We do get declawed animals and it's so
sad".
I turned my attention to Nero, now sure, I would never be
approved to get him, when she said to my husband "Do you have declawed
animals." and Walt answered we do, and one was a rescue animal.
She CONTINUED.."Soon you won't be able to find a vet
who will do a declaw because it's so maming to the animals.".
I got up from the floor (didn't realize I could still move
that fast) and said "That's IT. We're going."
I was SO unnerved and angry.
Maybe there ARE some people who declaw their animals and
then abandon them.
WE are not those people.
Maybe it isn't the natural order of surgeries for
cats...neither are them being spayed or neutered, but somehow that's "good
for them to control the population".
These "pet rescue" people are so unbelievably
controlling, they proffer forward a contract that make you promise you will NOT
have them (the cats) declawed. I never think to ask if you have to promise
about the dogs that you will not have their tails "bobbed".
What IS their political agenda?
I would think sending one of their (many) cats adopted out
to a loving home would be foremost on their minds. But no, apparently, it's
more important to make unsuspecting, potential families feel guilty about
declawing their felines.
We didn't, initially have ours declawed, until, when playing
with one another, one of our kitties sustained an eye injury, from one of the
other kitties. They weren't being malicious and I understand that "these
things happen." $200 later, after
caring for one of the kitties' eyes, we began to get them declawed.
Our cats do not go outside. They are inoculated , they have
no fleas and they are fed better than some humans . They have baskets full of
toys, two automated litter boxes , and a water fountain in their OWN ROOM in
our home.
I realize there ARE people who mis-treat , and abandon their
animals. WE are NOT those people.
My word for those people working with the "pet
rescue" organizations, pushing their declawing agendas, is spend at least
five minutes talking to potential adoptive families before you launch into your
diatribe.
One of our kittens we adopted from the flea market, and the
man that came ahead of us, wanted the kitten to feed his boa constrictor.
But it's ok. He wasn't going to have her declawed.
my 2 scheckles.
