Allow me to throw in my 2ยข worth about the subject of declawing.
Alicia and I have been together now for 20 years. In that time, prior to the newest bunch of kittens, we've had 4 cats. All of them have been indoor cats. Both of our feeling is that a cat has a much greater chance of living a long life if he or she isn't exposed to other strays, wild predators, and fast heavy automobiles to make kittens into pancakes. To me, it's more humane to have them inside than out. But that's just me, I don't ridicule someone if they chose to let their cat out. Like anything else, it's a personal decision.
Our first cat, Frosty, was never declawed. We got him a few months before we got married. Several times during his life he developed infections in his front paws. One was so bad he had to have one of his "thumbs" amputated. Frosty was not that aggressive, but he never learned despite years of trying to lovingly train him, and with scratching posts and aluminum foil all over the house, to NOT rip the furniture to shreds. But that isn't the point, the furniture was crap anyway, and we eventually replaced it after the stuffing was strung all over the house.
Our second cat, Tigre, initially was not declawed. Tigre however was very aggressive. So much in fact, that she would take after Frosty about once a month and tear into him. You've never seen a cat fight until you watched those two go around the house, with Frosty running for his life. One evening, about a year after we moved to South Dakota, her and Frosty got into it. She laid a claw into Frosty's eye so bad it ripped the cornea. Frosty, being the pacifist that he was, never fought back, but just laid there and bled. After an emergency room visit at 11pm to put Frosty's eye back together, we decided to declaw Tigre instead of putting her down. Which is what some people would have done at that point. After the declawing surgery, Tigre actually became LESS aggressive. She later passed on to the Rainbow bridge, not because of any declawing trauma, but failed kidneys.
Tigre's replacement was a little girl kitty we named Lil Miss. We made the decision that we could not put Frosty through that ever again, and since all of our cats remain indoors, we went ahead with both the neutering and declawing when she was young. Lil miss never had any problems, never turned aggressive, never bit Frosty, or suffered any personality changes. She too, was a lover. She was daddy's kitty.
A few years after that, we lost Frosty. He was 15 when he moved to the Bridge. That was painful, as he was "our" first baby. He lived a long and loving life. No, he lived 9 loving lives.
Then came Max. He was the replacement for Frosty. Again, we made the decision to have the surgery. Max too, is one of the most loving cats I've ever known. Max gives nose kisses to mommy and daddy at night. Or at least he used to, until the new babies arrived, LOL. He never experienced any trauma or personality issues, in fact he became even more "lovie" as he's grown older.
A couple years ago we lost Lil Miss, for the same reason we lost Tigre. That left us with just Max, until last September when we rescued the 7 little kittens from certain death.
So what's my point in all this? Declawing is a personal decision, based on individual circumstances. Our cats live indoors, they will never experience having to run for their lives trying to evade a predator, climbing a tree to save him or herself. Or, turning aggressive and ripping someone ELSE's outside kitty to shreds, because they violated their territory. Or, in the case we've experienced in our own lives, taking after one of each other.
Our veterinarian is somebody we've used and trusted our cats' lives with for years. She's the best. We've discussed the issues, pro and con with her. If either one of us were even remotely concerned about her skills and abilities, we would not go through with it.
I certainly hope that our decision hasn't affected our relationship with anybody here. Please respect our decision. We don't take this lightly.
This group has meant a lot to us, more especially to Alicia however.
Take care, and have a happy 2009.
