Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:55:03 PM
A lot of fair points in this post and although I am late I feel the need to make a few points.
I had a cat for 15 years. The only time she ever scratched me was when she was a kitten and didn't realize that feet under a blanket aren`t meant to be attacked. (I suspect this was just a normal hunting behavior of hers and she grew out of it.)
My mom has a cat who viciously hated me for a long time. It was the cats prerogative to hate me even if I didn`t do anything to her. However, we are now nicely acquainted and she even allows me to give her belly rubs. Once in a while if shes not in the mood for a belly rub she will put her claws on the back of my hand as a warning.
It is really all about how you raise your animals. If you are kind to them and treat them right they will treat you right too.
Declawing is awful. I have never had a cat of mine declawed and I never will. All it takes is proper training to teach a cat what is appropriate to scratch.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 10:21:14 AM
It is not as Patchgrabber suggested either, it's not like chopping off your fingers. You have no idea what you`re talking about. I was told about the declawing procedure from my ex, who is a small animal veterinarian. I also didn`t say chopping off your whole finger, just the two distal bones. It is exactly as I`ve described, and it IS barbaric, without purpose.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012 9:07:03 AM
it's not like chopping off your fingers.
Pure ignorance. That`s precisely what it is. They cut off the entire tip including the tip of the finger-bone. The equivalent of taking half of the last section of your finger off. My three year old has started scratching recently, I suppose it`s not abuse to chop the tips of his fingers off?