It proposes a substantial fine and jail time for veterinarians and pet owners. A similar proposal is under consideration in New York State.
I’m not a fan of nanny states, but this proposal is humane. “Declawing” isn’t declawing. It’s partially de-pawing. If you don’t want your furniture shredded, don’t get a cat.
Or buy slipcovers…and provide the cat with options he/she can scratch.
We have always had 2 cats, we’ve never had them declawed, and our upholstery is in perfect condition.
The key is to have a cat tree or sisal post for the kitties to scratch.
When i bring home a new kitty, i take it over to the cat tree and scratch his paws on it. Anytime the new kitty tries to scratch furniture, i bring him over to the cat tree and let him scratch there.
The cats learn quickly and my furniture is spared!
Declawing is cruel and inhumane. If the cats ever slips out the door, he has no way to defend himself.
Good.
Why we allow de-clawing, tail and ear docking, and other disfiguring procedures that are not beneficial to an animal’s health is beyond me. Europe and many other places are, unsurprisingly, way ahead of us on things like this.
I value my cats way more than I value my furniture. Declawing has always been illegal at my house.
@sarha:
That isn’t true, most of the time when cats are declawed they have the front paws done (which are the ones that do the damage on furniture and such), the rear, fighting claws are left in, so they could defend themselves.
I am of two minds about this, I understand why people are against declawing but on the other hand given how many cats are in shelters and are often euthenized, what is the more cruel thing? My cat is not declawed, no way I could do that (he is half wild, and there is no way he could be a pure housecat), but I wonder what the more cruel thing is.
Can they add making it illegal to have a vegan/vegetarian cat?
“given how many cats are in shelters and are often euthenized, what is the more cruel thing?”
That’s my concern. If all the families that prefer declawed cats just don’t have any cats, that means adoptable cats will die.
I choose not to declaw, but I don’t think it should be illegal for young kittens. If it is done when they are the right age, they have a few days of very sad pain, but they recover and they don’t know that they are declawed. They do the same scratching and pouncing behaviors as other cats.
" If the cats ever slips out the door, he has no way to defend himself."
Cats who get out aren’t slashed to death by other cats, whether they have claws or not. The real risk is cars. If you have a sneaky escapee cat, put a collar on her with a tag directing humans to bring her home, or add a screen door.
I hate de-clawing but not sure about this proposed law.
Go ahead and hate me - we declawed our two cats. They were indoor cats with no desire to go outside, and they never did. They were totally destroying our furniture - and we tried everything. Tape on the furniture. Scratching posts, several different kinds. Electric shock pads. Water spraying bottles. Nothing deterred them. They were just fine after - no change in personality at all. One lived to 19, always happy. Our 2 new cats love the scratching post and don’t attack furniture.
No hate here. I had a declawed cat. This was done for a reason - the cat loved to lounge on kiddo’s bed and if something startled her, she would leap in the air and land with all claws out. I did not care if she used the couch to scratch… but kiddo almost lost an eye. I almost did, too - cat sat in my lap, and when she got spooked by a Pink Floyd song, she flew up in the air and landed on the top of my head, her front claws stuck in my eybrows and eyelids. Mr. wanted the cat OUT, so declawing was a perfect compromise.
The current cats are just fine… you can fire a cannon next to them, and they would not move. 
Put me on the “cruelty to animals” list. I have had both clawed and declawed cats - with good reasons for each decision.
I don’t think my vet would agree with this law as he said too many inside cats become outside only or taken to a shelter because they ruin furniture. He told me that inside cats live longer lives due to less need to visit him for injury of any sort. He doesn’t rule out anything that keeps the cat inside and a part of the family. Declawing may not be the best answer but sometimes it is the needed answer. In our area, many outside cats - stray or not - are being diagnosed with FIV - easily spread in a cat fight. FIV doesn’t have to be a death sentence but the death sentence is never far away since any minor illness turns into a major one. We had our outside cat get FIV and afterwards had to watch over him - if he felt bad at all he went to the vet. No waiting to see if it was serious.
I haven’t had a cat in about 20 years, but the two I owned I had declawed. They were both indoor cats and lived to a ripe old age. They were declawed as kittens and never had any issues from the declawing.
I wouid never have a cat I wouid allow outside.
Tail docking can be beneficial in some breeds, like sporting breeds that are likely to break their tail (not pretty). Also breeds that have been bred with the expectation their tails will be docked. They often have poorly developed tails due to the fact a healthy tail is not an attribute that they were bred for.
There are a few breeds of European origin that are know for ear and tail docking for ornamentation purposes, perhaps that is why they have seen the need to pass laws.
I bear no animosity for folks who decide to de-claw their cats, but I wouldn’t do it for my own pet.
We declawed all cats, after a short trial period for the first one. Didn’t like the running around like an indoor Porsche and running up the drapes, stopping and hanging up there 5 feet off the ground. Also didn’t like carrying the destroyed upholstered furniture down to the basement, and buying all the scratching distractions that apparently weren’t attractive enough to compete with the good furniture.
They were all good cats, and lived fairly long lives. One of them died a “sudden” cat death, with no warning, at about age 10. Just found him dead one morning. The vet said it happens, and happened to her when she was cat-sitting for a friend while in vet school.
Anyway, if you can live your life the way you want to/ need to with a clawed cat, that’s good, and arguably the best thing, I suppose. We couldn’t. We might have been able to if we’d been able to persuade the cat to rip up the backs of the chairs, down low, for instance. But they liked the front, or the armrest, or the tops. Not sure why, other than maybe they were activist demonstrators trying to make some point. In any case, we got the message.
Cats have personalities. Some of them have personalities that, when combined with little knives, don’t mix well with infants. Pets are important; children are importanter. It’s a hard call.
I have never had a cat that would use a clawing post.
The cats that we adopted as kittens we had declawed. They would be racing around the house the minute we brought them home from the vet and had no issues. We adopted one adult cat and did not have her declawed as it can be painful for an older cat.
Spaying and neutering can also be stressful for cat. Will they be banning that next?
@dadx dying in their sleep is a blessing:)
My only issue with this is that declawed cats can have other issues after declawing. The litter can bother their paws, causing them to go elsewhere. They can also have behavioral issues after.
I wouldn’t. I do hate when they simply refuse the post, or launch like a rocket off the sofa, leaving a small rip:(