Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

My cat didn't find this amusing at all.

gr (Anonymous) says…

If your cat is scratching, try ripping his claws out.

Pywacket (Anonymous) says…

gr— Dang. Persistent little beggars will still beat on the door with their paws. Try rigging up a 3 Stooges-esque contraption wherein a bucket of cold water pours down on them when they violate the sanctity of the door. Make sure to have a cat-drenching cam set up, ready to roll.

Note to Washington Post~ What the hell is “bubble paper”? Most of the real world knows the stuff as “bubble wrap,” and it's made of plastic. You're welcome.

alm77 (Anonymous) says…

Once we got our cat neutered he settled down so much we opened the door and now he sleeps in our room too or comes and goes as he pleases. I've had to push the purring furball off my side of the bed a couple of times but that sure beats having to get up and deal with him scratching at the door.

Newcomb (Anonymous) says…

My cat will shred the toilet paper any chance he gets. Should I wrap it up in bubble wrap as well? Any ideas?

snap_pop_no_crackle (Anonymous) says…

I thought this was a story about Ted Nugent….. never mind.

autie (Anonymous) says…

Newcomb, shooting them with a .22 will stop all the toilet paper shredding. just kiddding. That was a stupid article. Open the damn door and let the cat in..or if you don't like cats, don't have one. What does it covet? What is it's nature? Being on my bed, curled up in a cute little ball, purring loudly. It is my “counting sheep”.

Bunny_Hotcakes (Anonymous) says…

I never fail to be amazed at the people who try to un-cat their cat. (There used to be a declawed on all four feet and defanged cat up for adoption at the Lawrence Humane Society. WTF kind of monster does that?) If you want an animal that comes when it's called and can be trained to stay off the furniture, get a damn dog. I will also personally guarantee that a fish will never shred your toilet paper, pee in inappropriate places, or try to sleep on your face.

I love my cats, but I also love and accept their inherent catness.

yankeelady (Anonymous) says…

I worry when the cat isn't curled up next to me on the bed. What if I hurt her feelings or something ? And if she was doused with water or some such, who knows what might happen.
I do remember the poor cat that was at the shelter. I hope the people who did that to her were found and prosecuted.

cait48 (Anonymous) says…

My kitties sleep with me. The old neutered tom snuggles down under the covers with me and his purring is just the right white noise to send me to sleep. The kitten will bite my toes and wake me up if they poke out of the covers but a couple of well placed “warm boots” will take care of that. My bedroom door stays open. And like a previous poster I worry that one of them is mad at me for some reason if they don't get in bed with me.

jonas (Anonymous) says…

Our problem is that, when they all come in in the morning to let us know they are still alive and want food, one of our cats then closes the door behind them, trapping them all in. I'm not sure about the specific motivations, but I feel its probably akin to the old explorers burning their ships when they landed to further motivate their troops.

gr (Anonymous) says…

“I hope the people who did that to her were found and prosecuted.”

Ummm… I don't know about today, but it was fairly common to rip a cat's claws out in the past. It was done and paid through a vet, so that made it ok. Just like killin' a baby ya don't want - well not through a vet, usually.

“What if I hurt her feelings or something ?”

But, then maybe you were just being funny.

Das_Ubermime (Anonymous) says…

Geez, people. Some people live with cats because their spouse is a cat person. What would you have them do, break off the relationship because of a cat?!

My wife's cat was accustomed to sleeping in the bed and would cry and scratch at the door when it was closed. Then the cat discovered that the end result of such behavior was a half-asleep and very irate Ubermime charging out the door and chasing her with a squirt bottle (soaking everything in his path as the Ubermime has poor eyesight without his contacts in). The cat learned quickly and now is perfectly happy to sleep on the couch. Cats are a lot more trainable than most of their owners give them credit for.

yankeelady (Anonymous) says…

It isn't/wasn't common to declaw all 4 feet and pull kitties teeth out. I think that qualifies as cruel.

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

Having worked for a vet, and got to know 1000+ cats, I'd be willing to bet that particular cat had serious problems, or they wouldn't have done all that.

Most vets try to get people to only declaw the front paws to protect furniture. The cats need the rear claws for climbing trees to escape enemies.
But you all know that.

I have seen other animals lose eyes, and children get their faces scarred from sudden cat “slaps”. So I can understand more reason to declaw the front. In my past, I wouldn't declaw a cat, until my old tom slapped a $6,000 show dog across the eye. Thank goodness it didn't harm the eye itself, the scratch left a slight scar. I found another home for my precious Thomas, with someone I worked with, rather than have him declawed.

FYI..Declawing isn't “ripping out” the claws.
Imagine the last bone in your finger with the nail on it. Look at the joint below there.
Like taking apart chicken bones, a vet amputates the finger between joints, then closes the wound.

Many cats will wrestle and fight with kids, owners, using the back legs as weapons. Some cats, dislike being held, and will cause wounds getting away.
So for some owners, safety is most important.
(I would never get a rabbit for a child, simply because of the long gashes those rear legs can make. Love rabbits, but being scarred for life isn't worth it)

I remember the “worst cat” case we had at the office.
This dear family had a few cats. They rescued another.
The one cat, was absolutely freaked out, if anyone tried to touch it. I mean deadly dangerous, going to kill you dangerous.
(Many shelters would have deemed this cat “unadoptable” and put it down.)

The family needed to be able to give it care, take it for check-ups, rescue it when it got in places a cat shouldn't be, etc. But they were being ripped to ribbons when they caught the cat.

That was an excellent example of all 4 paws being removed.
My vet didn't remove teeth when I was there, but I'll tell you, that cat would have been the one I would have said, sure, go for it, if they were going to try to preserve it's life.

Many cats, when robbed of their claws, will resort to biting. My cat did this. When he could no longer smack my son, he changed to immediately lunging and biting the top of his head, arms, etc.
The stylist once said, “I see you scratch your head!”
My young son said, “No, that's the cat biting me.”

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

forgot..
http://www.virtual-bubblewrap.com/popnow…

It took a few times to get to the real popping place.

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

My fav cat video. Look for more funny cat videos, this group made several.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYypEW94G…

sdinges (Anonymous) says…

Front claw declawing is quite common in the United States (and Canada), where indoor-only cats are the norm. In places where outdoor-only or outdoor-indoor cats are more the norm, declawing is extremely uncommon and sometimes even illegal!

My mom adopted a cat who ended up having to have its fangs removed because they were rotted with cavities. It was pretty funny looking when it opened its mouth, but the cat didn't seem to notice much.

But a cat who has all four paws declawed and fangs removed and then winds up in a shelter was probably an extremely problematic cat who needed a patient and hands-on owner - hopefully it ended up with one!

gr (Anonymous) says…

Thank you Multidisciplinary and sdinges for describing your experiences. I didn't understand all the issues, but knew it was common. Yankeelady seemed to imply otherwise. Maybe they aren't quite so “aware” of their world.

“Like taking apart chicken bones, a vet amputates the finger between joints, then closes the wound.”

Thank you for making it so “civilized”.

Yes, it's not “ripping” the claws out - as in yanking them out. I don't think anyone thought that. And the cat is out during that time, too! But, effectively it is the same - lost claws - a lost joint.

Would you also glorify killing babies by saying they were “terminated”, “harvested”, a “procedure performed”, or otherwise slaughtered and removed from the mother?

By the way, I'm not sure a cat can climb trees without their front claws.

Multidisciplinary (Anonymous) says…

I've seen some, depends on the cat and the tree.

Civilized.
Well I didn't think this was the place to tell the different methods vets use to accomplish this job.
Some are quite gruesome looking, using the same nail clippers that you use to trim nails. Fast, efficient, and as you say, the cat is out. Frankly, the sound is awful.
In my day, pain meds weren't usually given to pets,(as in when they come in with an injury, etc) but I see on the tv shows, that many places are now doing that. That's a good change.

Back when, a declaw cat had left over sedation the day of the surgery, their front legs were bandaged up and they stayed at the hospital for three days. Kept them in the cage, not walking as much as they might at home. It's not a pretty three days, judging by the awkwardness of their attempts..part from the bandages, part I'm sure from pain.

Wasn't trying to glorify anything, just felt I couldn't write the more image filled response I might on another site.

gr (Anonymous) says…

“just felt I couldn't write the more image filled response I might on another site.”

'Uncle'.

;-)