I Love My Cat

[mashiara]

I had never heard of declawing until I visited the States for the first time. I don't think it's even done here and I do believe it's cruel and inhumane. We clip our cats' nails whenever we remember, which is not as often as we should. They've learned to tolerate it well enough. We do have a scratching post but unfortunately my cat doesn't use it. She prefers using the living-room rug, the carpets in the bedrooms and the couch. :dunno:

If they were free to roam outside I'm not even sure I'd bother with the clipping so they could defend themselves if they had to. Since they don't come in contact with any other animals though I do think it's prudent to cut down the talons of doom now and then. (Min, great wording there. :))

[squiddly]

The kneading was awesome, no more than tiny pinpricks of blood at her most...energetic/happiest. Slightly less awesome the waking you up in bed in the middle of the night because she wants to be let out, and then attacking you if you take too long! :P

I still remember her jumping onto the bed, standing motionless staring into my eyes with her huge dark eyes, hoping her tail isn't slowly moving from side to side. Just waiting for her to pounce on my head as soon as I move, one clawed paw on each ear and jaws going straight for my forehead. Gods she was evil. :P

Good times.

[potsherds]

Kneading. Not as awesome as you think if the roommate that owns the cats doesn't believe in declawing. It's like awww! how cu.. hey! OW!

Damn, sorry to risk derailing the thread again, but to be clear, it's a matter of not believing in amputating the first digit of cats' paws. Declawing removes the entire first digit, it's amputation. It removes a cat's first line of defense, often making the cat feel helpless which can change her personality, and often the cat will simply resort to biting all the time instead. Also, amputating part of their paws means their entire posture is altered, which can result in back pain and other problems later in life. They also lose the ability to properly stretch the muscles in their front legs/shoulders/back region, which again, can cause problems in their futures. Declawing is against the law in parts of Europe. Physically altering the skeleton of a cat to suit one's comfort or aesthetic needs is wrong. If that is more important to a person, that person shouldn't get a cat.

[Sis Who Swears]

This thread has gone horribly awry.

:lol: And you're surprised by that?

Big Kitty's claws become absolute talons if I don't clip them, in spite of scratching posts etc. Ollie's are not so bad, but she is the knead-ier of the two. See what I did there?

[MojoJojo]

^That's me.

I really wanted a pet, and my first choice was a larger dog, but the rental I was living in only took pets up to 30 lbs. Large dogs > cats > small dogs. There was absolutely no way I wanted a little dog. My schedule didn't work well with a small dog either.

The cat is super low maintenance, especially with the flushable litter. It's been difficult living in an apartment with her and my boyfriend and his dog though.

This perception thats cats are easier sort of peeves me. OK, fine you dont have to walk them everyday with a plastic bag in your hand. At least a quarter of the lazy urbanites I know with cats have apartments that have...

a. A weird smell, because the cat secretly pees all over the apartment

b. tiny peices of cat litter strewn all over the floor (you can tell by the occasional crunch underfoot)

c. dried hairballs and puke in odd places, because the cat secretly gaks all over the apartment

d. an overflowing litter box and food bowl that always needs to be changed

e. cat fur literally covering all their clothes and furniture

Dogs have their problems too. Of course they also have fur, they bark, they chew, and occasionally poop and pee on your stuff. I just cant tell you how many times I've heard the tale about how low maintenance cats are from people who's apartments are nasty hell holes.

[Minaku]

This perception thats cats are easier sort of peeves me. OK, fine you dont have to walk them everyday with a plastic bag in your hand. At least a quarter of the lazy urbanites I know with cats have apartments that have...

a. A weird smell, because the cat secretly pees all over the apartment

b. tiny peices of cat litter strewn all over the floor (you can tell by the occasional crunch underfoot)

c. dried hairballs and puke in odd places, because the cat secretly gaks all over the apartment

d. an overflowing litter box and food bowl that always needs to be changed

e. cat fur literally covering all their clothes and furniture

Dogs have their problems too. Of course they also have fur, they bark, they chew, and occasionally poop and pee on your stuff. I just cant tell you how many times I've heard the tale about how low maintenance cats are from people who's apartments are nasty hell holes.

Even at "high maintenance" they're still lower maintenance. People just get super lazy. I live in an apartment with my husband and two cats and no one can smell the litterbox. We use a flushable litter and scoop 2-3 times on average a day. When I wasn't knocked up, I'd scoop even more, since I'm home in the daytime. I'd scoop as soon as one of them eliminated. That got rid of the pee-elsewhere syndrome, not that my two cats had it to start with. By the way, the automated scooping litterbox frightens a lot of cats. Best thing is just to keep their boxes clean, or toilet train them.

The vacuum is the most useful appliance in the house. I use it religiously because I hate litter tracking everywhere. Hairballs are dealt with immediately as soon as they appear, because the sound of a cat throwing up is one that every cat owner knows and wakes up immediately to. As for the litterbox, I've addressed that, but the food bowl needs to be washed every single day. We put ours through the dishwasher at least once a week, if not twice; they're hand-washed every day. If I don't want to eat off of plates more than twice, then my cats won't either.

As for the cat fur, you're SOL - when I had a dog, there was MORE fur (had a yellow Lab). My cats combined shed less than my dog.

[Kouran]

If you have a yard dogs are even lower maintenance than cats. I come home and make sure Sam has a full bowl of food and 3 bowls of water and then I open the dog door from the utility room to the kitchen her door from the utility room to the outside is always unlocked. After that we go outside and play ball for 20 or 30 minutes and play chase for a while. I chase her and she chases me. After we both get tired its time to go inside.

I dont have hair all over the house, mainly becuase she is an outside dog and sheds most of it there. No random poo or pee stains either since she has a door and can take care of all the business outside on her own. All I hear of her night activites is click clack as the dog door opens and closes. Dogs >>> cats, except little yappy demon hounds anything smaller than a beagle is a demon hound.

Oh side note here. I see most people dont agree with de-clawing cats, but what about removing the dew claws on dogs? Sam had to have hers removed becuase they would get damaged by her digging, ACD's dig a lot usually to make a below ground level bed in the shade.

[potsherds]

Oh side note here. I see most people dont agree with de-clawing cats, but what about removing the dew claws on dogs? Sam had to have hers removed becuase they would get damaged by her digging, ACD's dig a lot usually to make a below ground level bed in the shade.

The only reason to remove part of the anatomy of an animal is because it offers a net benefit to the animal in overall health and/or happiness. Sounds to me like your case is one of those instances, but I don't know enough about dogs to say for sure.

[Arbor Gold]

This thread has gone horribly awry.

I know, right? Sorry about my kneading comment...it was just one reason I enjoy having a cat around. Didn't expect it to turn into a series of lectures about the evils of declawing.

[Sis Who Swears]

I agree with a lot of your post except this

Dogs >>> cats, except little yappy demon hounds anything smaller than a beagle is a demon hound.

You just can't paint all little dogs as being yappy and 'demon hounds'. As a groomer I would say that yes, a lot of them are, BUT it mostly has to do with the owners totally babying and treating them like toys that causes this, not the dogs themselves.

Case in point, my Gracie is a 3lb chihuahua/King Charles Cavalier cross. She was a runt and a rescue. I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard her bark, she is not a psycho/neurotic dog and actually is The Boss of my animal household (2 big kitties and her) in spite of being outweighed by 2-3 times and the last to arrive on the scene. It's all in how they are raised.

OK threadjack/rant done. :)

Oh yeah, removal of the dew claws is MUCH less inhumane, in fact I wouldn't call it inhumane at all. It's sometimes a necessary procedure done for the animal's well being and much less invasive and traumatic, especially if you get it done when spaying/neutering your pet.

ETA: sorry for the declawing talk, I tried to avoid it honest I did!!

[IheartTesla]

I'll admit it, I'm a dog person. At one point in time I was the dog whisperer, a gentle word in their ears and they would stop their incessant yapping and growling and settle the fuck down. I think I've lost that mojo now.

Dont have too much experience with cats, but like dogs they seem to like having the back of their ears and base of neck scratched. Cant stand all that damn hair sticking to my jeans afterwards tho.

[Arbor Gold]

ETA: sorry for the declawing talk, I tried to avoid it honest I did!!

:lol: I just got the feeling Relic wanted to talk more about the women's apartments he's been in and less about responsible pet ownership. :P

[Relic]

:lol: I just got the feeling Relic wanted to talk more about the women's apartments he's been in and less about responsible pet ownership. :P

yer funny.

i honestly wanted some extra insight into the affinity women feel towards cats but this seems to have turned into a Cat Vanity Thread. I think i underestimated the brainwashing power of the devil beasts.

edit - i DO wish people would refrain from posting if they dont have anything to contribute to the thread topic. it's like yeah im sure your view has a ton of merit and importance but maybe now isnt the best time and place. is that bitchy of me?

[Guest Raidne]

The only reason to remove part of the anatomy of an animal is because it offers a net benefit to the animal in overall health and/or happiness. Sounds to me like your case is one of those instances, but I don't know enough about dogs to say for sure.

Well, my husband's evil cat viciously attacks people. I currently have a very obvious animal bite scar on my right ankle. So does my mother-in-law. It attacked a friend of a friend right before her trip to Mexico, necessitating all manner of extra shots and hassle. We're lucky she's not litigious (this was the first time she ever attacked anyone - we now keep in quarantine whenever everyone but a select few people are over). My husband was totally mauled New Year's Eve and nearly had to have stitches in his hand. If it had claws, we would have had to put it down by now, by law. So, is that one of those instances?

Our other cat is the bestest cat ever. He doesn't even seem to know he has claws. I drape him over my face all the time with no fear of scratches. He's such a sweetheart. I wish it was even conceivably affordable to clone pets and I would just have Muddy II, Muddy III, and so on for forever more.

[Eponine]

Honestly, if I'd known how hard it would be to have a cat in a small apartment, living with someone who has leather furniture and is a light sleeper, I would have not gotten one until we were in a full sized house.

Does anyone know of any alternatives to Soft Paws that stay on more securely? I've tried those several times, and she rips them off within a day.

[potsherds]

Well, my husband's evil cat viciously attacks people. I currently have a very obvious animal bite scar on my right ankle. So does my mother-in-law. It attacked a friend of a friend right before her trip to Mexico, necessitating all manner of extra shots and hassle. We're lucky she's not litigious (this was the first time she ever attacked anyone - we now keep in quarantine whenever everyone but a select few people are over). My husband was totally mauled New Year's Eve and nearly had to have stitches in his hand. If it had claws, we would have had to put it down by now, by law. So, is that one of those instances?

If it had claws? A re you saying that you had it declawed at some point, or it was declawed when you got it? You're missing the causal relationship, probably because I didn't want to exaggerate my claims, but some significant number of cats, once declawed become very unhappy/angry/vicious because they no longer have their first line of defense and don't feel safe. I'm curious if this cat was so mean before you or someone else amputated it's defenses.

[S John]

cause they're wittle wuv wuvs

I thought I would come back and catch up with this topic and this is my favorite post in the whole thread.

[Arbor Gold]

My household growing up was dad + three chicks, so he lost on the Cat Issue. We wanted a cat because they are cute and cuddly and not loud and barky like a dog. (Yes, I know, not all cats/dogs are the same, etc). I don't think a day went by that my dad didn't grumble about throwing the cat out to the coyotes. I don't think he would have, but I sure did get nervous on his bad allergy days.

i DO wish people would refrain from posting if they dont have anything to contribute to the thread topic.

noted.

[Relic]

Shit, I was trying to be nice and supportive :P

i know. <3

im changing the name of this thread.

[potsherds]

On topic (Relic&women): I'm sorry you're allergic to cats, Relic. Sucks to be you (or with you). :P