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Re: Hell Kitty

Hi Rhonda,  :)
 
When you said:
 
>and some vets just chop the tips of their widdle fingers off!
 
I *think* you meant to say that this is the equivalent of chopping off *our* fingers at the first digit.
 
I don't know of any vets here that just chop off the tips of a cat's toes  to de-claw.
 
The surgical process I'm familiar with is to grab the claw with some surgical pliers and then push the skin back with another instrument to expose about an inch of the claw and then snap it off.  Since a feline's claws are not like our own fingernails ( a common misconception) they actually are an extension of the bone that is the cat's toe and for that reason more like the last digit of our fingers.  That's why cats  can climb trees.  Imagine a human trying to support all its body weight with fingernails--not going to happen.
 
And since I'm on the subject, declawing doesn't work in all situations--a certain percentage of cats re-grow some of their claws.  I'm not talking about a comparison of a lizard re-growing its tail, though.  The new claw rarely comes through the tip of the toe where it belongs--but usually out the top or side of it. This is very painful for a kitty and usually only leads to other more complicated and expensive surgeries.
 
My advice?  train a kitty when  it's young where it can and cannot scratch--also start young when you clip it's claws and get it used to you touching it's feet (most cats won't appreciate this if you just suddenly grab its foot--try it and see).  If you keep their claws clipped, it's amazing, in comparison, the lack of damage they *can* do if they do decide to dig into furniture or walls etc.
 
Just some ramblings of a long-time cat owner.
 
-)v(
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