Tiger is at the vet, being declawed.

He’s fuzzy and cute and I miss him. *sad sad* I keep turning around and thinking, “Where is Tiger?” and then I remember he’s at the vet. And I get all morose.

The vet will only do the front paws, which makes me kind of sad because I don’t think I have the heart to put Tiger through this again. And I kind of wanted all four paws done.

Anyway, I think the lady who took Tiger saw my distress (since I was waving bye-bye to him for, like, half a minute) because she said I could call to check up on him.

And she called me Mrs ________. Which was cool.

Oh, my poor fuzzy-pants snuggle-butt! How I miss you! *dances in an anxious circle*

So, here’s the million-dollar question. Why did we put our kitty through a painful surgery that demeans his cat-hood and makes him feel like doo-doo?

It could be because he’s tearing up the carpet. But, really, it’s because we don’t want him to have claws. It’s that simple. It doesn’t matter whether he’s good or bad with his claws — we’re taking them away from him.

But, you say, that’s preposterous! That’s evil! That’s subjecting an animal to cruel and unusual tactics just for your comfort!

So? I mean, just two weekends ago I exited the kitchen and said “You know what’s best about Tiger?” and Alex replied “Cake?” because I was baking. And Alex’s best friend said “I could sum both of you up in that little exchange.”

I love my cat as much as most women love babies. I’m kind of nuts about him. I try not to spoil him, I make sure he has food and water, I scoop his litterbox regularly, I keep him indoors at all times, and I snuggle him until he’s ready to kill me. The cat lacks for nothing. Which is why I feel perfectly justified in taking his claws away.

Plus, I educated myself on declawing, because I heard it was a wee bit controversial. I read an article by a vet and an article by a raving madwoman. Both of them convinced me that declawing isn’t evil. The vet because he looks at all sides of the matter and the raving madwoman because she employs fear tactics to try and scare me into thinking that my cat will die if I do this to him.

She says:

“Understand that the process of declawing is NOT easy on your cat, even though it may be the easiest option for you.” Jeannine Petersen

Well, duh, Jeannine. If declawing made my life harder, why would I want to do it?

Besides, any form of surgery hurts. You’re being CUT ON. I didn’t go into this thinking that the vet would push a special button and make the claws detach from Tiger’s paws. I figured there’d be some blood.

What I DID do was find what vet office the local Petco used. And I went to them. Because, frankly, I wanted a good vet to handle my kitty, not someone I found in the phone book.

I’m also arranging a pallet of sweatshirts for Tiger to lie on under the card table (his favorite spot), a pan of special good-for-paws litter, his food and water close to his pallet, and I covered his favorite toy with catnip.

I’m not worried about it. I’m just worried about him. I want him back safely, and I’m going to have to trust the vet to do a good job.

“. . . their argument [that declawing is unnecessary, too painful, too prone to post-op complications, and even psychologically damaging] is usually way overstated. The surgical procedure has been improved to the point that pain, inflammation, and post-op problems are minimal.” Roger Ross DVM