Laziness and Cat Caretaking

A lazy approach to cat caretaking is one reason why cats are declawed in the United States. Obviously there are others such as ignorance over the true nature of the declawing operation or the client (the cat's owner) being mislead by the veterinarian.

Cats can be lazy, we can't - photo Mark Bult (Flickr)

But where the cat's owner has the facts, it is plainly convenient for her (or him) to have her cat declawed because it makes life easier. She doesn't have to worry about training her cat to use a cat scratching post or protecting the furniture. There are no worries about being scratched either. Although, I have no idea why anyone can be frightened by the very odd scratch which is invariably caused by poor handling of the cat by the owner.

In short, the cat owner who has her cat declawed can have a lazier life in respect of the cat. It is about pure convenience dressed up with some feeble excuse that does not hold water.

To be honest, in the modern world where people are busier than ever, they want to minimize their work load in relation to the cat. The cat should be there to improve the household at minimum workload to the people of the house. This is not, therefore, purely about laziness. But to be honest we should make our minds up at the outset to set a proper standard in the care of our cat. If we can't we shouldn't keep a cat.

That is not being unrealistic. Over time excellence in cat caretaking will resolve all the problems with stray and feral cats and declawing would be a thing of the past.

Recently a person who made a comment on my YouTube channel said that as humans are at the top of the food chain they have the right to declaw their cat. He said that this is a realistic approach.

To me it is shocking that someone could link the food chain to declawing! We are the world's top predator but we are also the world's most intelligent species (or are we!). We should be able to make a rational and humane decision on the subject of cat declawing that is obviously completely removed from the fact that we are at the top of the food chain! The truth is he was a lazy cat caretaker and justified it in a most peculiar way.

That said a lot of people do see the world of animals as creatures that God put on earth for the benefit of homo sapiens and for us to use in any way we see fit. This really is a common notion, particularly in the United States where more people have religious tendencies. Europe is becoming more and more secular. This is beneficial to the cat!

Religion fosters the notion the people are superior to all animals - that people are not animals. This distances us from nature and promotes an abuse of nature and the planet's resources. We are destroying the planet.

Arguably, another form of lazy cat ownership is expressed in a desire to keep a cat indoors all the time. Yes, the cat is safer but a cat would live a fuller life if the cat was taken out on a leash or a cat enclosure was built etc. A declawed cat living full-time inside the home is the easiest form of cat ownership.

Good cat caretaking takes effort. It takes input both in time and money. If people are not prepared to do the work and spend the money stay out of it. The cat world would be a better place without you.

P.S. I can be a lazy cat caretaker so I know all the problems! I am not criticising; just making a comment.



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