Whatever you do, don't take my finger!

[Not Afraid]

For males, neutring is very minor surgery. It could easily be done at home without anathesia. You basically just name a small slit in the sac, squeez out the little marble-sized thingie inside and it heals on its own. Easy as pie and not at all disruptive to the cat - but it sure makes him a nicer boy.

Spaying is major surgery and really doesn't need to be done if a cat is indoors. However, your cat will have a mensus about 2x a year and all of the local boys will want to visit her. Having litters will shorten a cat's life plus the cat population does not need to be increased, therefore, spaying and neutering is for the good of cats as a whole species.

I could probably neuter men too if they wanted it. Can't be MUCH more difficult.

[Name]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

For males, neutring is very minor surgery. It could easily be done at home without anathesia. You basically just name a small slit in the sac, squeez out the little marble-sized thingie inside and it heals on its own. Easy as pie and not at all disruptive to the cat - but it sure makes him a nicer boy.

:cringe: :cringe:

ouch.....

[Tito's Kitten]

Hey don't get me wrong... the cat may have clawed the couch but we did not get her declawed. In fact I still had the couch until recently and the scratches were like little reminders of our cat.....

[wendybeth]

I had two cats declawed, and I will NEVER do it again. The vet made it sound like it was no big deal, but my poor kitties paws bled for days and I felt like an absolute **** for doing it. Never again. I hate getting them fixed, but it is necessary, for my sanity and theirs. The poor things yowl and pee all over the place if you don't, and our cats are indoor only, so fixed they get. Samwise started growling in his sleep last spring and I knew it was time, but I still felt terrible when I took him in. I felt even worse when he had to wear that stupid collar-thingy, at least until I realised the little weirdo actually liked it.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

For males, neutring is very minor surgery. It could easily be done at home without anathesia. You basically just name a small slit in the sac, squeez out the little marble-sized thingie inside and it heals on its own. Easy as pie and not at all disruptive to the cat - but it sure makes him a nicer boy.

Yes, many cats have no problem with this. Yes, by all outward appearances, it is a less major surgery than the declawing. But I can't possibly believe that removing a creature's testicles is ok and simultaneously believe that removing their claws is not ok.

If you want to discuss the pros and cons of whether each surgery is good or bad for the cat, that's another thing. But to say that it's "inhumane" to do one surgery but the other is "humane" doesn't make sense. They're both surgeries.

As for my stance, I personally wouldn't own a cat, period, so it's hard for me to understand a decision regarding altering an animal so it wouldn't destroy my property. I'd get a dog fixed because I do not want more dogs put to death in shelters.

Originally Posted by Prudence

Then again, there's already a special circle of hell for me because I plan to have any future male children circumcised. Stoke the fires!

A Jewish person more sensitive than myself might be offended by this. I'm not (I know you meant nothing by it), but I wanted to mention it. You might not want to talk about it being a damnable offense in mixed company. My kids are getting a traditional circumcision. Again, no hurt feelings, just a heads up

[Prudence]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

A Jewish person more sensitive than myself might be offended by this. I'm not (I know you meant nothing by it), but I wanted to mention it. You might not want to talk about it being a damnable offense in mixed company. My kids are getting a traditional circumcision. Again, no hurt feelings, just a heads up

Er? I guess I'm a bit befuddled. I was having a moment of wildly tangential thinking the other night (surprise!) and the talk about performing medical procedures to cats naturally (in my mind) led to thinking about performing medical procedures on babies and actual experiences of people telling me that I'll go to hell for mutilating my currently non-existent children if I have them circumcised. Which surprised me, because I know that people in general have different feelings about the topic, but I had thought that most Christian denominations were right there with "our Jewish brethren" on the circumcision thing (less ceremony), but something happened when I was away at college and didn't go to church and then I came back and poof! It's the worst sin ever! When did this happen? So it was meant as a snarky comment toward some people I've encountered who seem to have forgotten that Jesus was Jewish and want to pretend that their faith sprang fully formed from the mists of time and whatnot.

[lizziebith]

Anyway, my understanding of the whole "covenant" issue was that it originally involved a "prick" (excuse me!) as in just a little touch of blood-letting there to sanctify the child, back when people were all into pouring blood (sacrificial lambs, chickens, what-have-ya) for to show homage to the all-mighty. Not a scalpel-induced "trimming" as it were. Which is what we've got going for the kiddies now. So why I chose no on the thang. I consider myself very spiritual, but picky when it comes to my rituals.

[€uroMeinke]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

If you want to discuss the pros and cons of whether each surgery is good or bad for the cat, that's another thing. But to say that it's "inhumane" to do one surgery but the other is "humane" doesn't make sense. They're both surgeries.

So there's no such thing as an inhumane surgery? Lobotomy ethically equivalent to apendectomy?