Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/17/84; site opus.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!hplabs!hao!cires!nbires!opus!rcd From: rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) Newsgroups: net.pets Subject: Re: Re: cat questions Message-ID: <860@opus.UUCP> Date: Mon, 1-Oct-84 21:27:23 EDT Article-I.D.: opus.860 Posted: Mon Oct 1 21:27:23 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 3-Oct-84 07:10:20 EDT References: <44@athena.UUCP> <47500006@convex.UUCP> Organization: NBI,Inc, Boulder CO Lines: 31 > Although I am against declawing cats for personal reasons, I find the > spreading of misinformation equally upsetting. So do I. Unfortunately, a couple of points in this clarification were quite wrong. > Declawing is (normally) only done to the front feet. Cats are perfectly > able to climb using the front paws as "hands" and the rear paws as > "grippers"... Not true. The front paws can only be used as hands if they will actually reach around an object. That leaves out things like the trunk of even a moderately large tree. In fact, cats use the front claws much more than the back in climbing--that's one of the reasons they are longer and grow faster. > ...Also, most of a cat's REAL fighting is done by > gripping with the front paws and going for the underbelly with the > rear claws, just like their cousins the rabbits. This is true of cat-cat fights. It is NOT true of cat-dog fights in most cases--because again, the cat can't always get its paws around the dog. > The old "stand still and swipe with one paw" you're used to seeing > is not so much a fighting stance as it is a warning blow -- However, it's the most effective way for a cat to deter a dog, since a dog's nose is very sensitive. -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Relax...don't worry...have a homebrew.