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From: plw@mgwess.UUCP (Pete Wilson)
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: Re: cat claws
Message-ID: <14928@mgwess.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 17-Jul-85 21:14:29 EDT
Article-I.D.: mgwess.14928
Posted: Wed Jul 17 21:14:29 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 08:20:04 EDT
References: <569@rduxb.UUCP> <555@hou2g.UUCP>
Reply-To: plw@mgwess.UUCP (Wilson,Pete,PL)
Organization: AT&T Information Systems - Montgomery Illinois
Lines: 52
Summary: 

In article <555@hou2g.UUCP> scott@hou2g.UUCP (N. Ersha) writes:
>One question on exercising without claws:
>
>While a cat may "go through the motions" on
>a piece of furniture, or whatever, it doesn't
>get the same exercise (this may not be necessarily 
>bad).

Cats paws are also multi-jointed. My (declawed) cats hook their pads
on any convenient edge and pull away at it. The grip is strong enough
that they have to extend the back claws to keep from sliding.

>Can anyone out there, by MERELY PLACING their
>hands on a horizontal bar (no grasping), do pull-ups?
>
>I thought not.
>
>			Scott

Tell me, do your fingernails retract when you're not using them?
I thought not. Cats are NOT people!

In other articles, the question of protection and hunting without
front claws has come up. The front claws are used mainly as a
warning device to other animals which the cat doesn't like. They
do little life-threatening damage. A cat kills with it's teeth and
back claws. As to being able to hang on to prey without front claws,
a cat can, and does, hang on very nicely by a 'hugging' maneuver of
the front legs (arms, if you insist on anthropomorphizing).

Anecdotes:

I have a cat that I can lift off the floor by having him hook his
front paws over my fingers. I do nothing to help him hang on and
I can sure feel the grip he uses!

My youngest female cat can attest to the above statements about
hunting and protection. Three of the other cats (1 female and 2 males)
manage to inflict many wounds on her by holding her down and biting on
her head. For some reason, she won't swipe at them with her paws, but
prefers to try and run away instead.

The oldest (and grouchiest) female manages to keep the other cats in
fear most of the time because of the whallop she packs with a right
cross to the head. The two males go out of their way to go around her
because of the brain-rattling punches she has given them in the past.

All five of my cats don't seem to be in the least concerned they have
no front claws. They get plenty of exercise, manage to fight and
wrestle with each other, chase (and catch) flies, ants, other assorted
bugs and insects, and birds, all without the benefit of their 'finger-
nails'.