Declawing Requirements
Posted by hanashi on Mar 17, 2008 · Member since Nov 2007 · 2533 posts
So, as I'm sitting here, slowly becoming a kitty pincushion, I was reminded of a conversation I had recently with a friend of mine who's living in a small suburb of Cleveland, OH.....A group of us have been working on getting him out to Portland, so the talk was about him moving, and he mentioned having to get his cats declawed.... He's currently renting an apt in his aunt's house.... But anyways, after a couple of minutes of "Why?", "Because I'm moving", "And...why?".....I found out that apparently it is a common requirement for landlords in his area to have kitties declawed for tenancy!!! This just baffles my mind!!! I'm sooo glad I live in Portland with tons of rescue agencies!!!
This is true of my area as well. My current landlord had a no pets clause on the lease, but my credit was so good that he was willing to take the cats if they were declawed just to get me in the house. I had spent 4 months trying to find a place that would take my cats at all, so I agreed. I currently have one little guy who still has his claws. The landlord doesn't know this and I'm hoping to keep it that way, but my other two are front-clawless and yes, I feel badly about it. For the record, I was an omni then.
It sucks to have to rent and be subject to someone else's rules. :(
Wow. My last landlord didn't require me to have a declawed cat, but she did request an extra $100 security deposit in case Wilma clawed up the new rugs. I can see how it would be frustrating to some people if they can't adopt a cat from a rescue if the intend to have it declawed, then they can't live in their apartment if they DON'T have it declawed.
in my area, it is more typical for landlords to not care (like mine, but i live in a shithole) or to add on a little bit each months rent (usually $25) to cover pets.
I came across a lot of that too last time I was looking for an apartment. That extra monthly rent in the long run can really add up. I told wilma she was going to have to go get a job to earn her keep ;) I got my $100 "claw" deposit back when I moved out. Hanashi, could your friend can suggest something like that to his landlord?
I don't suppose proof of them having "Soft Paws" is any help. Not that I think Soft Paws are so terribly great, but it's better than cutting kitty fingers off at the first knuckle.
A friend here's landlord was demanding declawed cats as tenants till friend's vet called him and explained that a) declawing is not something most vets will do here, b) it's hideously expensive because they don't want to do it and c)what the procedure entails. When they got to that part, I guess landlord darn near tossed his cookies. And changed his mind about the claws clause.
I don't suppose proof of them having "Soft Paws" is any help. Not that I think Soft Paws are so terribly great, but it's better than cutting kitty fingers off at the first knuckle.
I used Soft Paws on Wilma for a couple of months when i first moved in with my boyfriend. My bf's cat was hairless and my cat is very territorial and I was afraid wilma would shred her. Anyway, the soft paws worked so great and wilma was not bothered by them at all. It's a pain to have to go to the vet and reapply them but it's still a great option. Have you heard something bad about them? I don't need to reapply them again anyway because sadly, the hairless kitty had to be put to rest a couple of weeks ago (cancer) :(
This totally pisses me off! I ran into this too a few years back--I got so irrate at one lady I yelled at her--but she deserved it! She totally implied that declawing is a painless practice that is good for the animal--so I put here in here place...loudly!
Thankfully, my friend's current landlord, is his aunt, so his cats aren't declawed. He just thought the declaw clause was a blanket requirement for tenancy EVERYWHERE, thus, he thought he'd have to declaw his cats in order to get an apt here in Portland. I refuse to go to a place that charges "pet rent" because 1) they still require a pet deposit, and 2) it is often PER pet....and I have two cats!!! A year of pet rent for 2 cats at $25 ea/month = over one month's rent for me!!! I generally have to pay $300-$400 total in pet deposits for them, but that or a portion there of is at least REFUNDABLE upon move out.....Where as pet rent is just money down the drain....
That's horrible! What a cruel requirement.
Pet rent sounds like discrimination...but I suppose, "It's my house, go live somewhere else..."