This Tale of Tuxedo is from June 2009 and entitled The Tuesday Tuxedo: 
I loves me some Tuxedo.
We rescued him from life as a blood donor in an animal hospital in Miami. They said he was mean; unadoptable....is that a word? Nothing but trouble. And he was, for the first few days.
Now, four years later he's a loving cat who follows you around the house, sits in the kitchen when you cook, and plays catch the reflection in the bathroom before we go to bed.
He's my boy. I call him 'My boy' just to irk Carlos, and it does.
But anyway, enough of the love story between me and el gato. What I wanted to point out was how he sits at the top of the chair in our home office; his hind claws dug in for support and his front legs dangling down either side.
Cute. Right?
Not so much. He sits like that because he was declawed by a veterinarian who thought it might make him a better candidate for adoption. You know, less mean and aggressive. So they cut off his fingers; cat's claws are not like our fingernails, they are like our fingers. Cats use them to scratch and groom themselves, to pick up things, to play with things, and for protection. Cutting off his fingers wasn't a good idea. It didn't make him less aggressive, it made him more aggressive because now he has only his back feet and claws to use as a defense.
So, if you have a cat or want a cat, don't, don't, let anyone talk you into cutting off their fingers. If you want to declaw a cat because you have a leather sofa, or pretty velvet drapes, then either get rid of the cat or get rid of the couch and drapes. Or do like Carlos and I have done, train your cats not to claw the furniture. Because even though they don't show it, they are listening.  Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. |
Oddly enough, we didn't have to train either one of our cats in the clawing department; neither one ever went to scratch at furniture. They were feral when they adopted us and ended up being indoor-outdoor and saved the scratching for the sage bushes outside.
ReplyDeleteHere in NV, 86 meant (and still does) tossed out and banned from the property (casino).
That side-by-side on the ballroom vs. school shootings is exactly the kind of blunt truth we need. It’s infuriating and sad how consistent that double standard is. Also, that RFK Jr. text exchange? It really takes the 'dramatic thriller' vibe out of the whole 'assassination attempt' narrative when the guy is just complaining about being hungry.
ReplyDeletethe dog's mother
ReplyDelete(Carlos) (Tuxedo and all kitties)
xoxo :-)
A few thoughts:
ReplyDelete*Elephants are smart, and they don’t forget. Word spread about this elephant killer. The herd found an opportunity and said, let’s get him. I follow a guy on Instagram who was a zookeeper here in Denver. He visits years later, and the elephants still know him and greet him as such.
*$20 million a year. That is more than mad money. That is grant and philanthropy money. And Lisa is still working. Good on her. It makes me think of Matthew and his troubles. Sad, really.
*RFK Jr. should have been kidnapped and put on a remote island where he could do no harm to public health. He could spend the day hunting raccoon dicks.
*Yes, Luc is a model, but someone feed him a burger. Alan Ritchson—Reacher—was a model back in the day and was a lot thinner than he is now, but not this thin. Someone run a CBC 20 on Luc and check his levels.
*All I can say is that John Fetterman fell down and bumped his head. Many times over. What a disappointment.
There has been no sympathy in this neck neck of the woods for the wild animal killer; serves him right.
ReplyDeleteWow! $20 million per year in residuals! Pretty sweet!
ReplyDelete