By Jeanette M. Pintar - with inspiration from Misty

To say Misty was an unsuspected surprise in our lives in an understatement. We were not "cat people" as the only cats we knew before Misty were "psycho cats" who would rub up against you and then draw blood with their teeth and nails. Although Misty had connected with our souls, we still feared the potential damage she could cause - both to us and to the new apartment we were moving into. Solution? Someone suggestion having her de-clawed. I called the local vet, he said it was a routine procedure and I could drop her off that afternoon and pick her up the following day. So we did. Misty was a little groggy but she came through it all quite well. We moved into our new apartment later that week and Misty seemed to focus most of her energy on adapting to her new surroundings, in addition to Mark and I.

We didn't think much about Misty being de-clawed until we were having an outside family picnic and Misty saw one her favorite "toys" - a chameleon - climbing a tree. She took off running and leaped at the tree with precise footing as she'd done in the past. But this time she didn't have her front claws to grip with and she slid back down. It looked almost comical, like something out of an old Road Runner and Coyote cartoon, but I felt awful as I realized we'd taken that simple gift of joy away from her. Several times after that I saw Misty longingly gaze up at the trees. I felt sad but knew we would still be afraid of her if she had her claws, and we still were not sure if she'd tear up the apartment or not. Time passed and Misty seemed to forget about the trees. Our love and trust for each other grew daily and all in all our little Feline Goddess and Zen Master lived a pretty good life.

With hindsight, and more knowledge of cats in general, I realize we would not have had to de-claw Misty. Years later after learning what was actually involved in the process, I vowed I would not do it again if ever given the choice. I thought they just removed the cuticle and nail, I didn't realize tendons and ligaments were cut and that basically the entire first knuckle was removed; de-clawing can actually be a very painful experience. Where we were very fortunate that Misty's operation went quite well, I worked a short stint in a pet store and saw many cats who were not so lucky, and truthfully, I could not recommend this procedure. I've come to realize that human instinct is to want to change that which scares us - especially other people and animals. But with maturity and experience, I've learned changing others isn't necessary or even fair. Instead, we can arm ourselves with the knowledge and skills to overcome or work through our fears.

Recently, we adopted two new feline friends and I'm happy to say, (on most days) their claws are still intact. So is most of the furniture! I'm not going to lie and say there weren't moments of frustration, or even a puncture wound or two while our furry faced little "kits" were in training. But we're all adapting quite nicely to each other, with all parts still in tact. And it feels really good knowing that I've out-grown my old fears and no longer feel the need to change two of God's most beautiful creatures. Now if I can get this theory down pat with humans, I'll be doing all right.

--- © Jeanette M. Pintar, Inspired by Misty