Declawed Cats Cannot Protect Themselves

 Cats from the neighborhood frequent my yard because I am in the woods, have a fresh water pond and I grow catnip.  So a new cat visiting is not a big deal, but a declawed cat should not be in my yard because it cannot defend itself or climb a tree when predator; aggressive feral cat, coyote, hawk or stray dog approaches.

For the last month a large Maine Coon cat has been hanging out in my yard, this cat is very friendly but has no claws.  It does not hiss and is not aggressive.  Very laid back but should be in its yard and not be hanging at my house in the woods.

My friend lives a block away and I asked her about this cat.  She told me that the cat's owners were down the street about five houses and that the cat lived outdoors. She did not realize that it had no claws.  She went on to say that this cat spent a lot of time in her yard and she suspected that it slept on her patio chair because she would see it there in the early morning.

Pet owners are funny, and I suppose they just assume that no harm will come to their cat because he is so laid back, he gets along with other cats, but getting along with dog or coyote?  This cat would be in danger.

Early this morning my husband heard loud meow's coming from our side door.  He went out to investigate and found the Maine Coon cat.  The night was cold and rainy, and cats fur was wet so my husband picked him up and put him in our shed.

I went outside to the shed with a cat bed, litter box, and food and water bowls and when I got there I saw that my husband was examining the cat.  There were bite wounds under each ear, with fresh blood.  At three in the morning, we were cleaning this cat's wounds and closing the door to the shed so he would be safe for the rest of the night.

This morning my husband went to see about locating the cat's owners, he found the house and they were not home, so he left a note on their door to call him about their cat.  Know that if the cat owners were responsible their declawed cat would have lived indoors and not permitted to go outdoors unsupervised.  This cat seems to live outdoors and has no claws to protect itself and this is why he has two bite wounds.