Declawing Cat - Don't!
Do you have a cat who scratches your furniture? Have you tried to get her to use a scratching post to no avail? Thinking about getting her declawed to save your furniture? Or maybe you're moving to a new apartment that requires you to declaw any cat before they can live there.
Think again, do some research.
Declawing is not just removing the cat's claws, as the name implies. It is rather better described as de-toeing. Onychectomy is the amputation of a cats claw and first finger joint. It's comparable to a human getting their fingers cut off at the first joint, where the fingernails are.
Onychectomy is not a small or minor procedure. It is 10 separate amputations, each excruciatingly painful. The pain does not end after the surgery, and many cats develop behavior problems because of the pain they are in resulting from the amputation.
Some problems cats may have post-declawing
1. Lameness - your cat may not be able to walk.
2. Pain - your cat may be in chronic pain after declawing. It is speculated that they may also feel the phantom pain that human amputation victims experience.
3. Joint Stiffness - because your cats joints and tendons cannot extend like they would with claws, the cat may experience frozen joints and stiffness.
4. Arthritis - Because declawing changes the way your cat's weight is distributed, they may develop arthritis in the elbow or other joints.
5. Litterbox problems - Because the cat may associate the pain they feel when covering their waste with the litterbox itself, many cats will stop using the litterbox and will urinate elsewhere.
6. Biting - because declawed cats have lost their first defense, many resort to biting.
7. Personality Changes - your cat may have permanent changes to their personality.
There are more risks, as serious as death. Declawed cats with behavior problems have a higher risk of being locked in a room, basement, or being abandoned all together at a shelter or on the street.
A cat can always be trained to use a scratching post, young or old. Do the right thing, do not declaw your loved pet. Her full and pain-free life is worth more than a chair or sofa in your living room. Cats are feeling, thinking, perceptive beings, and should be treated with more respect. If you don't see the problems with declawing, I don't know if you should own a cat.
Links (forgot to add these last night):
- SoftPaws - a novel alternative to declawing, these nail tips are glued on your cats claws and protect everything from being scratched up.
- Declawing - informative site about declawing.
- Declawing of Cats
- Declawing Should be Outlawed
- Facts about Cat Declawing
- So you're thinking of getting your cat declawed? - words from a veterinary technician.
- Photos of a Cat Declawing (just so you know these are graphic and not pleasing to look at)
Tags: declawing, cats, de-clawing, claw, humane, Onychectomy
Think again, do some research.
Declawing is not just removing the cat's claws, as the name implies. It is rather better described as de-toeing. Onychectomy is the amputation of a cats claw and first finger joint. It's comparable to a human getting their fingers cut off at the first joint, where the fingernails are.
Onychectomy is not a small or minor procedure. It is 10 separate amputations, each excruciatingly painful. The pain does not end after the surgery, and many cats develop behavior problems because of the pain they are in resulting from the amputation.
Some problems cats may have post-declawing
1. Lameness - your cat may not be able to walk.
2. Pain - your cat may be in chronic pain after declawing. It is speculated that they may also feel the phantom pain that human amputation victims experience.
3. Joint Stiffness - because your cats joints and tendons cannot extend like they would with claws, the cat may experience frozen joints and stiffness.
4. Arthritis - Because declawing changes the way your cat's weight is distributed, they may develop arthritis in the elbow or other joints.
5. Litterbox problems - Because the cat may associate the pain they feel when covering their waste with the litterbox itself, many cats will stop using the litterbox and will urinate elsewhere.
6. Biting - because declawed cats have lost their first defense, many resort to biting.
7. Personality Changes - your cat may have permanent changes to their personality.
There are more risks, as serious as death. Declawed cats with behavior problems have a higher risk of being locked in a room, basement, or being abandoned all together at a shelter or on the street.
Here is a description of the procedure from the Textbook of Small Animal Surgery to give a medical rundown of the actual procedure. "The claw is extended by pushing up under the footpad or by grasping it with Allis tissue forceps. A scalpel blade is used to sharply dissect between the second and third phalanx over the top of the ungual crest. The distal interphalangeal joint is disarticulated (disjointed), and the deep digital flexor tendon is incised (severed). The digital footpad, is not incised. If a nail trimmer is used, the ring of the instrument is placed in the groove between the second phalanx and the ungual crest. The blade is positioned just in front of the footpad. The blade is pushed through the soft tissues over the flexor process. With the ring of the nail trimmer in position behind the ungual crest, the blade is released just slightly so that traction applied to the claw causes the flexor process to slip out and above the blade. At this point, the flexor tendon can be incised and disarticulation of the joint (disjointing) completed. Both techniques effectively remove the entire third phalanx." (Excerpted from: Slatter D; Textbook of Small Animal Surgery 2nd ed vol I, p.352 W.B. Saunders Company Philadelphia.)
A cat can always be trained to use a scratching post, young or old. Do the right thing, do not declaw your loved pet. Her full and pain-free life is worth more than a chair or sofa in your living room. Cats are feeling, thinking, perceptive beings, and should be treated with more respect. If you don't see the problems with declawing, I don't know if you should own a cat.
Links (forgot to add these last night):
- SoftPaws - a novel alternative to declawing, these nail tips are glued on your cats claws and protect everything from being scratched up.
- Declawing - informative site about declawing.
- Declawing of Cats
- Declawing Should be Outlawed
- Facts about Cat Declawing
- So you're thinking of getting your cat declawed? - words from a veterinary technician.
- Photos of a Cat Declawing (just so you know these are graphic and not pleasing to look at)
Tags: declawing, cats, de-clawing, claw, humane, Onychectomy
1 Comments:
Totally agreement from me.
I read quite a bit of what you posted in my LJ comments last night, and some of the behavioral changes that were mentioned really reminds of me of my mom's cat that recently was put to sleep. When she was a kitten, she was very sweet and wasn't mean-spirited at all. As soon as she was old enough, my mom brought her to the vet to be declawed "only in the front" because the cat was clawing up the furniture and wouldn't take to the scratching posts we had for her. From that point on, the cat hated having her paws touched, often nipped or bit anyone who tried to touch her (other than my mom, ironically), and was generally not a nice cat. Eventually I pushed my parents to let me get a cat of my own because the other one wouldn't have anything to do with me. They also wanted to declaw my cat, but for whatever reason, that just never happened. And I am very thankful for that. Yes, she scratches the carpets and the moulding in the basement stairway... but at least she's still a nice cat.
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