The truth about declawing

There seems to be an alarming trend toward declawing cats…whether for personal convenience, apartment rules and regulations, or simply a lack of knowledge on the part of responsible pet owners.

There are many good veterinarians who actively discourage declawing, but there are also many who perform this surgery on a regular basis without fully informing the pet owner of what is really involved or explaining the potential dangers of the procedure.

If people were more informed, perhaps this trend would be reversed.

Declawing a cat is a major surgical procedure, performed under general anesthesia. It is actually the amputation of the last joint of each toe, not a simple removal of the claw itself, as many believe. The following article explains the declawing procedure.

Cats walk on their toes, unlike most mammals who walk on the soles of their feet. Your muscles, joints, tendons, and ligaments are designed to distribute your body weight to your toes.

The claw is not a nail like human fingernails or toenails. It is actually a part of the last toe bone of a cat. If you were to declaw a human the same way you declaw a cat, you would be amputating all 10 toes at the last joint!

I found this description of the surgery in a veterinary textbook: “The claw is extended by pushing up under the footpad or by grasping it with Allis tissue forceps. A scalpel blade is used to precisely dissect between the second and the third phalanx over the top of the ungual crest. The distal interphalangeal joint is disarticulated (disarticulated), and the deep digital flexor tendon is incised (cut). The digital footpad is not incised.” This clinical explanation sounds horrible, doesn’t it?

There is a real possibility of complications after any major surgery, and declawing is no exception. There is a possibility of bleeding, infection, extreme pain, bone splinters, possible regrowth of the deformed claw, back, muscle and joint problems, nerve damage, abscess and possible lameness. If the claw grows back, it is often misshapen and another surgery must be done to correct this problem.

In addition to possible physical complications, there are often behavioral problems after this surgery. The cat may become withdrawn, aloof, fearful and/or aggressive, and often begins to bite, as this is the only means of defense left. Sometimes the cat will stop using the litter box, because immediately after surgery it hurt to scratch in the litter box, and now they associate that pain with the litter box. Due to the amount of stress the animal experiences after this procedure, it may become more prone to other illnesses, as stress tends to compromise the immune system.

The animal is in extreme pain after surgery, and rarely do vets offer any type of pain reliever for the cat.

There are alternatives to declawing your cat…such as claw covers, scratching posts, regular claw trimming, and behavior modification.

Many countries have banned declawing as an abusive practice that causes unnecessary pain and trauma to the animal. A Turner and Bateson veterinary textbook on the behavioral biology of cats concludes a brief section on scratching behavior with the following statement: “The surgical removal of claws, as is sometimes practiced to protect furniture and drapes , is an act of abuse and should be prohibited by law in everyone, not just in a few countries.”

Unfortunately, declawing is not prohibited in the United States at this time. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) says its policy is “to recommend considering such surgery only if concerted behavior modification efforts have failed and euthanasia is pending.”

Declawing a cat is an abusive practice. Being informed about a procedure and possible complications should be the goal of every responsible pet owner.