Declawing?

Question

Is declawing a cat really bad for it? I know that people say that it is terrible for the cat. I am just wondering if anyone has any ideas or experience either way. The cat will be strictly in the house with no chances of going/getting outside. I also plan to have the procedure done very early so that it will not be accustomed to having claws. I just want some honest answers about this procedure so that I can decide.

Answer 1

I have two cats, one we got as a dumped kitten and declawed ourselves, and one that was a stray and already declawed. The first is a tabby who used her claws a lot. Shorthaired, athletic, intelligent cat. She literally climbed clothes in the closet with her claws. When she got to the top of the hangers, she could walk across the sloped hanger tops using her claws. Declawing her definitely traumatized her, and she would not 'sharpen her paws' for about a year after the operation. But, we had it done at the local "cat only clinic" where they seriously discouraged doing it. She came home with bloody paws and her spay was also botched (adhesions, a mess, you can't touch her stomach b/c it still hurts her ten years later). If you're going to get a cat declawed, do it at a clinic where they don't have a moral opposition to it. I don't want to think she was intentionally botched, but it stands to reason that there was some subconscious resentment of the procedure, not to mention that the vet simply doesn't do the procedure often. If I were to have a cat done again, I'd make sure this was something the vet did a lot of, just like if I had hand surgery myself, I wouldn't want someone opposed to it to do it, and I'd rather have someone who does that surgery every day. I really wish they had refused to do it so that I would have had it done elsewhere. The tabby changed from a cat that could be hand-held on a leash to a vet visit, to a cat with fight-or-flight response to the vet or the smell of a vet or the smell of a cat that's been to the vet. She was always a biter so that didn't change. She literally would stop and look at her paws and stop mid-non-scratch for about a year after the surgery. You could read in her face the thought, oh yeah, they're not there. But, again, I consider her surgery botched. I think that the things that made the procedure difficult for the tabby are also the things that made her a cat that would likely end up declawed if she was to have an indoor home. She was a runt and a prolific claw user. So yes, it was going to affect her more to lose the claws. And she is intelligent. So she knew it happened, and pinpointed blame accordingly. I tried trimming her claws for a while before the declaw, but she has a moderately spiteful personality and that was becoming more unmanageable with every attempt. Eventually she would've hated me as much as she now hates the vet. Left with claws, she likely would've become an outdoor cat, and likely a dead on the road outdoor cat since we were urban and she tended to run from frightening things without thinking or looking both ways for traffic.

Meanwhile, the other cat, a longhaired calico, came to us declawed and had been living in the woods fending for herself. She is a sedate cat and a fairly dumb cat. I wouldn't give a second thought about declawing a cat like her. It simply has not affected her life. The cat clinic vet did try to tell me that the tabby's personality was such that she would be more affected than other cats, and after the calico experience I do think that was right, that different cat types take it differently.

Incidentally, as a kid we had a declawed outdoor cat, which I wouldn't do now but frankly I was raised in a rural area where animals are still thought about differently than in urban areas where folks think chickens come in plastic refrigerated packages. Anyway, our cat was the neighborhood bully/stud cat despite his lack of claws. He won the fights, climbed the trees, spent most days on rooftops, and brought us a steady stream of squirrel tails and legs (guts optional). I'm not sure why he was declawed, except that he did come inside sometimes and us kids were young when we got him, but it didn't keep him from protecting himself or doing any of the cat stuff he needed to do. I am sympathetic to the anti-declawing forces in the world, but some of the arguments just aren't empirically consistent with my world experiences. Keep in mind, in England where they've outlawed declawing, they've also discussed outlawing outdoor cats because the cats kill too many birds. Love the Brits to death but if I had to adopt more socialistic government I'd start with universal healthcare for people and not bans on cat issues. And I'm not sure about using as an animal husbandry role model the continent whose husbandry and slaughter practices brought us mad cow disease. There I go, ignoring the line between domestic and domesticated again. But really, if I wanted to get up in arms about animal cruelty, I'd start with chickens and cattle. Declawing is more personal but if you've got one cat and you eat food causing the death of twenty chickens in a year, where's the bulk of the cruelty? If you don't know what we do to our livestock, you might want to check that out before you get too excited about what some people do to cats.

Answer 2

You certainly came to the right place for a mixture of opinions! Everyone on here seems to be very opinionated (which, in my opinion, is wonderful).

I work in a vet clinic and I get to see first hand what a declaw is like (I also help). Most people will tell you about how cruel it is and how painful it is and how mean the vet is when they perform the surgery, etc. Well, I can only speak for my experiences. The vet that I work for is as gentle as possible when performing a declaw, ALL of the cats get pain meds after the procedure and the next following day, and I have yet to see a cat become mentally or physically scared from having this procedure done. I'm sure it is somewhat hard on the cat to lose his claws, but they accustom themselves extremely well. If the procedure is properly performed and all of the necessary home care is followed, every cat I've ever seen declawed has turned out great.

I have 5 cats, all indoor, and none of mine are declawed. I have never had the need to declaw my cats, I bought a product called Feliway Spray. It contains cat pheromones and if you spray it on anything you don't want the cats scratching on, they leave it alone. It has worked wonders for all of my cats.

The decision is ultimately up to. You really do need to weigh your options before having your cat declawed. You need to try other options such as the covers you can glue to your cats nails, no-scratch sprays, etc. Declawing your cat is a permanent procedure and your cat has to stay an indoor kitty. Good luck in whatever you decide!

Answer 3

Declawing is no longer endorsed by either the AAHA or the AVMA. Many vets no longer do declawing except when it is medically necassary and many don't consider it routine surgery any longer. Many vets make the price of declawing expensive in order to discourage people from declawing. Also many vets now offer education into exactly what declawing really entails and also about alternative measures. The USA is the only country that allows declawing.
Declawing isn't a simple claw removal, it is an amputation. It is like amputating your finger at the first joint past your fingernail. It is a very painful procedure no matter if done with a scalpel or a laser. It can cause behavioral issues..biting, litterbox avoidance, etc. It can also cause imbalance in walking and cause a cat to walk abnormally on their feet.

Anyone that tells you that there are no problems with declawing, either are in total denial, haven't worked in the vet field very long, have been lucky enough not to have a client and cat come back with issues, etc. I've been in the vet field for many years and I have a LOT of experiences and have seen a lot. I have also assisted in many surgeries including declawing. I have also studied animal behaviors and attended many seminars.

Answer 4

A cat can live with declawing I have 1 cat declawed the other 4 are not. He was declawed a little before a year and his paws are noticeabley smaller than they should be. It is painful for them that is a part of their paw and they do take some of the paw with the nail to extract it. I would not do that again to any of my cats after I did some research on declawing.
I know that if you are worried about your furniture there are many solutions to that problem such as two way sticky tape and keeping scratching posts around for them. Scratching for a cat is a way of excercising there muscles when they don't have there claws they can't excercise those muscles.
I would say really do some research to this procedure. In all honesty I think it is not a good decision.

Answer 5

Wow, that is a really "heated" discussion for most people. I don't think there's any "middle" ground on this either. This is only my opinion, you have to decide for yourself.

I have had three cats and all of them have been declawed. I worked for the vet at the time they were declawed, and he did the procedure.

We had clients who wanted to give up their cats or have them put to sleep because they couldn't deal with the clawing and destruction in their homes. We also had older clients who had very thin skin on their arms and legs and couldn't afford to have their cats "accidentally" claw them. People with young children also frequently had the same concern. For all these people declawing their cats was the solution.

If a reputable vet declaws your cat, at a young age, I think it is an acceptable procedure. The cats were sedated and then each nail (and first knuckle) were removed. Some vets use surgical glue to close the opening, other stitch it together.

The cat's feet were bandaged and the cat was kept overnight. The following morning the bandages were removed and if the feet were not bleeding, the cat was allowed to go home that afternoon. If the feet were still bleeding a bit, they were rebandaged and the cat spent another day at the animal hospital.

Each cat was sent home with special litter (newspaper litter) to use until their feet healed. My cats limped a bit for a day but then quickly returned to normal.

If possible, it's probably better to train your cat to use a clawing post than to have them declawed. But for some people, declawing is the answer they are looking for. Apparently I wasn't able to "train" my cats. Since they are all indoor cats, that was the solution I choose.

One thing I need to mention also. I used "Soft Paws" on my cats nails before my decision to declaw. These work well when they are first applied to the nails. However, as the nail grows, so does the space between the "Soft Paw" and the bed of the nail.

One of my cats almost tore off her claw after she got it caught in the material of my sofa. That was when I made the decision to declaw.

My cats don't have any problems with their feet and still "claw" everything in sight. Declawing is not for everyone, it's a personal choice. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Answer 6

I went into veterinary technician school with negative thoughts about declawing. I left school, however, with more of a mixed opinion. Here's why...

Yes, declawing is an elective procedure that has no medical benefit for the cat. However, there are perhaps millions of cats out there today who have homes only because they are declawed. What is worse - a declawed cat in a happy, loving home or a euthanized cat?

Today, veterinarians have at their disposal safe and effective pain control drugs that can make the procedure no more uncomfortable than spaying or neutering - and no reasonable person would NOT get their pet spayed or neutered. This is especially true if the cat is declawed when she is a kitten. Our vets use four different types of pain control medications for each declaw!

The method of declawing that really gave declawing a bad rap is the "guillotine" method. Basically the vet uses a nail trimmer to attempt to cut the entire nail and last bone in the toe. There is a good possibility of leaving part of the bone behind which can lead to deformation, pain and even part of the nail growing back! No reputable veterinarian will use this method nowadays. Sharp dissection and laser are two acceptable techniques.

I wish the United States did not have the mind-set that declawing is a routine part of owning a cat. But until the mind-set is changed, cats are GOING to get declawed. As long as it is done by a good veterinarian using multi-modal pain control techiniques, then there is little chance for future problems for the cat. Question your veterinarian about how they perform declawing and what pain control they use before scheduling your cat's surgery! Don't be afraid to call several different clinics.

If you choose not to declaw, get several scratching posts and make sure they are tall enough to allow kitty to sratch fully stretched out at her adult size! Most scratch posts in stores are way too small so you may have to look for a while to find one. Or you could make one yourself! I would suggest NOT getting a carpet post because kitty may not recognize the difference between her post and your carpet! Sisal is a popular and good choice. Ask your veterinarian about ways to train kitty to use it. Good luck!

Answer 7

Declawing involves surgically removing the first joint of the cat's "finger," so no, it's not a very pleasant experience for the cat, and if you watch a cat who has just been declawed, it is clear that the aftermath is painful. I suppose the more important issue is: why do you want to get the cat declawed? You can teach your cat to claw only on appropriate items (e.g., scratching posts), and you also can buy cat claw covers if you're very concerned about the cat damaging a piece of furniture or something else. Also consider that in some cases (I'm not sure how common it is), declawing can contribute to litterbox problems, since a cat can come to associate the pain of getting the litter in between still-tender toes with the box itself. We started trimming our cats' claws with clippers when they were very young, and they're very tolerant of the process now.

Answer 8

Well, it's cruel if you take her to a doctor who doesn't care. Make sure the cat gets enough pain medication and good after care. Declawing by laser is by far the best way to do it, and also if the kitten is young. Lasering makes for a speedier recovery, less pain and blood. The kitten will be less likely to remember if she's really young.
I had to have my older cat (5 yrs old at the time) laser declawed or I would have had to give him up. He definitely had a slight personality change and if given the chance to go back I would not have done it. I recently got a brand new kitten and decided to get her done as well, because she was using her claws with an unfair advantage on my older cat. She was acting almost normal the night she came home, after a long sleep. She was also walking normally the next morning. She seems to have forgotten the whole thing and does not "fake scratch" the walls and furniture like my older cat still does.
I hope this helps you decide, we like not having to worry about getting scratches on of stuff and also ourselves, but honestly the surgery itself is heartbreaking, especially right when you get your cat back. Laser is the way to go!

Answer 9

There are alot of things on the net that isn't telling the truth about declawing cats. My family had declawed cats for over 30 years now. You know what when we got the cats back. all they have gotten off is the claws. There are so many people on the net making big bucks of lying so you don't declaw your cat. My parents just got a 18 month probley a 19 month old cat now. She is declawed and fixed and is a happy cat and gentle still. You need to ask your vet how they declaw cats.

Answer 10

One of the things that makes a cat a CAT, is its dexterity and agility - their paws and claws factor into this greatly. Where I used to live, I had a bathtub with curved edges - no flat surface. My youngest cat would hop up on the edge and walk around to go find the faucet. I watched him negotiate the curved edge, and watched how he moved his feet and toes to keep from slipping, and I was just in awe of his dexterity. Same when I see him make a calculated jump, or snag a toy out of my hand so quickly I almost don't see it.

I couldn't imagine altering something so integral to his nature as his feet and claws. So, he still has his claws, as does my other cat, and as will any other cat I bring into my home. I have just accepted that cats scratch and they need to scratch, and that's something you have to deal with if you bring a cat into your home. I think declawing is an unnecessarily brutal procedure.

It's all just my opinion, of course.