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Species Speak
Claws out! (And here to stay)
11:00 pm Jul 16 - by Sarah Bransley – buzz Writer
You have trouble getting your dog to stop barking, so you remove their vocal cords, right? No! So why would you do the same to your cat if they do something as natural as scratching?
Declawing a cat is not like a manicure, as removing the claws also removes a bone. It’s literally an amputation. For a human, it’s similar to removing your finger up to the first joint on the tip of your finger. Imagine trying to go about your life with the tips of your fingers missing. It’s hard to think about.
Did you know that declawing is actually an American idea? Most European countries find the idea of declawing to be inhumane, and many have outlawed it. England, Scotland, Wales, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Finland and Australia are just a few countries that have made declawing illegal or only allow it to be done in extreme cases. There are many reasons for this, beyond the fact that the surgery itself is appalling.
Cats, unlike most mammals, are digitigrades, which basically means that instead of walking on their heels or the balls of their feet they walk on their toes. When the claw is removed, it causes the alignment of the legs, shoulders, and back to fall out of line. This can then cause back pain similar to what humans would feel if we wore improper footwear. Cats, unlike humans, are much better at hiding pain. Instinctively they hide any pain as showing pain can lead to unhappy endings when a predator takes notice. These symptoms are only if the surgery goes as planned, because if the surgery does not there are many different and even more painful complications that can occur. Examples of these complications are: infection, hemorrhage, damage to the nerves, bone chips that prevent healing and painful re-growth of a deformed claw.
Infection is always a possibility with any surgery; even if all of the precautions are taken infection can still set in. Infection can also occur when a surgery does not go as planned. Sequestrum is a type of infection caused by a bone chip after a bone shatters during surgery. A second surgery is necessary to take care of this type of infection. If a deformed claw tries to re-grow, it will happen under the skin where you can’t see it. This happens when the amputation isn’t performed correctly.
I am not alone in my thoughts on declawing. Many veterinarians, shelter workers and others in the animal industry agree with me. Dr. Christianne Schelling DVM devotes an entire website, declawing.com, to all the facts on why declawing is wrong. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), discourages declawing unless every other avenue has been tried and the owner is considering euthanasia. Even the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), does not believe that declawing should be done until a last resort.
According to the AVMA, “Declawing of domestic cats should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a zoonotic risk for its owner(s). The AVMA believes it is the obligation of veterinarians to provide cat owners with complete education with regard to feline onychectomy, [the proper declawing term]."
CatSnap, the local humane society for cats, has in their contract with adopters that they shall not declaw the cat on all four paws. CatSnap also discourages cats over the age of one being declawed due to increased pain and the increased possibility of behavior and emotional problems arising.
Why do so many people still declaw their cats? Most people don’t realize how intense this type of surgery actually is and are just trying to keep their kitty from destroying their house. What these people don’t realize, is that cats scratch because it comes naturally to them. Cats scratch to mark territory, exercise, condition their claws and just for the pleasure of the movement. Mutilating them is not the way to avoid Kitty damaging your furniture as some cats, especially a four-paw declawed cat, will start having destructive problems due to the declawing process!
Many shelters see this when they receive cats that have been declawed and are relinquished due to problems such as hostility towards people and litter pan aversion. According to CatSnap founder Susan Norris, of every four paw declaw cat they have taken back from people who violated the contract, only one cat did not have problems using the litter pan. All the other cats they have accepted back have problems using the litter pan. Kitties’ paws hurt when using the litter pan so they find somewhere else to use the bathroom – a habit that can be hard to break. On top of not using the litter pan, declawed cats can also have biting problems. Having taken away one of their key defenses, some cats form behavior problems and use their only defense left – their teeth.
Scratching posts can be found in every pet store along with aversion and attraction sprays. If you look up cat scratching solutions online, you’ll find hundreds of sites with helpful tips. Of course, your best resource is your veterinarian. They should be able to examine your pet and first determine if any behavior is health related. After that, they should be able to help you with everyday behavior problems. If your kitty’s problem is out of your veterinarian’s base of knowledge, they should be happy to refer you to someone who can help you.
Knowing that there are other solutions beyond mutilating your companion pet, why would you still choose to declaw? Save your pet the pain, save yourself the hassle and go the humane route.
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