02/20/2023
It seems that the procedure of declawing is not widely talked about. Most of us know that means a cat doesn't have their claws, and then we move on. But what if we pause for a second and actually take a look at declawing. Maybe your opinion on it will change.
Declawing a cat is the equivalent of cutting a humans fingertips off at the first knuckle. The declawing procedure is painful for animals, as most of the time it is not a clean cut. Sometimes they take too much of the bone, sometime they don't take enough of the bone. Bone spurs, calcium build up and arthritis can form as they age, causing pain. When they wake up, they are in pain, since you just had the vet mutate each one of their fingers, and they HAVE to walk around on those paws for the rest of their lives. A vet once told me "You know how you feel when you're walking around with a pebble in your shoe all day? That's what a declawed cat feels like for the rest of their lives." Cats hide pain and illness very well, it's part of their survival tactic in the wild, so you won't even know they're in pain until it's so bad they can't hide it anymore, and that's when most people with declawed cats start to see behavorial issues. Not using the litterbox (because the litter will hurt their paws), not jumping up on things or being able to jump down from things (because their paws hurt) or acting out towards their humans (become aggressive because being touched hurts them.) To be blunt- declawing is extremely painful and an inhumane procedure.
Most of the time, when I talk to people about the dangers of declawing, they say to me "Oh my goodness, why didn't my vet ever tell me this?! They told me it was just like clipping your fingernails and that it isn't painful!" And we agree. Vets should be educating owners before they do the procedure. Some vets have actually opted out of doing the procedures completely because it's inhumane. Some vets will only do it when its medically necessary (like a cat who's claw has grown incorrectly or had an accident and the claw is beyond repair.) Before COVID, michigan had a Bill that was approved and was in the next stages of becoming a law that was going to outlaw declawing in our state. But sadly, due to COVID, that bill is on hold... and who knows for how long. So, we want to educate as many people as we can on the dangers of declawing, and what you can do instead!!
There are MANY alternatives to declawing, and I actually spent a LOT of time building a whole page on our website all about what to do instead! Nail caps and scratching posts are a saving grace, and your cat can be trained to use the scratching posts instead of your furniture (yes EVERY cat is trainable in this! As long as you train them correctly! If my special needs cat can learn, so can yours! It's on YOU to use the correct training tactics! Don't worry- I explain how on the website!!) Check out this link to see my guide on declawing alternatives! And thank you for not declawing your cat!!
https://petangeladoption.com/declawing-alternatives
