Declawing Cats, Humane?

Pam J August 27, 2011 at 09:57 pm

I had my cat declawed in the front when she was old enough and she lived a very happy indoor life until she died at age 19. If she had had her front claws all that time, I would have had no nice furniture or any unscarred skin left on my body!

Michelle Kirkham August 27, 2011 at 11:25 pm

I dont agree with declawed. It is like amputating your fingers to the knuckle. Cats can be tought to scratch on their scratching posts..but if they scratch on my furniture..oh well. My cats welfare is more important than my furniture.

rob August 28, 2011 at 12:28 am

Hey Pam, why don't you have yourself declawed and tell us how it feels afterward to be an amputee? Most civilized countries do not allow this. Please never get a cat again. If you don't want the claws don't get the pet. Get a goldfish or something you don't have to mutilate to love.

Lorelei Kathleen Hickman August 28, 2011 at 12:35 am

I'm a former veterinary technician and my experience of assisting with declaw surgeries and caring for the cats afterward has convinced me that there is nothing humane about this radical procedure. I often had nightmares about the declaw patients that would wake from the anesthesia screaming, flailing, ripping at their bandages, and hemmoraging. The vets would tell the cats' owners their pets did "fine", and I would be forbidden to tell the truth or I would lose my job. I have since left the veterinary field because sadly, I feel I can do more good for cats by being free to tell the whole truth about declawing and help educate about the many, many more humane alternatives that exist. There is never any good reason to declaw a cat.

Nancy Lewis August 28, 2011 at 12:42 am

You amputate each toe at the first joint, then the ligaments are severed, the muscles atrophy. Then your cat is sent home to walk on feet in unbearable pain, but that's ok, just dope the poor thing up on drugs, right? The cat may turn on you, you never know, and they do! They may and most likely will be crippled as they get older. You would be spending a fortune for something completely unnecessary. If I can tame 4 wild cats and teach them not to claw furniture, then I don't want to hear anyone's whiney excuses. Oh, and you think its an indoor cat so its ok? They always get out. Is it humane? No! Oh, there is one fantastic benefit to declawing: it makes a lot of money for veterinarians.

Tricia Lock August 28, 2011 at 12:48 am

Declawing is a cruel, sadistic and inhumane practice...it is not done in Australia and should not be done anywhere else either. For those people that think it is ok, let someone rip your fingernails out then tell me it is ok to do it to a cat. When you have a pet, it is up to you to make sure it is treated properly and that all of its needs are met...so buy a scratching post and the cat will use it.

Marcia Lipps August 28, 2011 at 12:48 am

I have never considered declawing a cat, a litttle scratching post training and patience have saved my cats from this horror. I find Loralei's comment to be spot on.

Margaret Thomson August 28, 2011 at 01:02 am

Amen to this!

Pam J August 28, 2011 at 01:04 am

Oh come on. I have had two cats that I had declawed and they got well in two days and never seem to have any problems. They acted like they had claws, but they were very active and happy animals. All of my friends who have had cats and had them declawed in the front also had very happy cats. My vet, who at the time, was Dr. Harris in Marietta, had no problem doing the procedure. Then Dr. Goode took over for him when he retired and he didn't have a problem with it either. I love animals and I cringed more at having them "fixed" than anything else. My two cats had more recovery time for that procedure than they did for the declawing. If you have ever had a cat that was declawed in the front, you would probably see that it doesn't not affect them negatively.

Margaret Thomson August 28, 2011 at 01:04 am

You can train cats to do most anything, including not scratching the furniture. Ours use scratching posts; walk on a leash; don't get on kitchen counters; and know which furniture they may (knee-height hassock) and may not (diningroom table) get up on. THEY KNOW! And mostly they obey. Not bad for an animal with a brain the size of a walnut. Better than some children, too!

Pam J August 28, 2011 at 01:08 am

I've had two (no, three come to think of it) that were declawed in the front. One cat lived to be 14 years old, one sadly died of feline leukemia at a younger age, and the other one lived to be 19 years old. They would run and jump and act just like every other cat out there. The had no side affects at all. I have not met one person who had a cat that had complications from this procedure.

Susan August 28, 2011 at 01:35 am

I would never, ever consider de-clawing a cat. I live with one now that I pulled from a high kill rural shelter - he was disposed of when his people were sick of his chronic UTI's & his inability to use a litterbox. He has painful arthritis in his elbows & wrists from walking without his 3rd Phalanx finger bones, which is quite common for declawed cats, but the vets of course don't want the public to know that! I also run a rescue network & we only adopt to people that understand why claws & scratching are so essential to the health & wellness of a cat and refuse to de-claw. We also forbid declawing because of the tremendous burden that declawed cats put on the rescue community, many of them in such pain & distress that they are unadoptable.
If de-clawing were humane, it wouldn't already be legally deemed animal cruelty and banned in 8 California cities, including Los Angeles the 2nd largest city in the US (declaw a cat there and you go to jail for 6 months & pay $1,000 fine!) or illegal or severely restricted in 38 countries worldwide!

Susan August 28, 2011 at 01:37 am

Also, If vets truly followed their AVMA guidelines to fully educate each client, and to only declaw after all alternatives have been exhausted, no cat would ever be declawed if people truly made an honest effort using the many easy & effective alternatives. But instead, the majority of American vets have brain washed the public into believing declawing is harmless & have turned it into a billion dollar industry, a lucrative racket when the cats come back to get treated for one of the many complications. Sadly, while many vets are promoting & encouraging declawing, and denying all the evidence that de-clawing harms cats, declawed cats are being relinquished, abandoned, & killed at record numbers because their phantom, joint, & muscle pain has manifested in what people misinterpret as "bad behaviors". It's an absolute epidemic going on in our society.

Susan August 28, 2011 at 01:49 am

Pam, you may be interested in this quote from the American Animal Hospital Association in their article about arthritis in cats, "‎"Cats have a tendency to hide when they’re not feeling well, so it can be even more challenging to detect or see subtle changes in your cat. Their survival instinct gives them a unique ability to cover a painful condition. Your cat may seem perfectly healthy but could have a major illness that you’re completely unaware of." The point being that many de-clawed cats suffer from chronic arthritis pain after their joints & tendons are severed off, but have an amazing ability to hide & cope with their pain, but it doesn't mean it's not there. In fact in a recent study of 100 cats, 90 of them had painful arthritis yet only 4 of them were diagnosed by their vet with it, the others hid it that well. But when their paws were radiographed, they saw the inflammation. So before saying a declawed cat is fine, have their paws x-rayed first - that will tell the real truth!

Jim J August 28, 2011 at 04:31 am

Declawing in unnecessary and unnecessarily cruel. The fact is that declawing is illegal in many countries and considered unethical by vets in many others. Another fact is, despite what the AVMA says, many vets market the procedure. When Los Angeles outlawed declawing in late 2009, an enterprising vet in nearby Thousand Oaks offered a $25 kick-back (referral fee) to LA vets who sent him cats for declaw surgery.

Ruth Ockendon Laycock August 28, 2011 at 01:19 pm

We have had 37 years of cats with claws and nice furniture and remain unscarred to this day. Cats need their claws for many things, declawing is cruel unnecessary major surgery, which is why it is banned in 39 countries so far.It's very easy to teach a cat to use a scratching post,scratching is NECESSARY behaviour, NOT bad behaviour. Cats hide their pain, many old cats have arthritis and suffer in silence, your cat probably did just that !

Pam J August 28, 2011 at 01:22 pm

Susan, I will probably never get another cat because unless I find a job, I couldn't afford to take care of it. And having a cat that lived longer than any of the relationships I had with the men in my life made me realize that if I get another one, it will probably outlive me. So I really have no more to say on the subject.

Susan August 28, 2011 at 01:22 pm

I agree, the AVMA loves to claim that all vets counsel their clients about it & aren't marketing it, but nothing could be further from the truth. In fact as I'm sitting here right now looking through a coupon magazine I got in the mail, there's a discount coupon for "low cost declaws" from St. Martins Clinic, a national franchise. And if the vets aren't blatantly marketing it, they stay neutral on the issue & say nothing, which again is against their guidelines to educate. I've sat in many vet offices where the only question the receptionist has for a caller that asks about de-clawing is "when would you like it scheduled?". When I've asked the AVMA about this kind of unethical vet work, they said to contact my state vet assoc. When I contacted my state vet assoc, they basically said vets can do what they want. A recent article I read said the #1 reason for lack of vet visits with their pets is because of mistrust of veterinarians, and I understand that. How can we trust & respect vets when they have no respect for the welfare of animals? No vet that truly understood & respected felines would ever diminish the quality of their lives by chopping or burning off their weight bearing bones, and take away their cat essence - - their claws.

Vicki Hammond August 28, 2011 at 02:48 pm

We inherited a declawed cat. Yes, she played and even sparred with her friend; but, when she tried to walk on uneven surfaces (even the lawn outside), it was quite obvious she had a difficult time. I can only assume it was due to pain since our non-declawed cat had no trouble walking in the same area. Declawing (mutilation that causes handicap) reflects the mentality of the people that do it and those that pay to have it done. I don't think I need to elaborate...

Pamela Wofford August 28, 2011 at 04:39 pm

I am horrified by the number of vets in my area who offer declawing as part of their "Well Cat Package", but heartened by the growing number of vets who refuse to do it. I've worked as a tech in both sorts of practices; anyone who thinks it's a harmless procedure should watch the agony on their cat's face as it wakes up in pain from amputated fingers. I've seen many cats who , contrary to what this film states, DO have behavior problems (possibly caused by"phantom pain") including defensive aggression after declawing. Also, calling it "declawing" is euphemistic-how about calling it what it is: phalanx amputation instead.

William Henry Brown August 29, 2011 at 11:12 am

i think de clawing a cat is the most disgusting thing i have heard being done to a cat, some of the purile excuses made here for de clawing are worthless, it is only done in the owners interest not the cats, if you do not like what cats may do to your precious and replacable house holds goods, dont have a cat, simple solution, cats were first used in the middle east to control rodents who were destroying the crops which humans had just worked out how to grow, as for the vets who do this they should be utterly ashamed and be struck off.

Jerome January 2, 2012 at 12:11 am

Pam is right, and the rest of you are full of baloney. For those of you who said "Why don't you get yourself declawed," I have a question: Why don't you get yourself spayed? Spaying/neutering cats is considered humane and important; yet what you are doing is literally cutting out their sex organs! An animal's primary drive in life is to reproduce, and you deprive your cat of that every time you have it spayed or neutered. I'm not saying that we shouldn't spay cats; but what I AM saying is that it is certainly NO MORE CRUEL to declaw a cat than it is to spay one. In fact, the most inhumane thing to do to a cat is to kill it; and millions of cats are euthanized every year because people won't adopt them. Studies show that the NUMBER ONE reason people do not adopt shelter cats is because THEY DO NOT WANT THEIR SKIN AND HOME SCRATCHED UP. Therefore, declawing cats would save hundreds, thousands, or even millions of cats' lives. Those who are opposed to declawing are the inhumane ones. (And before you get started on "it's easy to train a cat not to scratch," I'm calling total b.s. on that.)

Lorelei Kathleen Hickman January 2, 2012 at 10:29 pm

I often hear people who have not worked in veterinary medicine claiming that declawing is no different or worse than spay/neuter surgery. This is simply wrong. You are trying to compare apples and oranges. There is a significant and medically acknowledged difference between orthopedic surgery such as declawing and soft tissue surgery such as spay/neuter. Orthopedic surgery on weight-bearing joints is extremely painful, and veterinary textbooks state that declawing in particular is considered to be "the gold standard" by which to measure the effectiveness of pain medications; thus, declawing is acknowleged by the veterinary community to be the *most* painful surgery a companion animal can be subjected to. And actually, studies have shown that two of the biggest reasons cats are relinquished to shelters are due to urinating outside the litterbox and biting- both of which become more common in at least 30 percent of declawed cats **by the AVMA's own admission** in an article published in their own medical journal. I suggest that if you want to see how many cats are saved from euthanasia in shelters due to having been declawed, do some research on how many declawed cats are dumped in shelters across the country every day. I call total b.s. on THAT. It's a self-serving fallacy concocted by vets.