Should you Declaw your Cat?

Well there is no quick answer as veterinarians and cat lovers are sharply divided over declawing, even among themselves. There are pros and cons on both sides as well as alternatives.

Before making a decision it is good to know what declawing is. Declawing is not a simple procedure but involves surgery and anesthesia. When you declaw a cat you are amputating the claw, as the claws are connected to the bone. It is not like cutting a fingernail or getting a manicure. Declawing requires cutting the last bone of the cat’s claw to prevent the claw from coming back. A vet has to do this for each of his toes. See Pictures. It is comparable to cutting off the last knuckles of a person’s hand.

Declawing is painful during and after surgery for the cat and so pain medication may be given for a while after the surgery. Declawing is also a permanent and irrevocable process. Many veterinarians recommend if you are going to declaw your cat that you do so when you take it in to be spayed/neutered so it only has to be anesthetized once. Vets also suggest waiting to see if your cat actually needs to be declawed. Most cats do not need to be declawed if their owner is willing to put in time to train them to scratch appropriate objects. There are also many alternatives to declawing, seen further in the article. It is also recommended, should you choose to declaw your cat, that you bring him or her in sooner rather than later as kittens and young cats heal faster and rebound better than overweight and older cats. Older cats tend to show more pain post surgery.

Now that you know some basics of declawing, it would be good to know some pros and cons. The main pro reason given for declawing a cat is to “protect” the furniture, which declawing does do. Cats like to scratch so if you have lots of valuable furniture and items pleasing for a cat’s claws then they will go for it. To go along with that, many people tell their vet that the cat scratches the furniture so much that they either need to stop the scratching or else give their cat to an animal shelter where they may be euthanized if no adopter can be found. Some cats after declawing are friendlier than they were before. There may be more pros but I have been unable to find them online.

Some of the cons of declawing are the risks involved with the declawing surgery. There is a chance the cat could die from the anesthesia, although this is rare, but more likely there will be a complication of some sort. After the surgery, the cat’s paws are bandaged to stop the bleeding and these bandages can come off if the cat tries hard enough. Long term effects are varied where some people say the cat will bite more as it lost one method of self-defense, its claws. Others have said their cats, since declawing, have become anti-social, unable to climb or have problems walking. There are also some unverified reports of cats no longer using cat litter due to paw sensitivity. The effects of declawing are varied with many successes and also many failures. Studies have not proven biting and anti-social behavior are a result of declawing but many individuals it has happened to their cats after declawing. As a result many countries including England, Germany and Japan have banned the declawing of cats.

Declawing your cat should be a last resort in most cases as there are many other ways to stop your cat from scratching. You can train them to scratch scratching posts over time. See “Cats and Scratching” for some good advice on how to train your cat. Other ways are buying Soft Paws, which are a nail cover that can be glued onto a cat’s nails. It makes it so that when a cat scratches something it will not be harmful to the object or the person. It’s perfect for cats interacting with children. Also the Soft Paws come off as the cats nails grow over time, at which point another nail cover can be put on if you choose. Another alternative to declawing is trimming your cat’s nails, which can be done by a vet or by yourself.

It is strongly recommended that you try these other methods before choosing declawing as it is permanent. It is the rare cat that won't stop scratching your furniture if you try the above methods. If none of these methods work and you have searched and exhausted all options, then consider declawing. It's not worth putting your pet through pain if you can help it.

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