Declawing is not a solution. - the Way of Cats

When I wanted an illustration for this post, I went to a good-sized city (Atlanta, GA, the default on Petfinder) and asked to look at cats who were declawed.

I got three pages (53 cats) and I scrolled down on the first page and got exactly my point:

My point is:

Declawed cats have problems.

Over and over again, the excuse I get is that declawing will ?keep the cat in their home.? So why don?t these cats have one? It?s because whoever did this exchanged an easy fix (scratching posts and training) for something they thought was easier but turned out to be much, much worse.

Perhaps you shouldn?t listen to me on this issue, because I?ve never had a declawed cat. My friends in rescue warned me against it, because I already had so many cats, and dogs, and kids. As you can see above, many declawed cats don?t get along with cats and dogs and kids.

So listen to this Persian cat breeder:

I have owned Persians since I was 5, & done rescue for them since 1990. The cats that I have had in rescue were surrendered for many reasons, & have been of both head styles. The VAST majority of litterbox problem Persians are directly related to being declawed! 99% of the ones I have had that were litterbox issue cats have been declawed, the other 1% were not.

I have been able to turn approximately 90% of that total percentage around, but sadly have had to euthanize unrehabilitatable cats after many months of working with them, going through other foster homes in less stressful atmospheres, as well as placing several as only pets & having them bounce back for the same problem.

So if you declaw your cat, you are better than 95% more likely to have a cat with litterbox issues, as well as a cat that may develop biting habits because their first line of self defense has been taken away.

It?s not just that we have crippled the cat, who walks on their toes, by taking off the first joint. This procedure ruins the delicate balancing act that is the cat?s normal stride, and has created a cascade of compensation that is going to give the cat chronic muscular issues. The procedure itself is extremely painful, and makes it likely the cat will experience chronic pain.

Declawing is an extremely painful procedure. According to the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), ?Physically, regardless of the method used, onychectomy causes a higher level of pain than spays and neuters. Patients may experience both adaptive and maladaptive pain; in addition to inflammatory pain, there is the potential to develop long-term neuropathic or central pain if the pain is inadequately managed during the perioperative and healing periods.? (Emphasis added; please note that veterinarians who claim that using a laser decreases pain are just plain wrong.) You will see in this article that ?adequate? pain management is very rarely achieved, meaning that nearly all declawed cats are at risk of developing chronic pain. Chronic Pain of Declawing

While I never had a declawed cat rescue, I had plenty of stories from other people. This convinced me that, more often than not, the cat?s main problem was serious pain. This made these cats cranky, withdrawn, and extremely defensive. They were biters. They didn?t use the litter box. They had a hard time giving and receiving affection.

That is why they end up in rescue. And these are the lucky cats; they possibly have a shot if they have a situation where people will rehab them, and address their pain issues, and find them a home where they can be the Only Cat, because all their issues is how they wound up in the shelter.

Because declawing does not keep cats in homes; it cripples them and makes them land in the shelter with every strike in the world against them.

Or, they could wind up vulnerable on the street, unable to defend themselves, and no shot at any kind of life at all.

And what drives me crazy is that someone paid a vet to do this, and the vet did it.

It?s so easy to get our cats to choose their scratching post, instead.

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Source: http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/the-fallout-from-declawing/19604

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