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Educational Material / Declaw your cat? Read this first.

Declaw your cat? Read this first.

Declawing is a series of bone amputations. Declawing is more accurately described by the term de-knuckling and is not merely the removal of the claws, as the term "declawing" implies. In humans, fingernails grow from the skin, but in animals that hunt prey, the claws grow from the bone; therefore, the last bone is amputated so the claw cannot re-grow. The last bone of each of the ten front toes of a cat's paw is amputated. Also, the tendons, nerves, and ligaments that enable normal function and movement of the paw are severed. An analogous procedure applied to humans would be cutting off each finger at the last joint.

Declawing, also known as onychectomy (än-ik-ek-tō-mē), is a major surgical and potentially crippling procedure that robs an animal of its primary means of defense. Declawed animals may be at increased risk of injury or death, if attacked by other animals. They are deprived of their normal, instinctual behavioral impulses to use their claws to climb, exercise, and mark territory with the scent glands in their paws.

Declaw surgery exposes cats to the risks of general anesthesia and complications of the surgical procedure, which include bleeding, infection, lameness, nerve damage, gangrene, extensive tissue damage, and death.

The estimates of the prevalence of declawing vary considerably. It seems that 25%–43% of all cats in American homes are declawed. The reason for this high number is that many veterinarians actively market and recommend the procedure without disclosing the details of the procedure to their clients with cats. Others perform declawing unquestioningly. Many people with cats don't understand that declawing is amputating the bones and think they are doing "all the right things" for their beloved animal.

A survey of twenty Los Angeles area veterinary clinics, reported in the February-March 2003 issue of The Pet Press, found that 75% agreed to perform declawing without question and without any attempt to establish a medical, behavioral, or any other indication to justify the procedure. Not only is declaw-on-demand the norm, the staff at veterinary clinics commonly encourage clients, whose cats are scheduled for spaying or neutering, to "supersize" the procedure by adding declaw surgery.

According to the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association (SCVMA), most veterinarians offer declawing and 5% make over $1000/hour performing the procedure. Clients who bring their cats to these veterinarians typically report that neither the nature of the procedure, complications, nor humane alternatives is ever discussed.

Declawing is one of the most painful, routinely performed procedures in all of veterinary medicine. Each toe of the cat is amputated at the first joint.

Declawing a cat is equivalent in a person to amputating the entire first knuckle of every finger.

Declaw surgery is so predictably painful that it is used by pharmaceutical companies to test the effectiveness of pain medications in clinical trials.

Initial recovery after declaw amputation surgery takes a few weeks, but even after the surgical wounds have healed, there are often other long-term physical complications and negative psychological effects.

Does declawing contribute to behavioral problems such as litter box avoidance or biting?

Yes, declawing a cat can be the reason that cat loses its home. Cats may be abandoned by their owners after being declawed because the cats develop behavioral changes or other problems after the declaw surgery. These behaviors include biting and urinating or defecating in unwanted areas outside of the litter box. Declawed cats with these behaviors are more likely to go to the pound, where an estimated 70% will be euthanized (killed). The pain of declawing sometimes causes cats to be reluctant to walk or play, and as a result, owners sometimes neglect them or mistreat them.

Do behavioral problems in declawed cats result in abandonment or losing their homes?

The National Council on Pet Population Study & Policy published "The Top Ten Reasons for Pet Relinquishment to Shelters in the United States" in 2000:

#1 House Soiling

#2 Aggression (biting)

(These are the two behavior problems most associated with cats that have been declawed.)

The report showed house soiling, followed by aggression, as the most common behavioral reasons for pet relinquishment. These two problem behaviors are frequently reported about cats that have been declawed; however, for cats with claws, it is interesting to note that destructive scratching did not make the list. Only 3.3% of cat owners, according to Scarlett, et al. (JAVMA 2002) claim destruction of furniture as the unwanted behavior that led them to relinquish their pets. This figure is similar to the 3% of cats that, according to the study, were relinquished for being "unfriendly and disobedient."

If declawing is unethical because it surgically alters animals for the convenience of humans, why isn't spaying or neutering also unethical?

Spaying and neutering benefits animals. Declawing provides no benefit to the animal. Spaying and neutering are the most effective and acceptable form of contraception for animals. About 6 million animals die every year in the US shelter system because there are not enough people who will adopt these unfortunate creatures. This tragedy can be prevented through spaying and neutering animals to prevent pet overpopulation. Spaying, or the removal of the uterus and ovaries in a female animal, also prevents certain cancers and deadly infections. Neutering, or the removal of the testes in a male animal, prevents certain cancers, and may help prevent prostate problems. Both surgeries can be performed with the animal going home that same day.

The number of cats and dogs that end up in pounds and being destroyed is estimated by all authorities to be in the millions annually. Until another alternative is available, surgical sterilization, when done properly by qualified personnel, benefits all companion animals by preventing unwanted pregnancies, as well as the deaths, of many animals.

It should be stressed that equating surgical sterilization to surgical declawing is an invalid comparison and a poor rationalization for performing the mutilating procedure of amputating a cat's toes.

Why do cats scratch things?*

A cat's natural instinct to scratch serves both physical and psychological needs. Their claws are their primary, instinctive tools for defending themselves and capturing prey. They scratch to keep their nails in condition and to mark territory. Before domestication, cats satisfied these needs by clawing tree trunks. House cats can be trained to satisfy their desire to claw without damaging valuable property. Most cats can be trained to use a scratching post. Other options include the use of nail trimmers, sticky strips applied to furniture, climbing trees and scratching mats.

Cats stretch their bodies and tone their muscles by digging their claws into something and pulling back against their own clawhold. Declawed cats are deprived of the means to defend themselves or flee from danger. Declawed cats have been injured or killed by other animals when they could not climb out of harm's way or had impaired ability to protect themselves.

By far, the most common reason given by cat owners who are considering having their pet declawed is to protect furniture or other property. Some may believe that declawing will prevent the cat from injuring them. Some veterinarians will recommend the procedure to their clients. Some people will not ever notice that their cats are having trouble after being declawed. Unfortunately, as many people discover too late, declawing may cause far worse problems than it solves. There are many better ways to treat behavior problems other than radical and irreversible surgery.

Soft Paws cat nail caps

Soft Paws® and Soft Claws® are vinyl nail shields that are safe, non-toxic caps adhered to your cat's natural nails. They protect your furniture from scratching damage without interfering with the cat's natural ability to extend and retract its claws. After a month or so, the caps are shed with the natural growth of the cat's nails. Items like Soft Paws® and scratching mats will protect your possessions and provide the necessary outlet for your cat to scratch. Remember, the time you invest in training your cat will be rewarded over a long and happy lifetime together.

What are the potential complications of declawing?

Felines—whether house cats or big cats—can suffer pain, post-operative complications, serious health problems, psychological trauma that manifests itself in negative behavioral changes, and even death because of being declawed. More details about the complications associated with declawing include the following:

Litter box problems.

Many declawed cats won't use their litter boxes anymore. After the declaw surgery, the cat's paws are very raw and when the cat goes to use the box, digging in the sand causes the cat a lot of pain. They begin to associate the box with that pain and may never use it again. Many cat experts know this and it has been confirmed in the veterinary literature. It is not uncommon for declawed cat owners to trade scratched furniture for urine-soaked carpeting. In one survey, 95% of calls about declawed cats related to litter box problems, while only 46% of clawed cats had such problems-and most of those were older cats, many with physical ailments that accounted for the behavior.

Biting.

Deprived of claws, which is their primary defense, a cat may turn to its only other line of defense—its teeth. Some experts believe that cats that are declawed are likely to become biters. Many veterinarians will recommend declawing to protect human beings from being scratched. This goes against what human health organizations recommend. Declawing the cat can give people a false sense of security because declawed cats bite more often after being declawed.

Pain.

James Gaynor, DVM, an expert in pain management at Colorado State University Veterinary Medical School, has written about chronic pain syndrome in cats that have been declawed. The article describes severe pain in cats that can last a lifetime.

Veterinary textbooks list the pain from declawing as "severe."

Declawing is considered one of the most painful, routinely-performed surgeries in all of veterinary medicine and yet 30% or more of veterinarians don't provide any pain medication whatsoever to their declaw patients. Another study showed that declawed cats were still in pain from the surgery at the end of the study, which was 12 days after the operation!

Declawing is so predictably painful that it is used in clinical trials by pharmaceutical companies to test new pain medications.

Determining pain in cats is much more difficult than determining pain in dogs. Cats are very often stoical and people will interpret a cat curled up in a ball and sleeping as normal, when in reality, the cat is in a lot of pain. Dogs are more demonstrative of their pain.

While the immediate post-surgical pain that the cats suffer is obviously severe, it is impossible to know how much chronic pain and suffering declawing causes. Declawing is ten (front toes only) or eighteen (there are only 8 toes on the back feet) separate amputations, so it is not unreasonable to believe that declawed cats experience phantom pain in one or more toes. (Many human amputees report life-long, painful "phantom" sensations from the amputated part.) Cats typically conceal pain or illness until it becomes unbearable. With chronic pain, it may be that they simply learn to live with it. Their behavior may appear normal, but a lack of overt signs of pain does not mean they are pain-free.

Post-surgical complications.

Lameness, abscesses, and paw pad atrophy can occur after surgery. In some cases where the veterinarian left part of the bone in the toe, the claw can begin to grow again. However, the claw grows abnormally under the skin and might eventually bust through the skin on top of the paw. In one report that studied cats for only five months after surgery, about 25% of cats developed complications from both declaw and tenectomy surgeries (digital tenectomy or tendonectomy is a procedure, sometimes promoted as an "alternative" to declawing, where the tendons that extend the toes are cut). Click here to see the section on Tendonectomy »

Joint Stiffness.

In declawed (and tendonectomizedized) cats, the tendons that control the toe joints retract after the surgery because they are no longer anchored to the bones, and over time these joints become essentially "frozen." The toes can no longer be extended, but remain fully contracted for the lifetime of the cat. The toes become like hammer toes. Cats may continue to "scratch" after they are declawed, this is probably explained by the cat's desperate desire to stretch those stiff, contracted joints and not evidence that the cat does not miss its claws.

Arthritis.

Veterinarians, in clinical settings, have found that in the immediate post-operative period, newly declawed cats shift their body weight backward onto the large central pad (the three-lobed pad on the palm) of the front feet and off the toes. This effect was significant even when strong pain medication was given, and remained apparent for the duration of the study (up to 40 hours after surgery). This altered gait may persist over time, and can cause stress on the leg joints and spine, and could lead to damage and arthritic changes in multiple joints. X ray images of declawed cats confirm this theory.

Death due behavior problems, anesthetic complications or defenselessness.

Declawing that results in biting or litter box avoidance may result in the cat being dumped at a shelter or simply abandoned. If taken to shelters, such behaviors make them unadoptable, and they will be destroyed. Many cats are exiled to a life outdoors because of these unwanted behaviors, even though declawed cats should not be allowed outside—their ability to defend themselves, and to escape danger by climbing, is seriously impaired. They also risk injury or death by dogs, cars, coyotes, poison, and other hazards of outdoor life. There is always a small but real risk of death from any general anesthesia, as well as from hemorrhage or other surgical complications. Many veterinarians will say that they would rather declaw the cat than have it die—it seems that they don't realize that declawing is often the cause of the cat's death. Declawing is unnecessary when there are so many humane alternatives.

What are the humane alternatives to declawing?

Humane alternatives to declawing exist and are easy to use.

A cat can be trained to use scratching posts to sharpen its claws without damaging furniture. Look at what the cat chooses to scratch on and duplicate it in your choice of scratching posts. If the cat chooses to scratch on the vertically oriented wooden legs of a table, get a wooden scratching post. It's the same for carpet. Most cats like the corrugated cardboard scratching pads that are available at grocery stores or pet supply warehouses. Place a little catnip on the new post to entice the cat to use it. Reward the cat with praise, love and treats for scratching in the right place. A vertical scratching post should be at least 28-36" (1 meter) high to allow the cat to stretch to its full height. Many cats prefer natural soft wood, such as a cedar or redwood plank, or posts covered with sisal rope. Some cats like to scratch on a horizontal surface; inexpensive cardboard scratchers are popular with these cats. Rubbing the surface with catnip, or using a catnip spray, may enhance the attractiveness of the post. For the more adventurous types, there are cat trees in dozens of sizes and colors, with features such as hidey-holes, lounging platforms, hanging toys, and other creative amenities. Many people do not even know that they should provide a scratching post for their cats. Because scratching is a deeply ingrained instinct in cats, if there is no appropriate spot, they will be forced to substitute furniture or other objects.

Regular nail trimming should help prevent damage to furniture. The cat's claws are clear, so it is easy to avoid accidentally trimming too deep and getting the quick. Click here to see the guide to trimming a cat's nails.

Nail caps called Soft Paws® or Soft Claws® can be glued painlessly to a cat's claws to prevent damage due to scratching. These items can be purchased at pet supply stores or through your veterinarian.

Double-sided Sticky tape like Sticky Paws® can be applied to furniture help deter a cat from scratching that surface. When the cat goes to scratch there, the tape feels funny to their paws and they learn not to use that surface anymore.

Despite their reputation for independence, cats can readily be trained to use a scratching post instead of the sofa, curtains or rugs.

Using surgery to prevent or correct a behavioral problem went out of fashion with lobotomy. There are many other options as well, such as clear, sticky strips to apply to the furniture, and other deterrents, as well as a multitude of climbing trees, mats, and other distractions that will protect your possessions. Adequate exercise, especially interactive play sessions, will also help channel the cat's energy. For aggressive scratching, conscientious nail-trimming or soft vinyl caps for the claws, Soft Paws®, are a good beginning. Remember, never play or roughhouse with your kitten or cat using your bare hands. You don't want the cat to get the idea that biting or scratching human skin is okay. And while it's fun to watch the kitten attack your wiggling toes under a blanket, when the 15 pound cat with 1/2 inch-long canine teeth does it, it's not nearly as amusing.

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