Just the Tip
There’s has been heightened debates throughout the years
regarding whether or not declawing cats will enhance life for both the pet, and
the owner. Over the years as the issue has been brought into light and it is
apparent that declawing cats has become a practice surpassing the limits of
cruel and unusual; and should only be performed under extreme conditions. The
declawing process is a surgical amputation where the bone is cut so that the
claw will not grow back. “Nearly
60 percent of American pet owners, including 55 percent of cat owners, say it
is OK to have a cat declawed, but only 8 percent approve of having a dog's
vocal cords removed” according to an Associated Press-Petside.com poll. The
question is: if declawing cats is so cruel, why do so many people continue to
do have this operation preformed on their animals? Most people will declaw
their cats because of lack of knowledge, the cat scratching furniture, or the
owner simply not wanting to train them. Due to the fact that declawing has
become a seemingly normal act; vets will often mislead blind customers into
brutalizing, and even killing their pet.
To begin, cats are exceptionally territorial animals; and use
their claws to mark their territories as well as in the litter box. As all
animals are instinctive, they require tedious training to mold certain behaviors.
Some people, such as Jennifer Solloway, former Judge in Sacramento, "They
do not know they've been declawed. They made the same kneading movements. The
recovery process was very short. They never showed any sign of pain”. Declawing
cats is not nearly as simple or painless as removing a human toenail. The
removal of claws is actually a full surgery in which the bone up to the first
joint is physically amputated; this is because the cat’s claw is imbued within
the bone, so removal of the bone is necessary. Removing less bone is the
obvious preference, which is defined in the two main types of surgery. The cheaper and more common surgery
is performed with a sliding blade much like a guillotine, and cuts a straight line
through the joint between that little piece of bone and the next piece of bone,
which is much bigger”. When the bone is cut, the cat’s padded paws are also
chopped in half as well. The second surgery is called cosmetic declawing.
Cosmetic declawing is time consuming, extremely difficult, and equally costly
which is why most veterinarians do not offer this procedure. Rather than a
chopping blade, cosmetic declawing uses a “tiny curved blade to go in
and dissect out the claw and the tiny piece of the bone. The pad is intact, and
all the soft tissue is there”. Cosmetic declawing is the preferred choice
(if at all) since the cat retains full use of their soft padded tissue on the
bottom of their paws. The entire cat’s weight is placed on the paws, and in
traditional declawing the majority of pain comes from the trauma of the soft
tissue.
To continue, there has been much debate over the general
outcome of an animal’s behavior post-surgery; but recent studies have shown
that there are “no
behavioral change in cats after the removal of claws.”. According to AVMA, “Surveys
of cat owners who declawed their cat report a perceived increase in the quality
of the owner-cat relationship as a result. Declawing may also be
performed to protect people, particularly those who are geriatric, diabetic or
have compromised immune systems and so may suffer life-threatening
complications from cat scratches; declawing decreases this risk while allowing
the cat to remain in the home. Overall, owners who chose to declaw reported
that the procedure met or exceeded their expectations”. Owning a
cat, much like any other living being, is a responsibility that should not be
taken up without the incentive to provide the full amount of attention needed.
One should not seek ownership of a cat if they, themselves, are inflicted to
the point where they will not allow the animal to live a fulfilling life. Most
scratching damage is inflicted through the front claws, which are most commonly
removed. Depending on the demeanor of the animal, training it not to scratch
furniture or people could be as easy as purchasing a large 32” scratching post
coiled with rope. More tedious duties would require trimming the cat’s nails
once a week; which only takes time since cutting a cat nails is drastically
easier than cutting dog nails. If none of the previous options worked, using deterrents
such as: spray to put on furniture to prevent scratching, gel tips for the cats
claws, or simply filling a squirt bottle with water and gently misting the
animal when they misbehave.
Lastly, “declawing is
illegal or considered inhumane in many countries around the world, including
England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Brazil, Australia,
Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, France, Spain, and the Netherlands”, and is thought of as
extremely inhumane, and only preformed under extreme conditions in many other
countries. Also, all members of the feline family except for cheetahs have
retractable claws; and are used across the board in all acts of daily feline
life. Claws are a crucial and vital part of a cat’s build; without claws cats
are condemned to a half life of crippling deformities. When there are fairly
easy alternatives to declawing cats, there’s just no reason to physically
deform them over the well being of furniture.
Works Cited
"Get The Facts:." A Rational Look at Declawing. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
"Healthy Cats." Declawing Cats.
N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
N.p., n.d. Web.
N.p., n.d. Web.
"Poll: It's OK to Declaw Cats, Most Pet Owners Say." Msnbc.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
" Welfare Implications of Declawing of Domestic
Cats." Welfare Implications of
Declawing of Domestic Cats.
N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
