I know this is a controversal issue with cat owners…..My only attempt here is to save any and all cats from being declawed.  If this only helps one cat owner undertand how this will hurt their cat then I have at least accomplished one thing in helping a cat live a much better life today.  Declawing a cat is actually mutilating it.

Please do not declaw your cat/kitten…I have fostered several kittens and older cats who have been declawed by their former owners and then dumped off.  I find declawed cats to be very sad.  They don’t get to live the life of “normal” clawed cats.  They simply cannot do a lot of things

Many declawed cats become so traumatized by being declawed that they end up spending their lives perched on top of doors and refrigerators, out of reach of real and imaginary predators against whom they no longer have any adequate defense.

Too often people believe that declawing is a simple surgery that removes a cat’s nails, the equivalent of a person having her fingernails trimmed. Sadly, this is far from the truth. The cat’s claw is not a nail as is a human fingernail, it is part of the last bone in the cat’s toe.  Declawing traditionally involves the amputation of the last bone of each toe and, if performed on a human being, it would be comparable to cutting off each finger at the last knuckle. 

Sugical complications could include permanent lameness and death.  Some cats will have immediate changes, some will have problems as they get older.  Declawing is done for the convenience of humans—so they will not have to bother training their cats or providing them with alternative places to scratch.  Declawed cats often become extremely shy or aggressive, and they have littter box issues.  Declawing a small kitten before it has time to learn what is right and what is wrong is unacceptable. 

Unlike most animals who walk on the soles of the paws or feet, cats are digitigrade, which means they walk on their toes. Their back, shoulder, paw and leg joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments and nerves are naturally designed to support and distribute the cat’s weight across its toes as it walks, runs and climbs. A cat’s claws are used for balance, for exercising, and for stretching the muscles in their legs, back, shoulders, and paws. They stretch these muscles by digging their claws into a surface and pulling back against their own clawhold.  This is the only way a cat can exercise, stretch and tone the muscles of its back and shoulders. The toes help the foot meet the ground at a precise angle to keep the leg, shoulder and back muscles and joints in proper alignment. Removal of the last digits of the toes drastically alters the conformation of their feet and causes the feet to meet the ground at an unnatural angle that can cause back pain similar to that in humans caused by wearing improper shoes.

Scratching is a natural instinct for cats and declawing causes the inability of the cat to satisfy the instinctive impulses to climb, chase, exercise, and to mark territory by scratching. Cats simply enjoy scratching. The sensible and humane solution to undesirable scratching is to modify the cat’s conduct by making changes in the environment and direct the cat’s natural scratching behavior to an appropriate area.  Like a scratching post. 

I have found a very good toy/scratcher.  (Turbo Scratcher?)  I’m not sure what it is called but it is a circle with a cardboard scatching area in the insideof the circle and a moving ball in the outter circle.  It is inexpensive; around $20.00.  All of my cats love to play with this and they never tire of it.  Also, we have three cat trees, the kind that go all the way up to the ceiling for them to play and scratch on. 

Please try to find alternitive scratching areas for your cat and train the cat to use those items.  Spraying the new scratching posts, trees or toys with cat nip can help get them started knowing what’s good to scratch on and what isn’t. 

Also, they make “coverings” for the nails….they are called soft paws.  I haven’t used those so I have no input on how well they work.

Please do not declaw your cat.  Your cat will thank you for it!