Cats & Cat Health

If you are getting fed up with your cat scratching your soft furnishings you may be planning to declaw him. Please don’t do this. In England declawing is termed “inhumane” and “unnecessary mutilation.” In many European countries it is illegal. If you declaw you are crippling and maiming your cat.

A cat’s claws are not toenails- its more like a bone. Declawing is like amputating your the top bone in your toes or fingers. The surgery is painful and the cat will still be in pain for a while after surgery, yet still has to walk on those painful paws.

A declawed cat can no longer do all the things she instinctively wants to do. She can’t climb, even indoors because she has lost her way of gripping and will fall, with a shocked look on her face. “Why can’t I do this anymore?” she thinks. She can’t scratch or groom herself properly, she can’t defend herself against dogs or nasty people, so she feels insecure, her balance is affected and she is deprived of the psychological comfort derived from scratching.

A declawed cat may become neurotic and develop psychological problems. She may resort to biting because she feels unsafe. Sometimes the claws re-grow but are deformed and may easily become infected.

Please don’t get your cat declawed, its very cruel and I amsure that as a cat lover, now that you know all this you will not even consider declawing your cat.

Read this cautionary tale if you are still not sure: Declawing Problems

I do know what a pain it can be to have your furnishings damaged like this. My cat Alfie damaged our stair carpeting when we first got him. I was able to stop eventually him by spraying the carpet with a special spray from the pet shop, just wish I had known about it sooner! ( Now if you could please tell me how to stop him bringing half eaten mice in and leaving them on the stairs…!)

 Email This Post

If your furnishings are getting scratched, and repellant sprays are not suitable for the fabric, there is another humane solution. Claw caps called Soft Claws , created by a vet, will solve the problem for sure. You apply the claw caps to your cat’s front claws. Only use these if your cat never goes outside though, because it does prevent them from defending themselves.

Feline De-Clawing Alternatives

Technorati Tags: declawing, cat,catdeclaw

Share This