Well, of course I think declawing is wrong! I’m a cat. I like my claws and I like to use them. Most of the time, I use them for good (grabbing a toy I’m chasing, or hooking on the cat tree for a good stretch) and not evil (clawing the seats of the dining room chairs — I leave that nasty trick up to Binga). Claws help us kitties defend ourselves, either by scratching our enemy or by climbing trees to escape them. Clawing our scratchers and cat trees helps us stay fit by toning our upper bodies, and we stay supple by using our claws as a stretching aid. Plus I like using my claws to comb my human’s hair. Sometimes she is lax about grooming.
Many civilized countries have outlawed declawing, and only allow the procedure to be done in extreme circumstances. Here is a list at declawing.com of the countries that do not allow cats to be declawed. I have never understood why there is such a controversy over declawing in the United States and Canada. In California, when cities such as West Hollywood began to outlaw declaws, some veterinary groups went to the state capitol and pushed through a measure that would stop cities from banning declawing. The law sort of backfired on them because several very large cities rushed to ban declawing before the end of 2009 (the law wasn’t scheduled to take effect until 2010). Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Culver City, Burbank, San Francisco and Berkeley are all no-declaw zones now.
A lot of you reading this already know that declawing involves amputating part of our toes, and that it can be painful and traumatizing for a cat. I won’t go into details here, but if you want to know more, I created a whole page at Squidoo about declawing from a cat’s point of view. You’ll find a whole bunch of resources about declawing there. Right now I’m more interested in suggesting some ways humans can help manage the clawing behavior of the cats who live with them.
- Give us lots of different scratching surfaces. When humans complain that their cat doesn’t use the scratching post, maybe it’s because they don’t have the type of scratching surface the cat prefers. Some cats like to scratch vertically; others prefer scratching horizontally. Some cats prefer sisal, while others love corrugated cardboard. All cats like a secure scratching surface that doesn’t slip and slide underneath them or feel like it’s going to topple over. We also like our scratching surfaces to be in a spot that’s convenient and easy for us to reach, not hidden or shunted off in a corner where we never go.
- Make sure your furniture and rugs are not appealing scratching surfaces. Those dining room chairs seats that Binga likes to claw? They are covered in the most wonderfully scratchable, nubby fabric. I don’t know what my human was thinking when she agreed to buy them from her friends. Think like a cat — is that couch or chair made of material that you would just love to dig your claws into? Then don’t bring it home. Get furniture that’s made of fabric that’s hard for a cat to dig his claws into, like microfiber, or short, hard pile that claws will just slip off of. My human’s new couch has fabric like that. Plus she put throws over the couch to make it extra unappealing for scratching. When my human got a rug for the living room, she found one that was nice looking, but not that expensive so it wouldn’t be too tragic if we “ruined” it. Ironically, she’s the one who has ruined it — she’s worn down the pile in the middle from all her exercising! (Don’t blame me — I’m the one who always says “no!” every time she puts in one of those confounded exercise dvds.)
- Trim our claws regularly. Sharp claws, as you might have guessed, cause way more damage than short, trimmed claws. It is a good idea to begin handing a cat’s paws and trimming her claws when she is a young kitten. That will save a lot of drama later on. My human trims our claws when we are sleepy. That way, we require less restraining (I hate being held tight!). Sometimes she pretends like she’s just petting us and before we know it, our claws are trimmed.
What about Soft Paws nail caps? Some humans seem to like them, but I can’t wholeheartedly recommend them. It still interferes with our natural need to use our claws to scratch, stretch and navigate when we’re jumping, and while they come in an assortment of pretty fashion shades, some cats really hate them. In fact, some cats hate them so much that they injure themselves trying to chew them off. Others have gotten their nail caps caught in a carpet or lacey fabric and have been unable to extricate themselves, also resulting in injuries, both to the cat and whatever it was he caught his nail cap on. So if you’ve got a cat, the best thing you can do is figure out how he can act out his natural scratching instincts in a way that works for you.
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Nice post that presents the other side of the story! I’ve seen so many cat-owners just assume de-clawing was the only option and that everyone does it.
I’m an outdoor cat, so I find the deck out back to be prime claw-sharpening material! The stuff inside just doesn’t measure up. Though the new basement carpet is very soft and my claws get caught in it all the time! I get a little offended when my humans think they can do a better job of maintaining my claws. I’ve had 19 years of experience with these things, and because of this dumb carpet they want to meddle? But I’m not here to talk about me.
I used to have a friend, Murphy, on my old street who had been declawed in the front. I remember that I didn’t see him for a little while, and when I saw him again his paws were kind of orange. It was very sad, because we couldn’t playfight fair anymore! Well, not like he could take me to begin with. We still hung out all the time, and I helped him get under fences since he couldn’t get over them anymore. He told me once that he fell off the back of a big chair because he couldn’t hang on. I was appalled, naturally. No one messed with him because they knew I would come and beat them up if they did. But then Murphy’s humans made him move away, and soon after mine took me to a new place too. It was pretty stressful, but I’ve moved before so I soon got around to showing the neighbourhood cats who’s boss.
Later I found out that Murphy had had a much harder time adjusting to his new street. He got beat up all the time, and would come home bleeding and needing stitches. He couldn’t defend himself. The vet bills eventually drowned out his begging to be let outside, and his humans made him an indoor cat. He must’ve been more depressed and angry than I was when my humans brought a stupid dog home! He passed away last year, several years my junior. Sure, he wasn’t as tough as I am, but he could’ve moved on with his life and continued to enjoy the sensory delights of the outdoors if his humans hadn’t valued their antique furniture over his health. It’s a shame really, his humans give good scratches.
Here in Germany there really is no such thing as declawing a cat. I think every cat owner should be aware of how important claws are for cats (it’s part of their anatomy after all) instead of worrying about their furniture. Here in Germany we have a saying: Either you have a cat OR you have nice furniture 😉
take care,
Duni
@VetTech – I have to disagree. If you spent any time visiting shelters, you would see that a LOT of cats dropped off there by owners are declaws. Declaw surgery often causes behavioral problems, turns cats into biters, and sometimes causes litter box avoidance because even after the wounds heal, the paws continue to hurt. All this is not the type of “complication” that can be corrected surgically. So humans who have their cats declawed – and who should have been educated in how to properly deal with living with a cat in the first place – find they have more problems, and the cats are doomed to euthanasia anyway. With declawing, cats LOSE, period.
As a feline only veterinary technician I have seen hundreds of cats de-clawed, and and while complications do occur they are extremely rare and very easy to correct if the surgery and after care are performed by a meticulous surgeon and staff. I will however say that it’s is better if the surgery is performed on young cats (5-6 months, preferably while already under sedation during their spay/neuter)…older cats are much more prone to complications and young cats rebound quicker.
I think more cats would have short lives ending in shelters, if the option of de-clawing were not made available to potential owners. While de-clawing is not ideal, many owners see it as a right of passage for the cat to live in their home. I’d rather see cats live long cared for lives without claws than die in shelters with them.
Brovo! Pawsome story! We agree! Hopefully like in the movies good prevales! (That means we will wipe the universe come pleatly of declawing and all places will be no declaw zones!)
Seems so unnatural why do it?
We don’t understand why anyone would declaw if they realized what really happened in the procedure. We have our claws and plenty of places to use them – all approved by Mommy of course, well, except for one chair but it’s okay, it’s an ugly chair.
All of us still have our claws. Our Mom buys very inexpensive runners, puts slipcovers over the sofas and even throws sheets over them because Tiger has been known to barf on it. She said it’s easier to wash the sheets and slipcovers than the sofa.
Declawing is sad. It’s so painful to the poor kitties! I always stress to adopters of my foster cats that I do not condone declawing and if they plan on doing it, they will not be adopting one of my kitties.
Bravo, bravo! I can’t believe so many other countries have already banned declawing while the US is still so far behind on this important legislation. My Mommeh has seen cats at the shelter after the declaw surgery and they always seem so miserable, and there is often lots of blood from where they chewed on their bandages.
Wow, that is really good information about the declawing and preventing the little darlings from ruining the furniture. I am certainly all for banning the declawing of cats. It is a horrible thing to do and I heard that sometimes the cat that is declawed will start biting. I don’t know that for a fact though, since all of the ones that live here have all their claws. And yes the furniture is ruined but I don’t care. They are happy cats, and I am not a fussy person about how things look.