Declawing your Cat

The number one cause of death in domestic cats is elective euthanasia as a result of behavior problems. Unfortunately the behavior problems are often cats are exhibiting normal feline behavior. Almost every feline “bad habit” is only a bad habit in the eyes of humans. These “Inappropriate” scratching is just one example. Cats scratch because of the natural instinct to deposit a scent from the paw pads into his favorite, personal places. A byproduct of this scratching also helps the cat sharpen claws, and shed the dead nail sheath, which surrounds the claws. This does not seem at all inappropriate to the cat! The problem arises when kitty selects your drapes, carpet, or favorite couch as the object of this natural marking behavior.

First and foremost, understand that most cats can be trained, provided they are adaptable to redirect their scratching onto appropriate objects. You must decide whether you are willing to make the effort to try redirecting the scratching and commit to implementing the training program. It is easier while your cat is young to make this effort for two reasons: (1) Ingrained behaviors in adult cats are much harder to modify; and (2) Declawing (a 100% effective way to resolve the situation) is well tolerated by kittens but can be more stressful on adult cats. For training and for surgical purposes, we refer to “young” cats as three to eleven months old, and “adult” cats as one year or older. Behavior modification is not guaranteed. Failure is for a variety of reasons, owner compliance being the most common.

If you decide to have your cat declawed, here are some things you should know:

Regardless of the cat’s age, we use a surgical laser to declaw cats at BGVC. The laser removes the nail bed, at the same time seals the many small blood vessels and nerve endings in the toes. This state-of-the-art technology is far less traumatic for the cat than ordinary toe amputation with a nail trimmer. There is less postoperative pain for the cat, and complete healing time is generally decreased. Laser declaw is typically 15-20% more expensive than other methods of declaw surgery. Because declawing is one of the most stressful and painful surgeries that can be performed on a cat we use this protocol with a great deal of pride.

Laser declaw can be combined with routine spay or neuter surgery. This means only one anesthetic procedure for your cat, and only one hospital stay. These cats are kept overnight in the hospital for observation and complete rest, and then released the next day with some reasonable restrictions on physical activity over the next several days. You will notice that your cat is comfortable. You will see normal digging and covering in the litter box right away, and normal gait. We recommend a special litter post declaw called Yesterday’s News.

If your cat is over a year old we ask that you restrict activity a little while longer. Adult cats have fully developed blood supply in the toes, and have much more weight to bear on those toes than kittens. Adult cats are less adaptable to the feel of our surgical glue on their toes, and sometimes attempt to bite or beat it off. Nevertheless, you should see normal digging and covering in the litterbox right away and nearly normal gait. You should not notice any remarkable discomfort in your cat.

Declawing will not stop the scratching! Remember this is a normal feline marking behavior! The scratching will continue, but will no longer cause damage.

Declawing will not render your cat unable to climb. A declawed cat has only a minor handicap. Declawed cats very quickly learn to dig their back claws in to support their weight, and wrap their front legs around vertical objects like kitty tower posts and even small trees, to climb. You will be delighted to know that your cat will be unable to climb flat surfaces like your textured wallpaper or your drapes.

Declawing will not render your cat unable to mouse! Your cat will quickly learn to “hold” prey such as small rodents, butterflies, and so forth, carefully under his declawed paws and retrieve them with his mouth.

Declawed cats do not necessarily need to be kept indoors. However, a declawed cat is at a terrible disadvantage in a good old-fashioned neighborhood catfight, and will nearly always lose the fight. A declawed cat is at a terrible advantage in a fight with an aggressive neighborhood dog. These domestic predators are, of course, just amateurs. The professional predators such as coyotes and owls see absolutely no difference between killing a clawed cat versus a declawed cat. Professional predators have no urge to fight, only eat, so they have much more finely developed hunting skills centered on the element of surprise and safe angle of attack.

We are sometimes asked about the declawing of all four feet. Typically, cats do little or no claw damage with rear claws, since they are not used in normal scratching behavior. Rear claws are used as a climbing aid and a traction aid in leaping from a rough surface (such as your carpet or chair). They are usually only offensive when kitty sinks them into your leg to launch from your lap! We strongly discourage quadruple declaw. The exception is, of course, if the cat is kept in a household with immune compromised persons or other who could become seriously ill if subjected to a claw wound.

To see a declaw demonstration performed here at BGVC, got to: www.bgvc.net then click on, *services.