The Pros And Cons Of Cat Declawing

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A heated debate, that has cat owners divided, is if you should declaw your cat.Declawing has been around for a long time, but now scientific evidence is coming out about how declawing is actually quite harmful to your cat.Getting a cat declawed can cause not only behavioral problems but can have an adverse effect on a cat’s lifestyle, along with causing long term and short term pain.
Regrettably, many people don’t even know what goes on during a declawing.According to the ASPCA “Declawing of cats, or onychectomy, is the amputation of the last digital bone, including the nail bone and claw, on each front toe”(Position Statement on Declawing Cats).This procedure can lead to many complications including infections and excessive bleeding “A study of 163 cats that went under onychectomy, posted in the Jul/Aug Journal of Veterinary Surgery, showed that 50% suffered from postoperative complications, such as pain,hemorrhage,and lameness; and long-term complications including prolonged lameness, were found in nearly 20% of the 121 cats who were followed up in the study”(Declawing: Cruelty or Convenience?).These statistics show that not only did half of the cats have complications, but some had complications some time after the operation.
Along with the physical complications from the operation; there are behavioral complications from the operation “...33% of …show more content…

In addition to physically and behaviorally damaging your pet declawing also ruins their way of life.According to the Humane Society of the United States “Cats scratch to remove dead husks from their claws, mark territory, and stretch their muscles”(Declawing Cats: Far Worse than a Manicure).Which also, going back to behavioral issues, can lead them to urinate everywhere so that they can mark their territory.To quote the MobileSPCA “Declawed cats will often stop using the litterbox due to pain caused by digging in their litterbox, choosing instead a soft surface like your bed, laundry, or carpets”(Declawing

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