Specializing in the care of cats and dogs, our goal is to help you and your pet feel more comfortable, keeping your stress to a minimum. This article is intended to provide general guidance about declawing a cat. If you have specific questions or concerns, please contact your local veterinarian.
If you live in or around Castle Rock, we welcome your call. Cat Care Considering Declawing a Cat? Five Questions Answered! Considering Declawing a Cat?
We want to help you make a good decision for your cat and family. Related article: How to keep your cat safe outdoors If you have an indoor cat , you can train your cat to scratch on a training post. The best time to train is when your cat is a kitten. As soon as you get a new kitten, talk to our veterinarians about ways to avoid declawing.
Related article: How to pet proof your house for a new dog or cat We understand there are times when your family may need to declaw your cat. We have families come to us because they: Have not been able to train their cat to scratch on a post Have a family member who has a compromised immune system This may be due to Chemotherapy, a disease, medications to suppress the immune system, or the person was just born that way.
These recommendations do not include declawing. Legislation to make declawing illegal, while well-intentioned, can be problematic, because, in rare cases, the procedure may be justifiable as a last resort to prevent euthanasia. There is also no meaningful way to enforce a law that includes this exception. Therefore, we believe that is the responsibility of veterinarians to inform their clients of alternative, nonsurgical methods to address destructive clawing, including referral to an animal behaviorist.
Prior to surgery performed to prevent euthanasia, the veterinarian should thoroughly explain the pain, permanence, and complications of the procedure to the owner. Veterinarians should decline to perform declaw procedures except in the rare instance where all other humane alternatives have been exhausted. You are here About Us Policies and Positions. Position Statement on Declawing Cats. Having no other way to defend themselves, they may resort to biting when in pain, and unfortunately for their humans, bite wounds from a cat may be more likely than scratches to cause infection and hospitalization.
The study would be stronger if the researchers had been able to study the cats before and after the declawing procedure, to work out for certain whether these negative effects were caused by the declawing procedure. However, that kind of research is more expensive and more difficult. Lead author Nicole Martell-Moran is a Texas veterinarian and a director at the Paw Project, an organization whose goal is to end cat declawing.
We now have scientific evidence that declawing is more detrimental to our feline patients than we originally thought and I hope this study becomes one of many that will lead veterinarians to reconsider declawing cats. Declawing is outlawed in many developed countries, but not the US and most of Canada.
However, many American veterinary associations are opposed to declawing, except as a last resort.
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