I’ve confessed here before: Yes I do declaw cats. You may dislike this about me—and I don’t blame you. I don’t like to declaw cats, either.
It’s a personal decision for every vet: Am I willing to amputate the cat fingertips for the benefit of their humans? And, most of the time, I would say no. But sometimes it’s a procedure where the expressed goal is to keep that cat safe and indoors with his family.
Families with geriatric or immunosuppressed members (chemo, AIDS, transplants, etc.) are a no-brainer. If kitty uses her claws when being handled, people with challenged immune systems are at high risk for serious infections.
Other declaw exceptions include seriously destructive pets whose owners have tried everything…except eliminating the claws. If scratching posts, claw covers (like Soft Paws) and furniture protection haven’t worked, we go for the declaw instead of the outdoors. Given the choice, I’ll always choose [what’s usually] a few days of medicated pain over a lifetime of exposure to outdoor risks.
The event that occasioned this post occurred a couple of weeks ago. And it happened, to a large extent, because I failed to heed my own advice. One of my colleagues had to rush out of the office on emergency and left me with his daily surgeries (a highly uncommon occurrence). One surgery was a declaw whose owners I’d never met and whom I couldn’t reach by phone before the procedure. Instead of postponing to conference with his owner, I went ahead with the declaw.
Now, this was a full-grown cat. I have very special rules about how I do declaws on these guys. I use pre-anesthetic non-steroidal pain relievers, local nerve blocks and post-op opiates. I never use a laser—just a batch of very sharp blades. Sometimes, I even use fentanyl patches, but this requires that I apply the patch at least six hours before surgery—I had no such luxury that day.
Thankfully, the procedure went well and kitty recovered beautifully. I kept him for two days without incident (I don’t send them home immediately because I find that owners seldom are able to control serious running or jumping—definitely a complicating factor).
The day kitty went home he came right back—bleeding paws. Not good but a very common compliction, nonetheless. To be safe, I kept him over the weekend without any bleeding.
Yesterday, kitty’s owner came back in with him—complaining of kitty’s limping and holding paws up intermittently (an obvious sign of discomfort). The surgical sites looked beautifully healed. All the pads were perfectly intact and no bony protuberances were palpable beneath them. And there was no obvious pain when I palpated them. In short, a perfect declaw (in spite of the bleeding that one day)—that still managed to go wrong.
This is the most frustrating kind of situation: An upset owner whose reasons for surgery were perhaps not what I’d normally consider acceptable and to whom pre-procedure warnings on high complication rates on declaws never got communicated. Bad bad bad.
I explained the possibility of sensory confusion (the paws just feel strange with no claws) or intermittent phantom pain that would more than likely resolve after a few weeks. “Tincture of time,” I told him. He was not amused. I gave a pain shot anyway to mollify him and by way of discerning strange sensation from pain.
Today I plan on calling to see how it’s going. I’m not looking forward to the call. Like all vets, our goal is to help—not to injure pets with unnecessary procedures. And a less-than-satisfied client with a potentially painful pet is just about the worst feedback you can get. The moral of the story: stick to your basic principles and make no exceptions for random occurrences like the one that occasioned this one. Some day I’ll learn to follow my own codes over short-sighted concessions to my clients’ convenience.
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We were living in the country when our cat adopted us. I grew up in a home that declawed all its cats and I never had heard that there were ethical concerns over the procedure. When we took our new cat to the vet hospital in the nearest small town, I went in having read some negative articles on declawing on the net. The young vet gave a frank assessment of the procedure, but in no way discouraged us. In fact, she said that most of the alternatives are not all that effective, and she couldn't image the damage that her own cat would do if it was not declawed. So I reluctantly opted for the surgery. (She was going under for the spay as well). Turns out she was already spayed and we fought an infection from the decalw for about a month. I still feel guilty for putting our poor kitty through that...never again.
Confessions_of_a_declawed_cat_owner May 16th, 2007 11:15:00 AM
I have two cats. I got the older one declawed. I had never had a cat before and had no idea what the procedure meant. I thought that part of caring for an indoor cat was getting them declawed – just like getting them neutered (or spayed). I scheduled it and had it done with no one at my vet’s office even talking to me about it. When I found out, after the fact, I was horrified that I had done that to a wonderful kitten. I think he was traumatized by it and his behavior from that day forward reflected it. I wish that someone told me my options. My younger cat kept his claws and we have taught him to use them appropriately. I wish I had that same opportunity with my big boy. You, as the vet, are the informed one, and I hope in the future that you follow your heart. Thank you for the information that you provide all of us here. I have learned so much.
I will say that my experience has led me to learn all that I can about my cats and their care – and I changed vets to one that discusses my boys with me.
Lynn May 16th, 2007 12:43:00 PM
I've declawed- my oldest two. I have no regrets about having it done. It was either declaw or they were gone- I was living at home and Mom wasn't interested in the cats destroying her furniture and Soft Paws- so far, I have not met a cat they work well on.
My others- they aren't declawed. They've recently decided that the cat tree is worthy to use as a clawing post and I'm rather thrilled that they've finally decided to claw something acceptable.
I'm not a fanatic either way. My pet peeve is simply people who get a kitten and immediately state they are going to declaw. Give the cat a chance! Declawing is a permanent solution so it shouldn't be leapt to easily nor immediately.
In the end, though, rather the kitten goes with a couple who'll declaw it and keep it for life then end up in the shelter system.
Trish May 16th, 2007 01:09:00 PM
what bugs me is that the vast majority of the cats declawed at the clinic where i work have owners who had decided at day one that the cats would be declawed. it's just what you do with cats, apparently. it's got little to do with anything about the cat, most of the time. it's the default.
the vets i work for are extremely pro-declaw, most of the other techs and the morning receptionist have their cats all four-paw declawed, and then there's me. i have five cats, all fully clawed, and they cause me no trouble at all. they don't claw the furniture, they don't claw the curtains, they don't climb my window screens. they have a big cat tree and a bunch of scratching pads, and i trim nails every couple weeks (when the kneading starts hurting) and everything's good. it's not that hard.
elegy May 16th, 2007 02:14:00 PM
I feel guilty trimming the basset's nails when I trim them a touch too far- I can't imagine the guilt I'd feel about declawing my cats. We had one that came to us declawed, and I've never had a more psychotic cat. It's probably wrong of me, but I associated the declawing with the going bonkers. The only toe I've been tempted to declaw is one of Tom's back feet because it grows wrong. But he's still letting me trim it occasionally, so it's okay. (It's really thick and grows into his pad if left alone). Kenya Dog wears her nails down, but the basset's stick straight out much further and therefore get a lot longer and need trimming.
I did have a vet who when meeting Rags for the first time immediately said, "My god, please don't say you want this cat declawed." Rags had 30 toes- 8 each front paw and 7 each back, without the "thumb" effect of most polydactyls. She had little snowshoe feet. She never was declawed. Or afraid to use them. :)
Georg May 16th, 2007 02:44:00 PM
Gorinw up several decades ago, I had my cat declawed, and she never had any problems behaviorally, and in fact, remained top cat. I learned that this wasn't a surgery to take lightly, and have not declawed since. In rescue, we see another dark side to declawing - the extreme behavior changes some cats exhibit after declawing. Folks want to surrender their declawed cat who has soiled outside the box since the surgery - even for years. Some of them become biters, and are sensitive to any touch on the body, feeling a constant need to defend themselves. These cats are difficult to rehome, for good reason! And, the worst is the number of declawed cats we find abandoned in established feral colonies!
JD May 16th, 2007 09:27:00 PM
I worked as a receptionist to a vet who was very pro-declaw. He sees NOTHING wrong with it. Going through all the files for the clinic one time, I made note of all the declawed cats, and all the caution animals. 99% of all declawed cats were caution cats... ones who would swat at you - growl - etc. the scarest cat we had at the clinic had no claws and no teeth.
Its sad that there aren't more studies showing the side effects of declawing. I've only seen a few, and they talk about the problems with arthritis because the gait of the cat is thrown off.
I am 110% anti declaw, but I try never to even appear to belittle people about it. I point out the facts, and that is that. I applaud you for trying to council people about the alternitives before doing a declaw. Too many vets just see the money in the proceedure and sweep any possible side effects under the rug. not every cat is going to have problems, but there are enough declawed cats surrendered at the shelters for urinating issues and for biting, for it all to be a coincidence.
Connie July 25th, 2007 12:17:00 PM
You know, every time I read a letter from a seemingly caring vet such as yourself, I ponder: What type of good, solid, informative information is given to your clients? Is available? Is GIVEN?
In my over 30 years caring for strays, ferals ,and raising my prides and Joys, I have never met a cat or kitten that couldn't be trained with the smallest of effort beginning with with good, solid, feline pet education!
It is essential for a cat to KEEP his claws for an honestly HAPPY cat. How would you fare for the rest of your life without your first knuckles attatched to your hands? If you liked to run you would have to learn all over without an integral part of your *break system*- Indeed-We don't choose to handicap people because they haven't been properly trained, and we most certainly do not have the right to maim our companion animals!
The biggest problem in this country is, unfortunately, a complete lack of proper training information handed out by veterinarian's offices accross the country. WHY can't vets, who pet people LOOK UP TO tell the truth? Why many vets even RECOMMEND declaw! It's quite a cash cow her in the states as well as in Canada. So why not? lets' pamper the people and make money while we're at it, eh?
Good money could be made by the ALL vets who offer the type of education their clients and cats deserve, refuse to declaw and make it known WHY, besides offering special feline grooming clinics to trim nails, selling PROPER cat trees that cats ACTUALLY USE, and for those who still can't grasp the ease in which they can be trained, a manicure and pedicure using all the super-cool colors of softpaws! This would keep people coming in with their pets and I bet we'd see happier kitty owners - MUCH happier kitties and way less kitties being dumped for behavioral problems CAUSED by cruel declaws.
Try it...you 'll like it (and yourself) a whole lot better!
Jan Marie July 31st, 2007 11:35:00 AM
To Irish-
That is t barbaric-
your comment is old and worn out, sad to say. as training is so EASY with the proper information, PLEASE, in the future, if your education is so very limited and your thoughts so tunnel-visioned, adopt only those who have already been maimed, do not mutilate a healthy complete kitten or cat, you have no idea how very cruel this is..
NO ONE DECLAWS WITH LOVE-only laziness, selfishness or lack of education. If 24 countries BAN it, and no one complains, why should you????????????
Jan Marie July 31st, 2007 03:17:00 PM
It horrifies me that a vet could carry out such a mutilating surgery that will affect the cats in a deleterious way for all of its life. You say that you don't like to declaw yet you still do it? How on earth can you balance those two statements?
Everytime you declaw a cat you are actively promoting unnecessary and extreme cruelty. The problems declaw causes to cats doesn't go away just because you use a fenatnyl patch - the problems/pain are with the cat for life.
For those who say their cat never showed any signs of pain after declaw surgery healed, go learn some basics on recognising pain in felines.
Even for the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, the cat can be trained easily and Soft Paws used. Like with most animal aids, if they are used properly, they are effective - just like humane training.
How about recommending humane, motivational training as a first line approach. How about explaining to the owners that once the cat has its frontline exploration/defence taken away, it will resort to biting instead of swatting? How about teaching your pro-declaw clients how to trim cat claws? It's hardly the most difficult task now is it? Maybe it would cost more? Maybe it would take up too much time? Maybe, just maybe you are one big hypocrite.
How anyone can think that furniture is of more value than the wonder of nature that is an entire and functional cat paw is utterly beyond me. Surely as a vet part of your remit is to ensure that your clients understand that their animal is a living, feeling being, not to pander to their heartless vanities.
People, if your furniture is more important to you than the physical and psychological well being of your cat, then really, you should not be keeping a cat (or any animal)
This procedure is a barbaric, vanity mutilation and it should be outlawed as it is in much of Europe and other countries. I am grateful to live in the UK where declawing is against the law.
Dr Patty, before I read this article, I had respect for you. Now I have absolutely none.
Jane June 20th, 2009 09:17:02 AM
Declawing is now banned or considered extremely inhumane in at least 37 countries.It is an un-neccessary mutilation of cats and we in the UK are working along with many USA citizens, towards a worldwide ban.
Here in the UK even before The Pet Welfare Law 2006, which banned declawing, our veterinary surgeons would very rarely do the procedure.Vets are trained to help animals, not to cripple them physically and mentally.
PLEASE, as many other vets have already done, make a stand, refuse totally to declaw and help us to educate the public as to the alternatives instead.There is no reason to declaw a perfectly healthy cats, people with cats in 37 countries manage them, with their rightful claws and all.
Retired vet nurse
Ruth June 28th, 2009 08:29:05 AM
You say you don’t like to declaw cats, in fact you say you hate to declaw cats and then you go on to make excuses as to why you still do declaw cats!
The joke is that you imply that declawing cats keeps them “safe” and indoors, whereas in point of fact they are not safe – they are not safe from the likes of you who applies double standards and who magnanimously decides to forget your principles when it suits you to declaw.
What is a no brainer to me is the fact that you and those like you don’t seem to realise that in 37 other countries of the world declawing is no longer done, now how do you think the immunosuppressed citizens of those countries manage? They manage because they take precautions, they don’t assume they can pick up “kitty” and not be scratched, because they realise that cats have claws and those claws are sharp. Surely even the no brainers in the USA could get their heads around that?
And then there are the exceptions, that sad old saw about the furniture, oh yes the furniture is of vast importance and is far more worthy of preserving that a cats claws, which incidentally are an essential part of the cat. In these instances you should offer education and advice about training cats to use scratching posts and not offer quick fix solutions for house proud owners at the expense of “a few days medicated pain” unnecessary pain following an unnecessary procedure. And incidentally are you like others in your profession who charge extra for optional pain relief?
The case of the cat you have written about is just one of a million stories about declawings gone wrong, you took short cuts, you didn’t attempt to educate, you just went ahead and hacked those toes off and then the cat started to suffer and is still suffering. My God all those things you examined his paws for – those complications must all be well known to you for you to check for them
And then you made a little quip about the tincture of time, well time won’t put those toe ends back will it? Though it may of course bring claw regrowth and bone shards. You, your absent colleague and the owner of that cat and all the other cats you maim against your so called beliefs should hang your sorry heads in shame and look to the rest of the world for enlightenment.
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