Are there any actual medical benefits to declawing your cat? Or is this operation purely owner convenience?
Thanks!
Well, the only one I can think of is that broken or torn claws, and possible infections could be eliminated. But those are rare, and rather minor problems.
Rather like amputating the ends of your fingers, to eliminate the possibility of a hangnail or a split fingernail.
Of course, sometimes you have a couple of cats who fight a lot, then declawing will provide a “medical” benefit to both. That’s about the only non-selfish reason I can think of, and it’s rare.
This is one of the most controversial topics on the SDMB, note!:eek:
“Declawing” isn’t a properly descriptive term; it’s really cutting off the ends of their toes.
One possible result is that healing goes so badly that the cat won’t walk on the feet. There was pathetic video a few years ago of a zoo tiger in this condition, who would propel himself around using his rear feet, his chest and front legs dragging on the floor.
Since cats are routinely killed because they have no homes, if the practical truth about a particular cat is that declawing and euthanasia are the only options, you could consider avoiding euthanasia as a health benefit of declawing. But to be specific about the procedure and its immediate consequences, I’ve never heard of a health benefit.
Well, in a weird way, you could say that declawing is a certain health benefit–it postpones death. Because I have known several cats who destroyed so much expensive furniture that they were about to be sent to the humane society(=death chamber if they dont get adopted within a week).
De-clawing saved their lives. And they seemed happier, too. They no longer got thrown to the floor by a person bleeding and screaming in pain, when all the innocent cat did was lovingly jump onto a warm lap/face/bare shoulders/boobs.
No. Yes.
very controversial topic here.
For all the controversy over “cutting the tips of their toes off”, none of my cats have even realized they’ve been declawed, they still behave exactly as if they were still intact. However, the furniture, and much more importantly my skin, notice a huge benefit of not being routinely destroyed by “sharpening” or playtime.
My grandmother, being drawn in by all the “it’s cruel” arguments, didn’t get her most recent kitty declawed. As a result, everyone’s afraid to even pet the poor thing, lest it playfully swipe at them and draw blood. It’s not a baseless fear either, kitty’s swiped at lots of us. Once slashed, twice shy.
Is it medically a benefit for the cat? Nah. Is it just for convenience with no benefit to the cat at all? I gotta call no on that one too.
Now, howabout some circumcision or tipping questions?:eek:
I have never had a cat that didn’t have their claws. Mine also routinely jump on both me and my husband and have never hurt anyone by lovingly jumping on them. The only time our cats have scratched us is when they were in a situation in which they felt insecure. They use their claws with discretion.
We also have an expensive leather sofa that has been scratched, repeatedly. My cats never used it as a scratching post, they have scratching posts, but when my beloved Kitty got older, she would have to dig her claws into the edge of the leather for leverage to jump up onto the couch. We didn’t notice or realize until after she passed away.
The two kitties we have now use their scratching posts and have their nails trimmed on a regular basis. It doesn’t take a whole lot of training, they do it naturally and prefer sisal, cardboard and carpet-like surfaces. They have a routine that after they wake up, they go to the nearest scratching post to stretch and scratch.
If you have two cats that hate each other so much that they injure each other by scratching, declawing them is only going to lead to them now biting each other to attack. Taking away their claws won’t make them like each other.
I really, really abhor the procedure. If you care more about your furniture than a pet, I understand, but don’t get a pet. If you do get a pet, you have to expect some concessions when it comes to pet-like behavior!!!
//threadjack: When I was working the cat room at the shelter I woman came in and adopted a cat. She wanted a companion after her husband passed away. We selected a cute little tabby. She seemed enamored with the little guy. The next day she came back to return the cat. She didn’t want it, it jumped up on her couch and she wanted one that wouldn’t get on the furniture. She got upset when I told her that we would gladly take back the cat, but wouldn’t adopt her another one.
Yeah, declawing a cat is a form of animal abuse, in my opinion. You can’t ever let them outside again and you have cut off the most sensitive part of their senses.
If your cat is clawing up the house, you just don’t understand your cat.
When I adopted my cats they were already front- declawed.
They are going on 16 and 17 respectively, and have never had any trouble of difficulty as a result of being declawed. They have always been urban living apartment cats so going out is not an issue for them. Bandit still likes to “sharpen his paws” on the couch. Bandit also routinely kicks the ass of our other cat, Ashes, who has all her claws.
I don’t think its the greatest thing in the world, but I do think it is a reasonable decision in some situations.
My Siamese overlady came from the shelter with no claws, front or back. It’s a good thing she seems to be perfectly happy to hang around the house and boss me around, because while she does have sharp little teeth they wouldn’t do her much good against the various local critters (such as wolves, or bears, or the neighboring cats for that matter).
I would not have gotten her declawed. But I will say that since for her there seem to be no problems because of it, it’s rather nice to not have the claws to deal with. I would love to know how they convinced somebody to do her back claws, though. I mean, she’s an eight-pound highly domesticated lapcat!
I do think that in a last-ditch situation it isn’t necessarily a horribly evil thing, but honestly, cats have claws. It’s part of being a cat. And I highly doubt that there was a reason anything like what I’d consider good enough for my Sapphire to have no claws at all.
OP seems to have been asked/answered so some more IMHO: Domestic cats are little more than any other accessories found in human homes. Providing them with a satisfactory existence as such is really all we owe them. If declawing provides them with that, then it’s good for the cat.
That said, it’s imperitive that the owner recognize the ensuing responsibility of keeping the cat indoors and away from situations in which those claws are needed. Personally, I think claws are an important quality of any predator. When I play with a cat and it scratches me I admire the animal’s nature and role as predator even more. Housecats can learn not to claw people and even furniture, but it requires an active effort on the part of the owner. I had a cat who let me work on a wound on his head and he never scratched me. He trusted me while I examined the gash, allowed me to clean it without protest and bonded even more with me as a result. Cats are cool. Remove their claws and you’ve turned them into something … else.
FWIW, our cat had all four paws declawed, and he went outside all the time. He still brought home mice to offer to my mother.
A good deal of the hoo-ha over declawing is projection, IMO.
Regards,
Shodan
Well, pretty much in most areas, you shouldn’t let you cat out anyway.
Declaw your cat and he will bite more often when you fight with him. At least mine does.
This. Both of my cats are declawed, and neither of them realizes it. They fight, retrieve toys from under the sofa, pretend to claw the furniture, and everything else “intact” cats do.