Kitty Cats

Cat declawing in medical term is called onychectomy. This surgical procedure is very painful and complicated. This operation is performed on cats under anesthesia to remove the last bone of their fingers. It is the same as a man's fingers at the first knuckle. Cat declawing is an irreversible procedure and must be performed by a qualified veterinary doctor.

Cat declawing can at times create behavioral problems after the surgery. Some cats find it hard to grasp or stand firmly on their amputated feet. They feel a strong sense of loss in balance. There are cats are found to have changed personalities after the traumatic cat declawing operation. These cats feel that they have lost their means of protecting themselves and become paranoid. If the operation has gone wrong the cat could end up infected or injured beyond repair and could even die.

As a result of cat declawing cats could end up avoiding using the litter boxes and even more spraying. Cats that are declawed will mark their territories with urine instead of their claws. A cat may become deformed in its feet and if there is bone fragments the pain could linger on. The paws become very sensitive and painful when they try to walk on their feet. Such cats may end up with arthritis in their legs and always in pain. A big cat gets more affected than smaller cats by the cat declawing operation.

Many cat owners opt to have their cat declawed because of behavioral problems. They look at cat declawing as a positive solution to the cats' misbehaviors. These people do not anticipate any harm to their cats or any change to the personalities of their cats. To them cat declawing is affordable and safe procedure. Cats continue to scratch even without their claws and no harm seem to have been done to their pets emotionally or physically.

Cat owners must accept the fact that scratching is a cat's natural instinct. Cat declawing put a restrain to the cat's daily activities such as chasing, climbing, scratching, exercising, and marking territory. The most accepted option to cat declawing is a scratching post. A scratching post could provide a scratching surface for your cat and also a place for it to sharpen its claws to keep the nails healthy.

To help your cat from damaging your furniture provide your pet scratching surfaces to modify and correct its scratching behavior to an appropriate location. You could get a chunky piece of log for your pet to scratch on. Another alternative is to trim the claws and nails of your pet regularly and then there is no need to resort to cat declawing.

These days there is available a very welcoming alternative to cat declawing which is safe and without pain. This is the glued on vinyl nail caps developed by a veterinarian. These caps are glued on to your cat's nails so they become blunt and harmless and will not cause any destruction to any surfaces. Other options such as repulsive smell or soap, booby traps or motion-activated alarms have been used to deter your cat.

Declawing your cat is a form of torture. It may even cause your cat to distrust you and the vet who does the procedure. It is inhumane, and if you can find a different method of training your cat, you should use it. You would not chop your child's finger off if he or she took a cookie, you should not declaw your cat for the same reason. Your cat is part of your family, and you should look upon him or her as another child. He or she depends on you for everything, and it is up to you to protect them as much as you would your own children.