Declaw Pros And Cons

[Leozdad]

I have heard and read numerous pros and cons regarding declawing cats. I once had a cat that was declawed (front paws) and she never had any issues whatsoever. We have recently got a new kitten and we are wondering about whether to declaw or not. What is the general consensus here regarding declawing the front paws? She is strictly an indoor cat.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! Welcome and thanks for coming here! The Cat Site's policy is no regarding declawing.

 

[Lari]

Uh...there are no pros? Please don't declaw your cat.

 

[Kieka]

Declawing is never an option. I'd rather see a cat rehomed if the owner is seriously considering their furniture more important then the cat. While not all cats will exhibit the problems often seen with declawed cats it is still inhumane to essentially chop off your cats fingertips for your benefit. Here are some articles and posts about it:

Declawing - More Than Just A Manicure
Declawing And Alternatives
Relative Pushing For Declaw
Declaw or Not?
end cat declawing | animal welfare | The Paw Project

If you truly want a declawed cat then please adopt one from a rescue that was previously declawed. Declawing rarely stop problem behaviors or frequently will end up trigger others. They frequently end up being surrendered by the very people that thought declawing would solve the problems.

 

[Leozdad]

I have NO plan on declawing our kitten. Was just asking to see if there were really any pros to doing it. Like I stated I have read numerous reports and was just wondering about opinions here.

 

[Willowy]

The only "pro", I suppose, is that the cat can't scratch stuff. But for the cat, that's a con, because scratching stuff is part of his cat-ness. There's no benefit to the cat.

Here's another link: www.declawing.com

 

[Furballsmom]

Leozdad is that your baby in your avatar picture? She looks a total sweetie!

 

[1 bruce 1]

I have heard and read numerous pros and cons regarding declawing cats. I once had a cat that was declawed (front paws) and she never had any issues whatsoever. We have recently got a new kitten and we are wondering about whether to declaw or not. What is the general consensus here regarding declawing the front paws? She is strictly an indoor cat.

I don't know of any pro's, to be honest. From the humans point of view, the only pro would be the inability to scratch but many cats with their defenses taken away will resort to biting, same way a dog that's simply a bit stressed might resort to attacking if someone backs them into a corner and their defenses (flee, get away, etc.) are gone. Never good!
Litter box aversion happens some of the time, and there's no way to tell which cats it will affect.
Also, keep in mind that strictly indoors cats sometimes find a way to get outdoors, and a declawed cat is pretty much a sitting duck!
Puppies use their mouths on human skin in play, and need to be taught not to do that, and kittens use their claws on human skin in play and can be taught not to do that, too

 

[kat hamlin]

I have heard and read numerous pros and cons regarding declawing cats. I once had a cat that was declawed (front paws) and she never had any issues whatsoever. We have recently got a new kitten and we are wondering about whether to declaw or not. What is the general consensus here regarding declawing the front paws? She is strictly an indoor cat.

I often hear adopters say, "I had a declawed cat (or two or three) and never had any issues." This may be true. But once you have issues, you can't put the claws back on the cat. I will not reiterate what others have said, merely pointing out that just because you never experienced issues doesn't mean those issues are not real and happening to other cats. Some cats are just lucky.

 

[gareth]

Cons - Healing pain from the operation, risk of death under anaesthesia, inability to defend itself, potential long term lameness, chronic back pain, tissue necrosis, behavioural changes, emotional instability, inability to escape from predators. It's the number one cause of litterbox issues and biting behaviour.

Pros - convenience for the human

Declawing is not like trimming a humans fingernails. It’s disfigurement. It's a surgical operation to remove the last knuckle. Just to make life easier. I’d no more let someone declaw my cats than I would chop off the last knuckle of my baby daughter's fingers. i love my daughter, and I love my cats.

There are good reasons why it's illegal in most of Europe.

When you look at a list of cons like that I can make a very personal judgement. I would never call anyone that declaws a cat a friend. I don't need people like that in my life. I like people that consider the animals that share their life their companions and friends, not their property.

 

[Draco]

Cat declawing is also becoming illegal in the US. NY has a ban on declawing.

It's inhumane to declaw a cat. Unless it's a medical emergency, the cats claws should be left alone.
There's caps for claws to prevent damages. Training a cat young will make clipping claws easier.

 

[Johnriii]

these two little snots have their claws, and surprisingly, they claw only the items that we give them. now, lets understand, there are literally dozens of towers, boards, and toys that encourage their clawing, and some textures (like the leather couch, thank God) they don't care for. the carpet is fair game, as they do very minimal damage to it, and they like the items from Petsmart much better than the carpet anyway. I would never declaw them, if for no other reason, it leaves them basically defenseless if they get out of the house for some reason. we have Coyotes around my area, and last I checked, Coyotes will kill your cat if they can catch it. so will larger birds of prey, if their regular food is scarce.

 

[owaspzap]

I have heard and read numerous pros and cons regarding declawing cats. I once had a cat that was declawed (front paws) and she never had any issues whatsoever. We have recently got a new kitten and we are wondering about whether to declaw or not. What is the general consensus here regarding declawing the front paws? She is strictly an indoor cat.

how would you like it if i chopped off all your finger tips. don't de-claw them. that is messed up

 

[cat princesses]

There are no Pro's to declawing. Provide your cat with proper places to scratch. End of story. Cats are either horizontal or vertical scratchers. Some prefer cardboard, others like carpet or sisal. I always have taken a new cat over to the place to scratch and put their paws thru the motion and then I say good scratch and give a treat. They learn quickly. De clawing is the equivalent of amputation of the first digit of your fingers. It's extremely painful and some never recover and have pain their entire life. De clawing is cruel - please don't do this to your kitty.

 

[1 bruce 1]

these two little snots have their claws, and surprisingly, they claw only the items that we give them. now, lets understand, there are literally dozens of towers, boards, and toys that encourage their clawing, and some textures (like the leather couch, thank God) they don't care for. the carpet is fair game, as they do very minimal damage to it, and they like the items from Petsmart much better than the carpet anyway. I would never declaw them, if for no other reason, it leaves them basically defenseless if they get out of the house for some reason. we have Coyotes around my area, and last I checked, Coyotes will kill your cat if they can catch it. so will larger birds of prey, if their regular food is scarce.

Heehee!!! My oldest little snot took to clawing things he wasn't allowed to do. I'd hear it in the next room, yell his name, and the clawing would stop. 10 seconds later, the clawing started up again...verrry verrry softly!

All of our cats are clawed, none de-clawed, and the only thing that's suffered is an old wicker chair that no one really cares about and no one really stated was off limits.

A few of our cats were brought inside as adults that lived outdoors, and house rules weren't something they were aware of. Cats aren't stupid. They learned the litter box thing in a day and clawing things became a matter of learning what was OK and what wasn't. Provide stuff they're allowed to claw at. Smear it with catnip if you have to!

 

[1 bruce 1]

In keeping with the topic...
The cats we have brought in as adults that were unaware that some things were off limits for clawing caused 95% less of an issue when we finally decided to install a catio outside, attached to a kitty door. Fully covered, cat proof, key locked, bolted to the house, etc., with shelves and climbables. We had an old tree cut down so we took some branches and tossed them in there, top to bottom, for them to climb and claw and shred to their hearts content.
Leozdad, if you're living in a place where it's do-able a catio, can be as simple or as extravagant as you want, and you can build it in a grass-free zone if you're worried about fleas, etc. A simple walk in size can be built in a weekend by someone handy! Just a thought