Has Anyone Done Bone Fragment Removal For Their Declawed Cat?

[edwardmatt83]

I had a paw consultation with a local veterinarian that is part of the paw project. I'm just curious if anyone has had this done? Did it help? My cat is having lots of inappropriate urination issues and I am wondering if this will help with that.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I haven't done a lot of reading on declawing and possible negative effects... But, I am guessing the vet has confirmed your cat had a botched declaw and is now growing back some of the claws because of bone fragments that were left behind? Or, does it have to do with issues surrounding the tendons that were cut - or nerve damage? Maybe it is phantom pain?

As I am sure you already know, there doesn't seem to be a lot of treatments recommended for any of the above conditions. The one article I found might be of interest to you, if you haven't already read it. Exploratory Arthroscopy with Biopsy or Fragment Retrieval in Cats - Procedure, Efficacy, Recovery, Prevention, Cost

Unfortunately, from everything else I've read to date, behavioral issues associated with declawing may not disappear even with a procedure as the one discussed in the link above.

I have had 3 cats, all of which I ignorantly had front paw declaws done on them. Other than possible arthritis in my current cat, that might have been exacerbated by the declawing, none of my cats experienced any negative impact. Knowing what I now know, my cats - and I - were lucky.

I will not push my luck a fourth time!

I hope others respond with much more helpful information than I have been able to provide.

 

[lalagimp]

If there is anything causing pain that shouldn't be there, I would go with the revision because I'm trying my best to give them a healthy and comfortable life.
Did they gently sedate the cat and do xrays to confirm remnants in their paws? If there are, you can't just leave them.
Fortunately Amalie has had no issues. She has no sensitivity in her paws after she moved in with me as a stray. I play with her toe beans every month or two just to make sure everything is still just fine. But because she has been walking improperly for years now due to this declaw, she get a sore achy back that acts up every now and again.

 

[edwardmatt83]

They did do an x-ray and showed it to me. There are bone fragments leftover on most of her toes. I did a quick search on youtube and actually a video with my vet was one of the first to pop up.


Cost of the surgery will be about $900.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is the surgery the arthroscopy related procedure as discussed in the link I provided? Just curious...

I sure hope some others on this site have dealt with bone fragments from declaws, it would surely help you - and, all of the rest of us on this forum.

 

[Re Almanace]

I bet the pain is excruciating

 

[FeebysOwner]

I bet the pain is excruciating

Hi. This is an older thread and sad to say but the OP never came back to let us know what happened. The OP is also no longer active on this site.

 

[fionasmom]

Interesting that it came up; I never check dates on posts so appreciate the warning. All I can add is that in toe amputations, not declawing but removal of the entire toe due to injury or disease, it can be tricky to cut at the exact right spot which could potentially leave the animal with a fragment that he actually steps on each time he moves. To me, if anyone has this happening to their cat, they probably need to move on it and see what can be done.

 

[jessica smith]

Interesting that it came up; I never check dates on posts so appreciate the warning. All I can add is that in toe amputations, not declawing but removal of the entire toe due to injury or disease, it can be tricky to cut at the exact right spot which could potentially leave the animal with a fragment that he actually steps on each time he moves. To me, if anyone has this happening to their cat, they probably need to move on it and see what can be done.

They shouldn't be cutting through bone at all depending on the procedure. A lot of people think there's only one type of procedure, when there's at least three common ones. I'll try to find the video, but essentially they use a laser to gradually very finely burn (not so much a "cut" per se) the ligaments that support the distal phalanx with a laser so the entire tiny "claw" bone comes out whole and smooth. The laser is also important because it ensures there is no bleeding and nerve endings that are burned/cut via laser become insensitive so you don't have the pain management issues like you do with a scalpel. No stitches should be required either, just surgical glue with kitties usually held for 24 hours after which they should be able to walk around normally but to use special litter for a while to keep the incision clean.

If there was bone left behind, that was done intentionally as its another type of procedure where they cut the distal phalanx bone in half. Usually this is fine and the fragment itself is not the issue, the issue is if they didn't get all the "germinal cells" I believe is what they called it where the claw grows out of, what can happen is that a bit of claw can eventually start to regrow from the few cells left behind, except this time its growing behind the now closed skin, which is a major problem!

An amputation for an extra toe that's causing issues or what not wouldn't be like that latter declaw that leaves part of the bone behind, and so you shouldn't have any worries about bone fragment.