Onychectomy
Encyclopedia
Onychectomy, popularly known as declawing, is an operation to surgically remove an animal's claws by means of amputating
all or part of the distal phalanx
, or end bones, of the animal's toes. It is performed most often on household cats, though occasionally on other animals such as circus
lion
s or dancing bear
s. Because the claw develops from germinal tissue deep within the third phalanx, amputation of the bone is necessary to remove the claw. The terms "onychectomy" (origin: Greek ὄνυξ onycho, nail + ἐκτομή ektome, excision) and "declawing" imply mere claw removal, but a more appropriate description would be phalangectomy, excision of toe bone.
Although common in North America, and Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China, elective
declawing is considered an act of animal cruelty in many countries (see "Declawing practices" below).
Some North American veterinarians hold the position that people with compromised immune systems, due to conditions such as AIDS
, should have their cats declawed to prevent health risks to themselves. However, there is no agreement within the North American medical community that this course of action is necessary or desirable to protect the health of such people. Many sources suggest that because declawing increases biting behavior in cats, that declawing is contraindicated.
At one veterinary teaching hospital, between 50 and 80% of cats had one or more medical complications post-surgery. 19.8% developed complications after release. Lameness was noted for 1–42 days (1 cat was still painful 96 months—8 years—later).
Even among private practitioners, medical complications are common; in one survey, 34.8% of 320 veterinarian surveyed reported long-term complications.
A study of two different surgical techniques found that 16% of those who underwent joint amputation developed lameness while only 5% who underwent bone amputation did. 22% of the first group and 16% of the second experienced reopened wound
.
The American Veterinary Medical Association
(AVMA) policy statement on declawing states: "There is no scientific evidence that declawing leads to behavioral abnormalities when the behavior of declawed cats is compared with that of cats in control groups."
In one study, 16% of declawed cats developed behavior problems, and more declawed (55%) than intact (45%) cats were referred to a vet teaching hospital for behavior problems.
Eleven cats (4%) developed or had worse behavior problems post-operatively. Despite positive attitude toward declawing, 5 clients reported that their cats had developed litterbox and biting problems.
Behavior problems are a primary cause of cats being relinquished to shelters. In one study, when all factors were accounted for, overall odds of being relinquished to a shelter was 89% more likely for declawed cats as intact cats (1.89 compared to 1.00). Inappropriate elimination was 80% more likely in declawed (52.4%) as intact cats (29.1%).
an countries prohibit or significantly restrict the practice, as do Australia
, New Zealand
, and Turkey
. The list below gives an overview of the situation in different parts of the world.
, declawing has never been common, and for all practical purpose, does not exist. Nationwide legislation was recently enacted that prohibits the declawing of cats except for medical need of the cat. The Australian Veterinary Association's policy states: "Surgical alteration to the natural state of an animal is acceptable only if it is necessary for the health and welfare of the animal concerned. Performance of any surgical procedure for other than legitimate medical reasons is unacceptable."
, The Knesset Education Committee voted unanimously to send a bill banning the declawing of cats. The bill has passed second and third readings on November 28th 2011, effectively making declawing a criminal offense.
or under Local Animal Abuse Laws, unless there it is for "veterinary medical reasons or for the benefit of any particular animal."
Some European countries go further, such as Finland
, Estonia
, the Netherlands
, Germany
and Switzerland
, where declawing cats for non-medical reasons is always illegal under their laws against cruelty to animals
.
Austria
In Austria
, the Federal Act on the Protection of Animals, in Section 7, states, surgical procedures "carried out for other than therapeutic or diagnostic purposes...are prohibited, in particular...declawing."
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom
, declawing was outlawed by the Animal Welfare Act 2006
, which explicitly prohibited "interference with the sensitive tissues or bone structure of the animal, otherwise than for the purposes of its medical treatment". Even before the 2006 Act, however, declawing was extremely uncommon, to the extent that most people had never seen a declawed cat. The procedure was considered cruel by almost all British vet
s, who refused to perform it except on medical grounds. The Guide to Professional Conduct of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
stated that declawing was "only acceptable where, in the opinion of the veterinary surgeon, injury to the animal is likely to occur during normal activity. It is not acceptable if carried out for the convenience of the owner ... the removal of claws, particularly those which are weight bearing
, to preclude damage to furnishings is not acceptable."
Declawing was outlawed in West Hollywood, California, in 2003, the first such ban in the US. The ordinance was authored by West Hollywood Councilmember John Duran and sponsored by the Paw Project, a non-profit organization based in Santa Monica, CA. The California Veterinary Medical Association challenged the law in court. The CVMA maintained that West Hollywood had overstepped its municipal authority by enacting an ordinance that infringed on licensed professionals’ state-granted rights. It did not directly address declawing as an animal welfare issue. The CVMA initially prevailed in Superior Court, but in June 2007, the California Court of Appeal overturned the lower court ruling, thus reinstating the law banning declawing in West Hollywood.
In 2004, California became the first state in the USA to enact a statewide ban on the declawing of wild and exotic cats. The bill was introduced by California Assemblymember Paul Koretz and sponsored by the Paw Project.
In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture
enacted a ban on declawing of all wild and exotic animals held by USDA-licensed owners.
In April 2007, the city of Norfolk
, Virginia outlawed declawing by persons other than veterinarians (Municipal Code Sec. 6.1-78.1).
In 2009, the California state legislature approved a measure, sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), intended to stop other cities from passing bans similar to West Hollywood. By including in the bill all professions licensed by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, the CVMA got the bill pushed through, and it was signed by the Governor in July, 2009. However, the bill's effective date, January 1, 2010, provided a window of opportunity for grandfathering any other declaw bans passed locally in the state before that date.http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0751-0800/sb_762_cfa_20090615_100327_asm_comm.html
In 2009, seven other California cities, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Berkeley, Burbank, and Culver City, passed ordinances banning declawing on the basis of animal cruelty.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-declaw-cats7-2009nov07,0,4016163.story?track=rss http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/13/BAJ31AJF1G.DTL&tsp=1
and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
, strongly discourage or condemn the procedure. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal advocacy groups have supported legislation banning or restricting declawing. Major opposition to attempts to ban or restrict declawing has come from veterinary trade organizations, such as the California Veterinary Medical Association. The American Veterinary Medical Association considers declawing acceptable under certain circumstances but states that it "should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a zoonotic
risk for its owner(s)." Despite the clear ethical guidelines given by the AVMA, surveys suggest that 95% of declaw surgeries are done to protect furniture. Further, because younger cats are better able to adapt to life without claws post-surgery than older cats, 76% of cats are declawed before they reach 8 months of age, precluding any serious effort at training and/or use of other non-surgical alternatives.
involves cutting the deep digital flexor tendon of each claw, resulting in the cat being unable to move its distal phalanges. Without the ability to expose its claws, the cat is unable to wear down or groom its claws. For this reason, the cat subsequently requires regular nail clippings to prevent its claws from growing into its paw pads. A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association comparing cats undergoing onychectomy to cats undergoing tendonectomy found that, although the cats undergoing tendonectomy appeared to suffer less pain immediately post-operatively, there was no significant difference in postoperative lameness, bleeding, or infection between the two groups. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association explicitly do not recommend this surgery as an alternative to declawing.
Other alternatives include regular nail trimming; directing scratching behavior to inexpensive cardboard scratchers or scratching post
s, or emery scratching pads that dull the claws; rotary sanding devices (Dremel, Pedi-Paws); covering furniture or using double-sided sticky tape or sheets such as Sticky Paws; remote aversive devices such as Scat Mats; or acceptance of cats' scratching behavior.
Amputation
Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma, prolonged constriction, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventative surgery for...
all or part of the distal phalanx
Distal phalanges
The distal or terminal phalanges are the terminal limb bones located at the tip of the digits...
, or end bones, of the animal's toes. It is performed most often on household cats, though occasionally on other animals such as circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
s or dancing bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
s. Because the claw develops from germinal tissue deep within the third phalanx, amputation of the bone is necessary to remove the claw. The terms "onychectomy" (origin: Greek ὄνυξ onycho, nail + ἐκτομή ektome, excision) and "declawing" imply mere claw removal, but a more appropriate description would be phalangectomy, excision of toe bone.
Although common in North America, and Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, and China, elective
Elective surgery
Elective surgery is surgery that is scheduled in advance because it does not involve a medical emergency...
declawing is considered an act of animal cruelty in many countries (see "Declawing practices" below).
Medically indicated onychectomy
The amputation of the distal phalanx is indicated in case of chronic inflammatory processes, tumours, persistent and severe infections and gangrene that are limited to the distal phalanx. The procedure is usually limited to the affected claw, leaving the healthy claws (if any) intact.Elective onychectomy
In North America, declawing is commonly performed on housecats to prevent damage to household possessions by scratching and to prevent scratching of people. To achieve this result, all distal phalanges of the front paws, and sometimes the rear paws, are amputated. Although no precise figures are available, peer-reviewed veterinary journal articles estimate that approximately 25% of domestic cats in North America have been declawed. Some privately owned apartment buildings in the U.S. ban cats unless they have been declawed, but in 2007 Congress enacted legislation that forbids public housing authorities from having such rules for publicly subsidized housing.Some North American veterinarians hold the position that people with compromised immune systems, due to conditions such as AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, should have their cats declawed to prevent health risks to themselves. However, there is no agreement within the North American medical community that this course of action is necessary or desirable to protect the health of such people. Many sources suggest that because declawing increases biting behavior in cats, that declawing is contraindicated.
Methods
Despite the prevalence of elective onychectomy in North America, no standard practices exist regarding the surgical techniques or cutting tools used, the administration of post-operative analgesics or other follow-up care, or the optimal age or other attributes of cats undergoing the procedure.Recovery, health and behavioral effects
In a survey of 276 cat owners, 34% reported post-surgical discomfort in their cats while 78% reported primarily tenderness. Recovery time took from three days to two weeks. Increased biting strength or frequency was reported in 10 cats (4%) but overall, 96% of owners were satisfied with the surgery.At one veterinary teaching hospital, between 50 and 80% of cats had one or more medical complications post-surgery. 19.8% developed complications after release. Lameness was noted for 1–42 days (1 cat was still painful 96 months—8 years—later).
Even among private practitioners, medical complications are common; in one survey, 34.8% of 320 veterinarian surveyed reported long-term complications.
A study of two different surgical techniques found that 16% of those who underwent joint amputation developed lameness while only 5% who underwent bone amputation did. 22% of the first group and 16% of the second experienced reopened wound
Wound dehiscence
Wound dehiscence is a surgical complication in which a wound breaks open along surgical suture. Risk factors are age, diabetes, obesity, poor knotting or grabbing of stitches, and trauma to the wound after surgery.-Symptoms:...
.
The American Veterinary Medical Association
American Veterinary Medical Association
The American Veterinary Medical Association , founded in 1863, is a not-for-profit association representing more than 81,500 U.S. veterinarians working in private and corporate practice, government, industry, academia, and uniformed services....
(AVMA) policy statement on declawing states: "There is no scientific evidence that declawing leads to behavioral abnormalities when the behavior of declawed cats is compared with that of cats in control groups."
In one study, 16% of declawed cats developed behavior problems, and more declawed (55%) than intact (45%) cats were referred to a vet teaching hospital for behavior problems.
Eleven cats (4%) developed or had worse behavior problems post-operatively. Despite positive attitude toward declawing, 5 clients reported that their cats had developed litterbox and biting problems.
Behavior problems are a primary cause of cats being relinquished to shelters. In one study, when all factors were accounted for, overall odds of being relinquished to a shelter was 89% more likely for declawed cats as intact cats (1.89 compared to 1.00). Inappropriate elimination was 80% more likely in declawed (52.4%) as intact cats (29.1%).
Declawing practices
Declawing is uncommon outside North America, and laws governing its practice vary. Many EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries prohibit or significantly restrict the practice, as do Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. The list below gives an overview of the situation in different parts of the world.
Australia
In AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, declawing has never been common, and for all practical purpose, does not exist. Nationwide legislation was recently enacted that prohibits the declawing of cats except for medical need of the cat. The Australian Veterinary Association's policy states: "Surgical alteration to the natural state of an animal is acceptable only if it is necessary for the health and welfare of the animal concerned. Performance of any surgical procedure for other than legitimate medical reasons is unacceptable."
Israel
In IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, The Knesset Education Committee voted unanimously to send a bill banning the declawing of cats. The bill has passed second and third readings on November 28th 2011, effectively making declawing a criminal offense.
Europe
In many European countries the practice is forbidden either under the terms of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet AnimalsEuropean Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals
The European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals is a treaty of the Council of Europe to promote the welfare of pet animals and ensure minimum standards for their treatment and protection. The treaty was signed in 1987 and became effective on May 1, 1992, after at least four countries had...
or under Local Animal Abuse Laws, unless there it is for "veterinary medical reasons or for the benefit of any particular animal."
Some European countries go further, such as Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, where declawing cats for non-medical reasons is always illegal under their laws against cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
.
Austria
In Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the Federal Act on the Protection of Animals, in Section 7, states, surgical procedures "carried out for other than therapeutic or diagnostic purposes...are prohibited, in particular...declawing."
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, declawing was outlawed by the Animal Welfare Act 2006
Animal Welfare Act 2006
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It is the first overhaul of pet law since the Protection of Animals Act 1911, which it largely replaced. It also superseded and consolidated more than 20 other pieces of legislation, such as the Protection of Animals Act...
, which explicitly prohibited "interference with the sensitive tissues or bone structure of the animal, otherwise than for the purposes of its medical treatment". Even before the 2006 Act, however, declawing was extremely uncommon, to the extent that most people had never seen a declawed cat. The procedure was considered cruel by almost all British vet
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
s, who refused to perform it except on medical grounds. The Guide to Professional Conduct of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons is the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons in the United Kingdom. Established in 1844 by Royal Charter, its statutory duties are laid out in the 1966 Veterinary Surgeons Act.-Role:...
stated that declawing was "only acceptable where, in the opinion of the veterinary surgeon, injury to the animal is likely to occur during normal activity. It is not acceptable if carried out for the convenience of the owner ... the removal of claws, particularly those which are weight bearing
Weight bearing
In orthopedics, weight-bearing is the amount of weight a patient puts on the leg on which surgery has been performed. In general, it is described as a percentage of the body weight, because each leg of a healthy person carries the full body weight when walking, in an alternating fashion.After...
, to preclude damage to furnishings is not acceptable."
United States
Declawing is legal in most US jurisdictions. It is estimated that 25% of owned cats in the United States are declawed (Patronek 2001).Declawing was outlawed in West Hollywood, California, in 2003, the first such ban in the US. The ordinance was authored by West Hollywood Councilmember John Duran and sponsored by the Paw Project, a non-profit organization based in Santa Monica, CA. The California Veterinary Medical Association challenged the law in court. The CVMA maintained that West Hollywood had overstepped its municipal authority by enacting an ordinance that infringed on licensed professionals’ state-granted rights. It did not directly address declawing as an animal welfare issue. The CVMA initially prevailed in Superior Court, but in June 2007, the California Court of Appeal overturned the lower court ruling, thus reinstating the law banning declawing in West Hollywood.
In 2004, California became the first state in the USA to enact a statewide ban on the declawing of wild and exotic cats. The bill was introduced by California Assemblymember Paul Koretz and sponsored by the Paw Project.
In 2006, the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
enacted a ban on declawing of all wild and exotic animals held by USDA-licensed owners.
In April 2007, the city of Norfolk
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, Virginia outlawed declawing by persons other than veterinarians (Municipal Code Sec. 6.1-78.1).
In 2009, the California state legislature approved a measure, sponsored by the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), intended to stop other cities from passing bans similar to West Hollywood. By including in the bill all professions licensed by the state Department of Consumer Affairs, the CVMA got the bill pushed through, and it was signed by the Governor in July, 2009. However, the bill's effective date, January 1, 2010, provided a window of opportunity for grandfathering any other declaw bans passed locally in the state before that date.http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0751-0800/sb_762_cfa_20090615_100327_asm_comm.html
In 2009, seven other California cities, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Berkeley, Burbank, and Culver City, passed ordinances banning declawing on the basis of animal cruelty.http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-declaw-cats7-2009nov07,0,4016163.story?track=rss http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/13/BAJ31AJF1G.DTL&tsp=1
Ethical viewpoints on declawing in the US
Although widely practiced, declawing is ethically controversial within the American veterinary community. Many American veterinarians are critical of the procedure and some refuse to perform it. The two leading national animal protection organizations in the US, the Humane Society of the United StatesHumane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States , based in Washington, D.C., is the largest animal advocacy organization in the world. In 2009, HSUS reported assets of over US$160 million....
and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing cruelty towards animals...
, strongly discourage or condemn the procedure. The Humane Society of the United States and other animal advocacy groups have supported legislation banning or restricting declawing. Major opposition to attempts to ban or restrict declawing has come from veterinary trade organizations, such as the California Veterinary Medical Association. The American Veterinary Medical Association considers declawing acceptable under certain circumstances but states that it "should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a zoonotic
Zoonosis
A zoonosis or zoonoseis any infectious disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans or from humans to non-human animals . In a study of 1415 pathogens known to affect humans, 61% were zoonotic...
risk for its owner(s)." Despite the clear ethical guidelines given by the AVMA, surveys suggest that 95% of declaw surgeries are done to protect furniture. Further, because younger cats are better able to adapt to life without claws post-surgery than older cats, 76% of cats are declawed before they reach 8 months of age, precluding any serious effort at training and/or use of other non-surgical alternatives.
Surgical
TendonectomyTendonectomy
Tendonectomy is the surgical cutting of tendons, and is generally only practiced in veterinary medicine.- Tendonectomy in cats :Performing a tendonectomy on a cat is an alternative to onychectomy which severs the end of the digit...
involves cutting the deep digital flexor tendon of each claw, resulting in the cat being unable to move its distal phalanges. Without the ability to expose its claws, the cat is unable to wear down or groom its claws. For this reason, the cat subsequently requires regular nail clippings to prevent its claws from growing into its paw pads. A 1998 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association comparing cats undergoing onychectomy to cats undergoing tendonectomy found that, although the cats undergoing tendonectomy appeared to suffer less pain immediately post-operatively, there was no significant difference in postoperative lameness, bleeding, or infection between the two groups. The American Veterinary Medical Association and the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association explicitly do not recommend this surgery as an alternative to declawing.
Non-surgical
One popular, non-surgical alternative to declawing available through veterinarians is the application of vinyl nail caps (marketed in the US under brand names such as Soft Paws and Soft Claws) that are affixed to the claws with nontoxic glue, requiring periodic replacement when the cat sheds its claw sheaths (usually every four to six weeks, depending on the cat's scratching habits).Other alternatives include regular nail trimming; directing scratching behavior to inexpensive cardboard scratchers or scratching post
Scratching post
A scratching post is a wooden post covered in rough material that cat owners provide so their pets have an acceptable place to scratch. Cats have a natural urge to scratch: the action helps them remove old material from their claws, and they mark territory with scent glands in their paws...
s, or emery scratching pads that dull the claws; rotary sanding devices (Dremel, Pedi-Paws); covering furniture or using double-sided sticky tape or sheets such as Sticky Paws; remote aversive devices such as Scat Mats; or acceptance of cats' scratching behavior.
External links
- How Much Money Does Declawing Cats Cost? An analysis of the monetary costs, ethical issues, and alternatives of cat declawing
- Studies Pertaining to Feline Onychectomy A summary of various studies and surveys
- Declawing and Its Alternatives from The Pet Health Library
- "Indoor Cats, Scratching, and the Debate over Declawing: When Normal Pet Behavior Becomes a Problem." from The State of the Animals III: 2005 Humane Society Press.
- The Paw Project Non-profit anti-declawing lobby group
- Declawing: What you need to know anti-declawing site
- Ask the Cat Doctor: Declawing Cats Includes an anatomical chart for better understanding of the declaw procedure.