Do you consider cat declawing to be unethical, and if so, what would you consider to be the best alternative?
yeah declawing is ABSOLUTELY unethical from a medical standpoint, and I'll tell you why!
so this is what a cat's paw looks like on the inside:
take a quick second to look it over, and note which parts of it are actually touching the ground and bearing the cat's weight.
it's the "palm" and the ends of the toes, right?
well, that's the problem. so you probably ALSO noticed that the cat's claws are actually attached to those last toe bones, which is why when a cat is declawed, they remove that entire last toe joint like this:
so the issue is, the bone that was bearing the cat's weight is gone. it no longer exists. this forces the weight of the cat's body onto the end of the second bone, here:
and that's a HUGE fucking problem. that bone was never meant to touch earth, the ends of it are covered in nerves and connective tissue instead of padding! putting weight on it WILL cause the cat pain, chronic-for-the-rest-of-your-life pain!
cats are terrible about actually expressing pain, but if you pay attention to how declawed and non-declawed cats walk, you'll notice that declawed cats put their feet down much more gingerly and are more hesitant with their first steps.
and this is because it hurts.
please don't declaw your cat. just use claw caps or keep their nails trimmed.
thanks for attending my TED talk bye
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