#declaw

[mint-o-matic]

You do not declaw your cats, you do not support declawing, and if you do I'LL CUT OFF THE FIRST KNUCKLE OF YOUR FINGER AND SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT, YOU SICK BITCH.

[followthebluebell]

You can really see how badly fucked up his wrists are.

He's a sweetheart so far. I was told he bites a lot but I've been bothering him a lot and haven't even gotten a nip. I'm deliberately trying to get bit and he's not going for it.

He doesn't like other cats, loves small dogs, and loves people. He'll find another home soon.

[dragunsblood]

I don't know how to tell you this but if you are going to flip out if people interpret your art that's a picture of a paw being declawed as about declawing maybe include that in the original post instead of a reblog

if it wasn't just a pile of candy on the ground they should have put a giant sign on it saying that

if it wasn't just a guy screaming on a bridge they should have said that on the piece

[felid-files]

Domestic Cat (Felis catus) skeleton + rant on cat paws and the ethics of declawing

[Image source: "Cat skeleton: overview", Lumen]

Cat Paws

I find it cool and sort of funny how similar, skeletally that is, cat paws are to human hands. This goes for all cats - domestic and wild. However I will be focusing on domestic kitties here.

Really, the biggest notable difference is that the distal phalanges in a cat's toes are formed to claws, whilst humans obviously don't have claws. Also, the metacarpals (hand bones in humans, wrist bones in cats) are longer in cats.

[Image source: "Skeletal structure of human versus cat hand", 3D Anatomy Studios]

All Felids are digitigrade animals, meaning they naturally walk on their toes. Humans are plantigrade, meaning we walk on the soles of our feet. What would be our fingers is what a cat walks on, with the metacarpals (what would be our hands) raised off of the ground.

Here's a diagram showing how a cat stands:

[Image source: "Cat Paw Anatomy 101: Everything You Need to Know", Ruffle Snuffle]

Vs how a human stands:

[Image source: "Evaluation of Foot Arch in Adult Women: Comparison between Five Different Footprint Parameters", Thamilvaani Manaharan]

This is why declawing is so devastating for a cat.

Onychectomy, or declawing, is an amputation of the last (distal) phalange, typically with sterilised clippers, a scalpel, or laser. It is a surgical procedure performed in order to permanently remove the claws, preventing scratching. It's an amputation of what they are supposed to be walking on.

A declawed cat has experienced an incredibly drastic change, and it can cause permanent struggle.

Without the last phalange, the pressure point shifts from the wide base of the distal phalange to the small point of the middle phalange.

Scarring of the tendons and muscle may cause the middle phalange to retract in, making the pressure point even smaller.

[Image source: "Declawed vs Normal Cats: Observable Anatomical Changes", Jean Hofve DVM, City the Kitty]

[Image source: "The Truth About Declawing", Cats International]

If the tendons retract and the toes become locked in place, the cat is at a significantly increased risk of osteoarthritis in the paws, and if the gait is affected, further up the legs.

Veterinarian Kip Lemke illustrated the typical levels of post-surgery pain, comparing common surgical procedures. Findings were published in DVM Best Practices, August 2002. Spaying of a female animal was associated with moderate pain, and neutering of a male animal with mild pain. Declawing was associated with severe pain. Cats frequently exhibit signs of serious distress following the procedure.

It is claimed that this is typical of any surgical procedure, and that the pain decreases with time.

A 2021 study "Pain and adverse behavior in declawed cats", published by Nicole K Martell-Moran, Mauricio Solano, and Hugh GG Townsend to the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery aimed to investigate the prevalence of long-term and lifelong complications associated with declawing procedures.

176 owned cats (88 declawed and 88 with claws), and 98 shelter cats (49 declawed and 49 with claws) were studied. All declawed cats had recovered from the procedure, ruling out typical post-surgery pain or discomfort.

The study found significantly increased odds of back pain in declawed cats. Additionally, more declawed cats than clawed cats "barbered" (excessive licking, chewing and pulling out of fur), urinated/defecated outside of the litter box, and exhibited increased biting.

Proper surgical technique decreased the risk of barbering and visible obvious signs of pain, however declawed cats were still more likely than clawed cats to exhibit increased biting and litter box avoidance. This could indicate pain is still present, or that the cat is insecure or fearful.

33% of cats exhibit behavioural problems post declawing.

There are clear differences immediately post-surgery with the different methods of declawing, however all are bad.

Clippers - with no clear view of the bone, this outdated method of declawing generally leaves fragments of the distal phalange behind, potentially resulting in "nail regrowth" under the skin, increased pain, increased swelling, and an increased risk of infection.

Scalpel - decreased risk of P3 fragments, but bleeding and swelling still remains a risk.

Laser - less post-surgical pain, less swelling, less bleeding. Same long-term risks of chronic pain and behavioural problems.

https://southerncountiesrescue.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Declawing-Jean_Hofve.pdf

Many argue that declawing keeps cats from being relinquished to shelters. This has also been proven false.

Gary Patronek, VMD, PhD, using multivariate statistical analysis, studied the risk of surrender to shelters in declawed vs non-declawed (clawed) cats, publishing his findings in a 1996 JAVMA article. He found that declawed cats were at an increased risk of relinquishment to animal shelters, perhaps due to complication. He also found that among relinquished (surrendered) cats, 52.4% of declawed cats were reported to exhibit litter box avoidance, compared to 29.1% of non-declawed cats.

The risk of animal abandonment is grossly overstated. Dr. Gary Landsberg surveyed pet owners and veterinarians in September of 1994. Just 4% of owners affirmed that they would have surrendered their cats if not for declawing. In contrast, the veterinarians in the survey speculated that 50% of the owners would have surrendered their pets.

Given the potential side effects, and the gamble that declawing is, it is fair to say that most cats would have been better off surrendered or rehomed rather than declawed.

[Images source: "Declawing", Clear Creek Cat Rescue]

[ask-a-vetblr]

I know that declawing is horrid and should not be done for mere aesthetic reasons. However, I remember seeing a video where a cat needed declawing done for some kind of damage to the tendons of one of the front paws. That got me wondering, what kind of conditions might make it necessary to declaw for quality of life reasons, and do you see them often?

Sueanoi here,

Honestly I have a hard time guessing the true diagnosis of the cat the video that you mentioned. I’m not sure what kind of tendon damage that would be resolved by removing the last joint of the toe. As I have personally never seen such a case.

Anecdotally, I’ve seen one cat with a tumor at the end of one toe. I amputated the entire toe. I don’t think I can call this procedure “declawing”.  As “declawing” is defined as a procedure to remove the last joint of every toe with the intent of preventing the cat from scratching ever again. This is not the same procedure. I don’t feel there is any reason to justify removing only the last joint of the digit, as the end result is the cat will bear weigh on the stump of the second digit, which is painful. Either the entire toe comes off, or the entire leg. For an example, once I saw a gangrenous necrosis on another cat’s paw from toe to the palm (metacarpus). There was no saving that. I amputated the entire leg.

It is not often that I have to amputate a leg. Either due to cancer, or due to gangrene. There was a case of a cat with nerve damage that caused the cat to drag the leg against the ground, causing constant wounds on the skin, we did talk about leg amputation, but the cat responded well with socks as bandage to prevent dragging. So that case didn’t end with leg removal.

I hope that you find my anecdotes interesting

best.

[icedgaypuccino]

As a vet tech I would like you to know that when you bring your cats in for declaws(that are not medically necessary for the health of the cat) we officially loose all respect for you and would really prefer you just didn’t own cats. I know this won’t affect many peoples decisions to declaw their cats but I just need to vent.

[admiralsiege]

declawing hurts and if you allow your pet to be declawed ur a monster

[how-to-train-your-writer]

HEY SO HOW DO I INFORM MY ROOMMATE THAT SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE HER SWEET BABY KITTEN DECLAWED???

Please help! He’s the sweetest thing and she’s planning to have his bones removed!