I hope you don't mind answering this - you can definitely ignore it if you want - but in regards to declawing cats, I heard about an alternative called a tendonectomy, can you give us your opinion on that? To me, it seems that it avoids a lot of the severe side effects of declawing - arthritis, paw confirmation change, maybe behavioural, etc, so why isn't it a common alternative? Why or why wouldn't this be an okay alternative? (Btw, i'm against declawing, I'm just curious)
Another ask in the inbox at the same time:
Quick question, since the hot topic this week is about de-clawing. Is there a procedure where the tendons that control the claws flexing are cut, instead of the toes amputated? When I was 4, we had a cat that my parents had gotten ‘declawed’ on his front feet (I was 4, and had no knowledge nor say in the decision.) But, this cat still had his claws- you could feel them when you held his paws, but he wasn’t able to bring them out to scratch. Is this an alternate procedure, or not a thing?
Performing a tendonectomy on a cat is an alternative to onychectomy ("declawing"), which amputates the end of each digit. Tendonectomy may be considered less painful for the cat than onychectomy; however, it is not recommended by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and is illegal in many countries.
In a tendonectomy, a small portion of the tendon in each of a cat's toes is surgically removed to prevent the cat from extending the claws. Thus, the cat is no longer capable of scratching.
Claws will continue to grow following tendonectomy, and because the cat can no longer extend the claws to scratch, the cat will not wear down the claws as before. Therefore, among other considerations, the cat owner should evaluate the ongoing maintenance required in the form of regular claw trimming thereafter when considering this procedure.
In terms of studies on the impact of onychectomy versus tendonectomy, the American Veterinary Medical Association compared the outcomes of the two operations in its August 1, 1998 issue. Their report considered owner satisfaction and drawbacks such as pain and future complications. Cats who underwent tendonectomy displayed significantly lower pain immediately following the procedure versus those who underwent onychectomy. However, both procedures showed an equal frequency of other complications, such as bleeding, lameness, and infection. Cats took the same number of days to recover from both operations (as measured by normalcy in walking), and owners were equally satisfied with both options.
One complication to watch out for later on in the cat's life with a tendonectomy is the nails getting brittle. Nails that are more brittle are prone to splitting and shattering when trimmed by the owner, which is quite painful for the cat.
