Anti-Declawing Page

Our Anti-declawing Page

The Declawing Project Results

Hello. My name is Mewsette and I am a cat, 15 years old. I am speaking in proper human English for this page, because it is important. The subject is the declawing of cats. I just headed a project on this subject for my club. The purpose of the project was to get responses from other cats on how they feel about the subject of declawing. This is my longer conclusion of the project. Please read it.

We had seven responses from our members. Four are against declawing, though one of those pointed out how frequently humans require it before they will give a cat a home. Two are not really for or totally against it. One does not consider declawing cruel or inhumane, and is in favor of it "for good reasons".

Kitties, declawing is cruel, and it is inhumane. Two responses stated that the European countries have animal welfare laws which forbid declawing cats for that reason. The U.S. does not, and may not be likely to, as declawing surgery is a major source of income for vets in the U.S. I believe very few of the vets ever explain that the surgery is amputation of the cat's toes at the first joint, that not only the claw is removed, but the bone and tendon. The surgery causes the cats so much pain they are "bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain", as one vet wrote *. Some cats die from hemorrhaging during the surgery, but we don't hear about that, either. A cat's mutilated paws can become badly infected. The cat must go home and walk on those painful feet, and dig in the litter box with them. Wheelchairs and bedpans are not an option for cats. Post-surgical pain is not treated in cats. It is seldom admitted.

Declawing is mutilating and debilitating surgery. I don't know what qualifies as a "good reason" for surgery on a cat that is of no benefit to the cat. This surgery is done only for the convenience of uncaring and uninformed humans. How can we, as cats, agree to letting humans cripple us for life for their convenience? What might they find it convenient to cut off next, our tails? What are the "good reasons" for cutting off our toes? Their furniture or drapes? Do they love their furniture and drapes more than they love their cats then? Yes. To keep us from accidently clawing and hurting their children? Do they know that, when we have no claws with which to defend ourselves, we will often resort to biting instead? I don't think so. Do the vets tell them? No.

Our claws are an integral part of all our instincts as cats and of our beautiful balance and grace as cats. Without claws, we are something like humans trying to walk on their heels all their life. Our entire bone structure will alter as we get older. Our balance will be affected. Our personalities may change. A high percentage of us will develop litter box problems as a result of declawing. And those problems, more than any other, cause humans to discard us. If a declawed cat ever gets outside, we have no way to defend ourselves or escape from harm up a tree. Do the humans know these things? Would they still have us declawed if they did? To surgically alter and mutilate our bodies this way, simply for convenience, is not consistent with the love they say they feel for us, is it?

One response made a good point, a very sad one, calling routine declawing a "necessary evil" in order for some cats to be given a home. First, that would only be the case in America. Second, I have a problem with the words "necessary" and "evil" being used together, even though the phrase is common to humans. I am a cat, with hundreds of years of evil done to my species in the past. If a thing is evil, why would it be necessary? This only tells me that humans who do not want a cat unless it is declawed have no business having a cat. Are we dealing with the cat overpopulation problem by mutilating cats so that such selfish humans will take them in? Why not deal with it with stronger neuter/spay requirements instead? That surgery is of benefit to the cat, most humans agree.

Another also mentioned that it was harder for a cat to be adopted if he/she was not declawed, and said it is better to be declawed than to be killed. That is true. And it points out again what our choices in America seem to be. But a declawed cat who is later abandoned or discarded because of litter box behavior or biting is still going to be killed. How inhumane we really are.

This project was about a problem, cats clawing where they should not. The solution to the problem is not subjecting the cats to mutilating surgery. That is a cruel reaction, not a solution. We cats can be trained to use a scratching post or scratching pad, as nearly all responses agreed. Even a log can be brought into the house for us to claw. Our claws can be clipped regularly, and should be, so they are not so needle-sharp they might inflict accidental damage or injury. There are products on the market, such as Soft Paws™, little nail caps that can be put on our claws. We do not deserve to have our toes amputated! We say we are lucky cats to have humans who care about stopping inhumane treatment and abuse of cats. Yet declawing is routinely done to us by such humans. What makes it different from any other kind of cruelty?

In concluding this project, I believe it shows two things. First, that many American humans, unlike those in most European countries, where declawing is against the law, don't appear very concerned. That was unexpected, and I hope it is a wrong conclusion, for those countries surely do not need another excuse to look upon our humans as barbarians. It also seems to be a sensitive subject among Americans. Neuter/Spay surgery is surely not a sensitive issue! Why is this one?

Second, to show that a lot of education is needed in my country, for the sake of us cats. Kitties, all we can do is try to get our humans involved to educate others about exactly what declawing is and what can happen to us as a result. We must ask them to speak out to those who are responsible for this cruelty and say No! this should not be done. We must tell them to ask our vets this: Do they routinely recommend and suggest declawing to the cats' humans? Why, if not only for the money it makes them? Do they explain to the cats' humans exactly what the surgery is and how much pain it causes the cat? Do they tell them all the physical and behavioral problems the cats may develop later? Do they suggest alternate solutions for cats that claw things they shouldn't? These things must be asked, but I don't feel hopeful that we will be able to get many vets on our side about not declawing. I feel that education about it will be up to our other humans. What a sad thing to say.

I also strongly believe that we need to campaign for laws against declawing cats in this country. And I make a pledge right now to find out what one kitty can do about these things, and do it. That is my solution. Will you help?

by Mewsette

*Quote from Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Professor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, in his book "The Cat Who Cried For Help: Attitudes, Emotions, and the Psychology of Cats"

This is the full quote:

"The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of the cats' recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. Cats that are more stoic huddle in the corner of the recovery cage, immobilized in a state of helplessness, presumably by the overwhelming pain.

Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Partial digital amputation is so horrible that it has been employed for torture of prisoners of war, and in veterinary medicine, the clinical procedure serves as a model of severe pain for testing the efficacy of analgesic drugs.. Even though analgesic drugs can be used postoperatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge."