Tendonectomy

Declawing Cats: It Should Be Illegal In 2015 New York lawmakers considered a bill to ban the practice of declawing cats. The proposed legislation caused many debates amongst veterinarians, animal behaviorists, and pet owners as to whether or not it should be illegal. Onychectomy or declawing is a procedure where the toe bones and attached claws of a cat are amputated through a surgical operation. Advocates of declawing cats argue that it is a necessary procedure to provide cats a better chance at being adopted and retained in their new homes. The surgery is practiced in order to stop scratching behavior like destroying furniture. However, a majority of those adopted cats that go through this procedure end up being readmitted to the shelters due to other behavioral problems that arise after surgery. These issues arise as a result of a combination of long-term and short-term pain that occurs once they are declawed. It is not necessary to resort to onychectomy as there are other solutions that cat owners or future cat owners can use instead. For these reasons, cat declawing should be illegal as this cruel practice does not benefit cats. People in support of declawing argue that complications after surgery do not occur often, however, a study conducted on cats that underwent onychectomy states that “50 percent of the cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery” (Tobias). These complications included permanent lameness, infection, pain, hemorrhage, claw regrowth…

There are several options available to cat owners who wish to stop damaging or injurious scratching behaviours. These include behaviour modification, nail caps, frequent nail trims, tendonectomy and declawing (onychectomy). Non-surgical options include behavioral modification, frequent nail trims, nail caps and feline pheromone sprays. Nail trimming and nail caps do not modify the cat’s behaviour, but it can reduce the damage done from scratching behaviour. Nail caps may need to be replaced…

declawing. “Innocent until proven guilty”, so to speak. Another alternative would be to give the cat something specific to scratch on; scratch post, scratch pad, cat trees, etc. Behavior modification requires concentrated vigilance and action. An owner must be persistant invetive and willing to try many different techniques before finding the remedy. Trimming the cat’s nails regularly or taking them to the groomer or veterinarian for nail trimming is an alternative to amputation, as well as…

reason it can be tricky to use scratching posts is because people often do not get the right post for their cat. A scratching post should be tall enough for a cat to stretch all the way out and be completely stable. If a scratching post does not meet the correct criteria, a cat will choose furniture over a scratching post. Another replacement for declawing is double sided cat tape and is helpful for people who want to save money, or want an easy way to protect their furniture. All a cat owner…