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Annie Bruce of Boulder writes:

Last week Norfolk Virginia banned the declawing of cats. Good thing! Most people don’t know that declawing is the number one cause of litter box problems. (This link has article and video of newscast about declawing ban in Norfolk: http://www.wtkr.com/Global/story.asp?S=6427984&nav=ZolHbyvj.) The American Veterinary Medical Association recklessly endangers cat owners, children and communities because they tell us that there are no differences between clawed and declawed cats. In reality, declawed cats are expensive and dangerous to own. And cat shelters are swamped with cats that are known to pee and bite.
Declawing lowers the standard of the medical care for all cats: The AVMA can’t see that declawing has led millions of cats to illness, peeing, biting and homelessness - what other important aspects of cat welfare don’t they see? What other research has cat suffering gone unnoticed? I’ve called several AVMA “leaders” private practices. They don’t know how to train a cat to use a post. When I asked about cost to declaw a cat, they asked, “Both front and back?” They told me declawing has no side effects.
But declawing affects all of us: One New Jersey animal shelter destroys 80% of declawed cats surrendered to them, due to “behavior problems.”
“Euthanized, surrendered, behavior problems” . . . all the things the AVMA claims declawing was supposed to stop.
But Colorado shouldn’t have to make declawing illegal city by city. Under current Colorado Animal Cruelty Statutes, “unnecessary mutilation” [OF ANIMALS]is already illegal. Declawing is amputation of bone, tendon and ligament to the first knuckle of each joint. Declawing is not performed in three continents and is illegal in most industrialized countries.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

Clawed cats don't pee? Maybe they are classier and have a more sophistacted word for it...

It is really an inhumane practice, and I'm surprised many vets actually still perform it. Hopefully, we'll see a change of mind in the profession about it. In addition to it just being a gory amputational procedure, it basically leaves cats defenseless if they should get out of one's house.

I'd agree that declawing isn't a nice or necessary procedure. However, I've owned many cats (both declawed and not) and never seen this difference in litter box and other behaviour that Annie discusses. Certainly it didn't lead to these cats being homeless, nor did I consider my children endangered.

I'm all for banning cats period.

I'm surprised. Our cats had clawing problems (ruining furniture, problems retracting etc), so using laser, just their front claws were removed. They were given pain medication, but really didn't seem to need it after the first day. After being declawed, they are perfect pets- extremely affectionate, never bite, and always use a litter box. We ensure they remain indoors, and are microchipped. They never need to go to the vet (i.e. no health problems) except for annual shots and tests.

So I'm a little confused with the writer's letter. It seemed to be a relatively minor procedure with huge benefits, and no behavior problems like she's stating.

Same here Fiesty.

I had my cat's front paws declawed 10 years ago and he is very people friendly (never bitten once), has a perfect 100% track record using the litter box and has had a perfect health record. He stays in the house all of the time - I live in the mountains so he wouldn't be safe outside even if he still had his claws with the coyotes, mountain lions and bears up here.

"But declawing affects all of us"

Um, no it doesn't. Not one freakin' little bit.

CL- if I were so fortunate as to live in the mountains, I would make sure I kept my cat inside too! Not to mention that indoor cats have the longest life span, and outdoor/mixed cats have the shortest. Also, keeps them from getting sick or dirty.

As it is, I feel that folks who let their cats outside are irresponsible- why should the neighborhood be their litterbox? It's no different (other than size) than letting a dog go everywhere.

For anyone who is interested in further educating themselves about declawing, check out:

http://www.declawing.com/ (This is a commercial site for an alternative solution called "Soft Paws," but it also gives some medical info about the declawing procedure.)

http://www.catscratching.com/

Only someone from Boulder could complain about a inane thing like declawing cats.She and other Boulderites should have been using their voices to demand Mary Lacy charge the parents of baby Midyette with MURDER.It took 15 months and a Grand Jury.to indict them. They are still getting special treatment. A 10 week old baby had 48 broken bones and a skull fracture . The parents brought the baby to the hospital , he died,they lawyered up and buried their son that they brutally murdered. Then I see a letter from someone worried about a friggen cat! Is there something in the water in Boulder or is a tree and a cat more important than a human life?

And in my opinion, declawing cats is on the same inhumane level as debarking dogs. If you can't deal with some of the inconveniences of having pets, or be bothered to look for humane alternatives, or properly train your pet, then don't get one.

When people use medical surgeries to deal with the above, they are just taking the "quick fix" that is becoming way too prevalent in this society to dealing with our hassles. Just like feeding our kids Ritalin, IMO.

mytwosense-

I agree to a point. I do think too many folks jump to it [declawing] as a quick fix, when it should only be done as a last resort. [For example, we did behavior modification and training for over a year, in addition to expensive gadgets and sprays.]

However, stating it shouldn't be done at all, is just as bad. There ought to be moderation.

However, stating it shouldn't be done at all, is just as bad. There ought to be moderation.

I respectfully disagree. If you've done the research on declawing, you will see it's not a simple procedure, not a painless one, and not one that poses some real dangers to a cat. Try as one might to keep their cat indoors, they very well may escape, and declawing effectively takes away their ability to survive at that point - they are now unable to hunt food and defend themselves.

I stand by my original point: if you would consider declawing a cat, don't adopt one. It's inhumane.

oops, typo in my last post. I wrote "and not one that poses some real dangers to a cat." I meant, and "not one that DOESN'T pose some real dangers to a cat."

I had a girlfriend who had her kitten declawed. It was a nice cat until it got shredded and eaten by a neighborhood dog one night. Declawing cats is about as proper as poking the eyes out of a race horse. Sheer ignorance of biology and hunman laziness advances declawing.

It has nothing to do with laziness! Must be nice that you have never been in the situation. We spent hundreds of dollars and hours over almost two year span, doing everything recommended by both the veterinarian and animal psychologist. We tried both training and behavior modification (two separate concepts) as well aids. Nothing worked. Even the veterinarian and animal psychologist gave up.

We were "lucky"- our cats only deliberately destroyed furniture and belongings, the scratching of people were accidental (though serious). But what about those whose animals attack people too?

So Jay and mytwosense, when training and all available avenues fails, what would YOU do? If it came down to it, do you prefer the animal to be put down rather than be declawed?

"I had a girlfriend who had her kitten declawed. It was a nice cat until it got shredded and eaten by a neighborhood dog one night."

Jay, that sounds so horrible EXCEPT for the fact that your girlfriend let the cat out, whether intentionally or not. If you are going to declaw a cat, you need to accept the additional burden of being doubly vigilant to ensure the cat never gets outside.

Jay, mytwosense - do either of you own a cat?

I took in my cat after finding it near death under my deck. Considering the care and vet bills required to bring him back to health and the happy (and rather spoiled) cat he has been for the past 10 years I find it rather ironic to be told I'm ignorant, lazy and inhumane when neither of you know anything about me or the situation. If it weren't for my humanity, he would have been dead a decade ago.

My cat has never escaped outside in all that time, in large part to measures I take to insure it doesn't happen (and yet I'm supposed to be lazy).

Free the Cats! They get all cooped up if left in the house. I prefer cats that are free to roam.
I have no preference in having cats clawed or declawed except those with claws take a while longer to digest
Sincerely
The Coyote

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