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Why Declawing a Cat is Never the Answer
By: Alfred



A cat comes with claws. Claws are their protection, they
help cats climb and they help cats keep their balance. A cat
without claws will never be able to go outside a house and
may be in physical and emotional pain the rest of its life.

Your cat depends on you to love and care for it. You should
never do anything that would harm your cat and declawing is
harmful and always does more bad than good. Nearly the only
reason someone would want to declaw their cat is to avoid
destruction of property, which can be avoided in other ways.

Declawing a cat is a major surgical procedure that is
irreversible. It requires amputating the last joint of a
cat's toes. That is equivalent to taking off the last joint
of a human's fingers and toes. The healing process is very
painful to the cat and it causes physical and emotional
problems for the cat.

In some cases the declawing of a cat can cause secondary
contracture of the tendons in the paw. This makes it painful
for the cat to walk. Since the last joints of its toes have
been cut off it causes it to put more weight on its
hindquarters when it walks. This makes it have a problem
with balance and the shifting of weight to the hindquarter
may make its front quarter muscles atrophy.

Not being able to balance causes emotional distress to a
cat. The inability to protect itself will make it insecure.
If it ever manages to get out of the house it is totally
defenseless and can easily be killed by another cat or other
animal.

When cats are emotionally distressed they have a tendency to
spray a lot more and eliminate where they shouldn't,
possibly damaging the very property which you may have been
hoping to protect. A cat without claws has a tendency to
bite a lot more often as well, since biting is the only
defensive weapon the cat has left.

Because of the removal of those joints scratching when going
to the litter box may become painful, making your cat avoid
the litter box and go somewhere where you don't want it to
go, or refuse to eliminate at all and so get sick.

Some European countries have ruled that declawing a cat is
inhumane and illegal!

There are better ways to get your cat to stop clawing
things. You can trim its nails or claws, get a scratching post and
get some cleaner to remove their smell from their previous
scratching area and put something bad smelling to them there
instead.


See also:
How to stop Cats from Scratching Furniture

Why Cats Scratch


In short, declawing a cat is maiming it for life. It doesn't
make the cat happier and doesn't stop it from harming you or
your furniture. In the end it may make your relationship
with your cat more difficult and end very poorly for the
cat.


 Alfred Says.......





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Check out Alfred's Favorite Feline Treats Here

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