Information on Declawing

Cats use their claws to exercise, play, stretch, climb, hunt and mark their territory. Although your cat might use your hands or furniture for these activities, declawing is NOT the answer.

Declawing is a painful and difficult operation. It is the same as removing the first joint on all your fingers. It impairs the cat's balance and causes weakness from muscular disuse.

Declawed cats are defenseless. Cats need their claws for protection. You may know that your indoor cat will never have to climb a tree in order to escape their neighbor's chihuahua, but your cat doesn't know it. Declawing makes a cat feel insecure and defenseless. It is radical to cut off so many parts of the body to prevent such a simple behavior problem.

In addition, declawing destroys on of the cat's most enjoyable activities - climbing. It is natural for cats to scratch. It is perfectly normal feline behavior. It is unfair and inhumane to punish a cat for acting like a cat.

The stress resulting from being declawed creates more problems than it allegedly solves. Some declawed cats become more nervous biters; others are known to become even more destructive to furniture than before the operation; and many cats stop using the litterbox.

There are alternatives to declawing. Exercise and play with your cat regularly. Give him a scratching post and teach him to use it. Temporarily confine your cat to a small area where he does not have access to your furniture. A few days in a room with a litterbox, food, water and of course a scratching post is much more humane than declawing .Trim you cat's nails on a regular basis. The curved tip of the claw is the part that hooks into fabric, rugs, etc., and causes the most damage.

Another idea that works awesomely is the use of double sided carpet tape on items being scratched, as cats absolutely hate getting anything sticky on their toes, and "Soft Paws" which are like fake nail tips and prevent scratching damage.

*Borrowed from SFGov.

Article by: Heather Fazio of DocumentBandit.com