Declawing is a major surgery known as onychectomy, performed
under anesthesia, that removes the tip of each digit (from the
first knuckle out) of the cat's forepaws. There is a slight
chance of death in the surgery, and a declawed cat may have an
increased risk of infection and life-long discomfort in its
paws. This surgery is not recommended for an adult animal and is
considered an act of animal cruelty in some countries (see
below).
People generally have cats declawed to prevent them from hunting
and from damaging furniture. Rarely, vicious cats are declawed.
In the United States, some landlords require that tenants' cats
be declawed.
Veterinarians are generally critical of the procedure and some
refuse to perform it because the absence of claws in a cat:
1. Deprives it of its main defense abilities, including escaping
from predators by climbing trees;
2. Impairs its stretching and exercise habits, leading to muscle
atrophy;
3. Compromises its ability to balance on thin surfaces such as
railings and fence tops, leading to injury from falls;
4. Can cause insecurity and a subsequent tendency to bite.
This operation is rare outside of North America. In Finland,
Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, declawing is forbidden
by the laws against cruelty to animals.[17] In many other
European countries, it is forbidden under the terms of the
European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, unless "a
veterinarian considers [such] non-curative procedures necessary
either for veterinary medical reasons or for the benefit of
(the) animal". [18] In Britain, animal shelters find it
difficult to place imported cats that have been declawed and
subsequently most are euthanized.
An alternative to declawing is the application of blunt, vinyl
nail caps that are affixed to the claws with nontoxic glue,
requiring periodic replacement when the cat sheds its claw
sheaths (about every four to six weeks). However, the cat will
still experience difficulties because the capped nails are not
as effective as claws.
