Mesothelioma Effects

Should we declaw our cats rear paws?

She is starting to mess up the furniture with her rear paws. Jumping on and off the sofa mainly. Would it be a bad idea to do this? Her front paws are already declawed.

Onychectomy (Declawing)
Everybody that is thinking about getting their cat declawed should read these websites. To see what declawing really is. It’s not just a simple surgery of removing the “claw.” It’s an amputation of 10 digits.

Please do not get your cat declawed. Most of the problems with declawing have nothing to do with the actual surgery. Declawing is the worst thing you could ever do for your cat. Most cats that do have problems are not visible. Most of it has to do with their back muscles. Cats need their claws in order to stretch properly. That would be like a human not being able to stretch when they wake up it the morning. Can imagine how stiff you would be? So that results in back problem their whole life. And because cats are VERY good at hiding pain/sickness you can’t really tell.

http://maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm
http://www.declawing.com/
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/stopdeclawtemporary/
http://www.theanimalspirit.com/declaw.html
http://amby.com/cat_site/health.html
http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/animal_welfare/declawing.asp

Also you should know that when a veterinarian declaws a cat without trying everything else possible they are breaking the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) guidelines: Declawing of domestic cats should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a zoonotic risk for its owner(s).

Please at least consider other option before declawing.

There is an alternative to declawing:
http://www.softpaws.com/

Sprays:
PETCO Bitter Break Training Spray
Nature’s Miracle Best Behavior Pet Training Aid

Here are a few household items you can use to stop a cat from scratching:
Double sided tape (or packaging tape, if it’s on a flat surface-that’s what I used when my cat would try to “nurse” on some blankets and she never touched it again)
Water bottle spray
Can of air
Aluminum foil
A bottle/can with something noisy in it (shake it every time the cat starts scratching)
Ginger root (rub it on whatever it’s scratching)
Also you can trim your cat’s nails back once a week.
Scratching post

Another website on how to stop it:
http://www.catscratching.com/

Also when you do get a scratching post, if your cat doesn’t scratch it at first you can get some catnip and rub it on there. Or they sell catnip spray.

Video of a declawing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niMgBGfMgFc

Also people think it’s ok if they get it done laser. NOT TRUE. Please watch this video. It’s kind of long, but it’s worth it. The part about laser is 10 minutes 44 seconds into the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaEx-qe2wBw

All of the stuff below is from research and the websites listed above and where not written by me.
A few quick facts:
The cat’s claw is not a nail as is a human fingernail, it is part of the last bone (distal phalanx) in the cat’s toe.

Declawing is not a “simple”, single surgery but 10 separate, painful amputations of the third phalanx up to the last joint of each toe.

Many vets and clinic staff deliberately misinform and mislead clients into believing that declawing removes only the claws.

“Declawing is actually an amputation of the last joint of your cat’s “toes”. – Christianne Schelling, DVM.

“Fifty percent of the cats had one or more complications immediately after surgery…. 19.8% developed complications after release.”

Many cats also suffer a loss of balance because they can no longer achieve a secure foothold on their amputated stumps.

“Among 218 cats relinquished to a shelter, more (52.4%) declawed cats than non-declawed cats (29.1%) were reported by owners to have inappropriate elimination problems.”

Psychological & Behavioral Complications:
Cats who were lively and friendly have become withdrawn and introverted after being declawed.

Others, deprived of their primary means of defense, become nervous, fearful, and/or aggressive, often resorting to their only remaining means of defense, their teeth.

In some cases, when declawed cats use the litterbox after surgery, their feet are so tender they associate their new pain with the box…permanently, resulting in a life-long adversion to using the litter box.

Other declawed cats that can no longer mark with their claws, they mark with urine.

Many declawed cats become so traumatized by this painful mutilation that they end up spending their maladjusted lives perched on top of doors and refrigerators, out of reach of real and imaginary predators against whom they no longer have any adequate defense.

A cat relies on its claws as its primary means of defense. Removing the claws makes a cat feel defenseless. The constant state of stress caused by a feeling of defenselessness may make some declawed cats more prone to disease. Stress leads to a myriad of physical and psychological disorders including supression of the immune system, cystitis a