Declawing is a major surgical procedure called onychectomy, performed beneath anesthesia, that removes the tip of each digit (from the first knuckle out) of the cat's forepaws. There is a small chance of death inside the surgery, and a newly declawed cat may have got an increased likelihood of illness and life-long discomfort inside its paws. This surgical procedure is not recommended regarding an adult animal in addition to is considered a work of animal cruelty within some countries (see below).
Individuals generally have cats declawed to prevent them through hunting and from damaging furniture. Rarely, vicious pet cats are declawed. In the particular United States, some property owners require that tenants' pet cats be declawed.
Veterinarians are generally critical of the procedure and some refuse to perform it because of 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 specific operation is rare outside North America. In Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, in addition to Switzerland, declawing is not allowed by the laws in opposition to cruelty to animals.
Inside many other European nations around the world, it truly is forbidden under typically the terms of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, except if a veterinarian considers these kinds of non-curative procedures necessary both for veterinary medical causes or for your benefit regarding the animal. 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.
