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Medical Reasons for Declawing?

post #1 of 12
2/8/10 at 10:09am
Thread Starter 
I am on my way over to my neighbor's house to try to convince her NOT to de-claw her cat, Hanky.Now I have plenty to say on the issue, but I just need some back-up. I just wanted to ask some of you seasoned cat owners a question. Is there ANY valid medical reason WHY a cat would need to be declawed? I personally don't think so, but I may be missing something. I have never understood the practice. I am going to do everything in my power to save Hanky from this. Wish me luck.
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post #2 of 12
2/8/10 at 10:11am
don't forget to tell her about soft paws!!

http://www.thecatandkittenstore.com/...ats/Categories
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post #3 of 12
2/8/10 at 10:18am
Thread Starter 
Now are soft paws those little coverings that go on the nail?
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post #4 of 12
2/8/10 at 10:23am
Yup and they work very well, I use them all the time.
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post #5 of 12
2/8/10 at 10:26am
Thread Starter 
great idea thinks
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post #6 of 12
2/8/10 at 11:10am
There are valid reasons medically speaking: bone infection, mangled toe(s), torn claw to the point it may not regrow, claws that don't retract and grow into the foot pad (usually found on polydactyls) but that generally entails removing the whole toe. I almost had to have one boy declawed - one toe, hind foot - when he got into something and ripped the claw off. Vet came the next day (Scheduled farm call) and he looked at him and told me to keep an eye on it, and if it gets infected, we would likely have to take the toe. He healed fine, has a somewhat crooked claw though - must have deformed the nail bed. Vet also said declawing was a last resort for him if the claw didnt regrow or infection set in.
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post #7 of 12
2/8/10 at 11:11am
Only medical reason to declaw a cat is if it has an infected claw that won't respond to medicine or some kind of injury to the claw. There is no medical reason I could ever think of to remove ALL the claws.

There are plenty of declaw videos and things on youtube. Have her watch those. Warning, they aren't pretty.
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post #8 of 12
2/8/10 at 11:34am
My Molly was declawed on one toe. I made it very clear to the vet only that one toe was to have the claw removed. She had ripped out her claw, and it was beginning to grow back in crooked, so would continually plague her.
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post #9 of 12
2/8/10 at 12:47pm
I agree with the above - a foot or toe injury or a claw that grew wrong or into the pad where it is necessary to preform surgery. Other then those reasons there are no legit reasons to be declawing any cat.
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post #10 of 12
2/8/10 at 12:57pm
If your neighbor has steady hands, good eyesight and a good relationship with her cat she can learn to trim the tips of the claws. I don't see well enough anymore, so I just accept that I'm going to be scratched occasionally, and that I'm better off buying second hand furniture.
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post #11 of 12
2/8/10 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
That's what I have always done with my cats..trim the tips of their claws off. That with a good scratching post has always been a good solution
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post #12 of 12
2/8/10 at 3:20pm
Spaz was declawed because she had an extreme issue with using her claw aggressively against humans. We are talking scratching requiring medical attention and stitches for us. We worked for years trying everything the vet could come up with, behaviorists, medication, you name it we tried it. Finally it was down to declawing her or putting her to sleep.

She never realized she didn't have claws, she still loved using her scratching post, which was a leather car phone case(you know, the huge ones from the 80's, before cell phones existed) she never started biting or anything else and she would still 'stalk us' but she didn't attack like she had before.

I knew what declawing was and everything and I didn't want to but it was that or having her put to sleep and she was too great of a cat for that.

Taryn
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