The Baggage That Comes with Having Claws

4/30/2017

By Emily Mosher

Photographer: C O

Do you know what happens on that operating table when a cat gets declawed? I sure didn’t until I sat back and thought about it. About how it would feel I were a non-human animal being brought into a cold, bright, and scary room. Then to have big scary humans poking me with needles and ripping my fingernails out. Well I am letting you know that these next couple of paragraphs will not be for the light-hearted. These next paragraphs will be descriptive, and highly grotesque, just like a declawing procedure is for a cat. Declawing cats is wrong and here is why.

After the cat has been shoved into a cage against its will, it will land on a cold, sanitized table in the middle of a brightly lit veterinary office. Then, after being pinned down to the stiff freezing counter, it will be poked with a needle that will make the cat feel drowsy. Not only has the cat’s blood pressure spiked an incredible amount by now but, it will also have to struggle to fight the increasing anxiety with the odd feeling of drowsiness creeping in that the anesthesia induces. Anesthesia does help to block pain, but also temporarily paralyzes the non-human animal. The worst part is that these medicines do not as they say put these animals to “sleep”, no, for these animals still have their eyes open and can look around while the surgery is going on. If a cat is not given anesthesia from a needle poke, the feline will be forced to wear a mask that will fumigate gases. The most common gases are known as isoflurane and halothane. These are released either from the uncomfortable mask strapped on or from a tube located through the cat’s trachea. Then, comes the grand finale. Most people think that when a cat is declawed, they are just getting their fingernails ripped out, but this is not exactly true. For if a human were to go through the same process of being declawed just like a cat, his/her finger would be cut off all the way down to the last knuckle.

Alternatives to Consider First!!!

Photographer: Eric Kilby

Before you schedule that appointment, check these suggestions out first as alternatives that could be not only cheaper but less stressful on both you and your cat’s lives!

SCRATCHING POSTS! Cats have scent glands in their paws and by scratching, they deposit their scent and mark their territory-just as any wild jungle-cat does. When a cat scratches, it also removes the top layer of their nail which acts as a natural grooming benefit to both parties! Just like how humans often need a good full-body stretch, so do cats! When cats extend their body, scratching helps to stretch their claws, feet, and body to release the “feel-good” hormones that make every animal, human and non-human feel good! Purrfect scratching posts can be found here!!
CLAW TRIMMING! Keeping your furry friend’s sharp claws trimmed can also eliminate hassle and tension! 15 helpful hints for how to trim your cat’s nails safely can be viewed here!
NAIL CAPS! Cat claw caps are tiny plastic nail caps that you glue onto your cat’s claws (say that 10x fast 😉). You can put them on your cat yourself and each cap should stay on the nail for about six weeks, and then fall off with the natural growth of the nail. The link for Soft Paws can be found here along with your order and choice of color caps for your kitten! If you go onto amazon.com and search “soft nail caps for cats” a pack of 100 soft pet nail cap claws can be purchased for only $10.99 whereas according to acentralnorth.com a surgery to declaw your cat can cost anywhere from $85 to $270 depending on how many paws you get declawed. So, if you aren’t satisfied for the benefit of your cat, do it for the benefit of your wallet!
NOT OWNING A PET! This one is sad but true and needs to be considered. Some people introduce a cat into their family but can’t afford to keep it in its natural state (keeping the claws intact) and therefore feel that they need to go through with declawing. Some of these people generally live with geriatric or diabetic diseases and fear that they could be seriously injured if scratched by a cat. My response to this is, if you have an illness that your life is on the line from a single breaking of the skin, you shouldn’t put yourself in a situation of owning a cat anyways. However, if this is the case for you, according to healthinaging.org, last updated in 2015, the top 7 problems related to geriatric syndromes have nothing to do with animal encounters- so don’t let that fear intimidate you!

How Much Pain Goes into Getting Your Fingernails Ripped Out

Photographer: IceEye

Now, if you’re still stuck on letting the veterinarian rip your 8-week-old kitten’s claws out, you should know the effects that will come with it. For example, you will see:

A “guarding” posture, where the cat will not be able to put weight on the effected limbs, and will therefore create an unwillingness or struggle to move due to soreness on the padding of their paws.
Some physical limitations from post operation can include change in: “heart rate, respiratory rate, and rectal temperature” which will then cause more stress, discomfort, and pain to the patient.
Negative changes in behavior have been observed such as “house-soiling, resentment of having paws handled, and refusal to cover feces. Ten respondents also reported the cats may have bitten harder or more frequently” after surgery (page 2).
61 of 163 cats exhibited signs of pain for up to 42 days after the declawing operation- that is a very long time for a cat/kitten to be in serious discomfort and distress.

All the above statistics and examples from this section were paraphrased from: avma.org (mostly page 1 and 2).

What Can Go Wrong On and After the Operating Table

Although I listed the pain and negative behaviors that occur post operation, here are some of the fancier names of the surgical complications that happen from this procedure.

In one study, approximately 50% of 163 cats, had complications when guillotine nail trimmers were used.
A survey of private practice records showed a higher post operational complication rate when spaying/neutering were performed at the same time as declawing. -This is relevant because many human owners think that it will check two chores off of one list, be cheaper, and limit the amount of anxiety for the non-human animal but this shows the latter.
Hemorrhages (a profuse discharge of blood, as from a ruptured blood vessel) were most commonly reported as a complication from declawing- so when people, like in the article here say “Despite many warnings of how graphic the pictures (of the procedure) are, there is not much blood to see” They are not educated on the information going on inside of the non-human animal.
Claw regrowth- when an incomplete removal of the ungula crest (images of the crest and other parts of the thoracic limb can be found here: can result in swollen formation and pain.
Neuropraxia or radial nerve paralysis can happen from improper tourniquet application to the paws.
Due to the high amounts of stress induced, the non-human animal increases its chances of: infections, skin disorders, asthma, cystitis, draining tract formation, and detachment of the third phalanx.

All of the above statistics and examples from this section were taken from: avma.org (page 2 and 3).

Road to Recovery

For those that still do not care to listen and want to go through with the procedure, first watch this video and make sure you’re okay with your cat going through this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niMgBGfMgFc Okay, if there is still absolutely NO OTHER road to take for your cat or kitten, I at least want the best care for these critters so look at these options for recovery methods. However, I want you to know, that even though these will help reduce the pain and amount of days your feline friend will be uncomfortable and stressed out, there is NO situation that will eliminate the discomfort completely other than not going through the procedure.

Local anesthetics such as Bupivacaine and Lidocaine block nerve transmission. They are inexpensive and safe for cats when prescribed appropriately so make sure you listen to your veterinarian’s directions. However, you should also beware that the study also showed that “a 4-point regional forelimb nerve block using bupivacaine in addition to preoperative administration of buprenorphine did not decrease discomfort scores”.
Using patches that provide Transdermal fentanyl-which release fentanyl (a medicine to help severe pain) for prolonged periods with few side effects are easily tolerated by cats. The patch works best when placed at a minimum of 6 hours before recovery. “The use of transdermal fentanyl patches in this manner produced serum fentanyl concentrations in excess of 4 ng/ml and significantly improved recovery, pain, and lameness scores, when compared with postoperative administration of butorphanol”
“Postoperative administration of the opioid butorphanol did not significantly affect cats’ physiologic parameters, but reduced postoperative lameness scores and improved quality of recovery.”
“Cats that received butorphanol were more comfortable, less lame, and ate better than untreated cats.”

All of the above statistics and examples from this section were taken from avma.org (mostly page 4 and 5).

Last Words

If you’re reading this right now, I just want to thank you for taking the time to learn about the process that your furry friend experiences when forced to go through this terrorizing operation. Of course, I hope if you were doing your research and weighing the pros and cons of this situation, you have learned that the cons drastically outweigh the pros of declawing your cats and you have the resources to believe it. If you were already against this surgery and simply wanted to educate yourself more on the process, I hope you send this to your friends to learn about as well. Education and information are key when it comes to giving the best life to our companion animals. If you do proceed with the surgery, I seriously hope you call your veterinarian and educate yourself about their specific process that they go through to make sure that they have the best outlook for your cat’s life.

**You oversee your non-human animals’ life, please make sure you don’t abuse it
and put them in any situation that you yourself wouldn’t want to be in! **

Photographer: Aloiswohlfahrt

References
Aquanta LLC. (n.d.). Nail Caps for Cats and Dogs. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.softpaws.com/
AVMA. (2016, February 16). Declawing of domestic cats. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Documents/declawing_bgnd.pdf. (2016, February 16). Declawing of domestic cats. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Documents/declawing_bgnd.pdf
AVMA. (2005, June). Your Pet's Health. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.acentralnorth.com/health_declaw.html
Cecil, A. (2017, February 13). Are cat claw caps cruel, safe, or just ridiculous? Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.policygenius.com/blog/cat-claw-cats-cruel-or-safe/
D. (2008, November 23). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niMgBGfMgFc
Kahlil, D. (2007). Forepaw. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.onemedicine.tuskegee.edu/CanineOsteology/Thoracic_limb/ForepawCarpalMetacarpalPhal.html
Lotz, K. (2015, March 30). 15 Tips That Make Trimming Your Cats Nails Easier. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://iheartcats.com/15-tips-that-make-trimming-your-cats-nails-easier/
Meow, M. (2009, October). Declawing cats is not cruel. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.oocities.org/declawing/
Rivera, M. (2012, October 14). What Is Used to Put Cats to Sleep During Spaying? Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://pets.thenest.com/used-put-cats-sleep-during-spaying-7434.html
Schelling, C. (n.d.). Purrfect Scratchers. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.purrfectpost.com/purrfect-scratchers/
What is Declawing. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://forallanimals.org/declawing/?gclid=Cj0KEQjwt6fHBRDtm9O8xPPHq4gBEiQAdxotvIEVf5vtoOrzUf3GF0YF--ELozMRjG4Th11abQF6UagaAjQg8P8HAQ

AUTHOR BIO

Emily Mosher has been an avid non-human animal lover since her first breaths from the womb. From dogs, to cats, guinea pigs, turtles, lizards, and many, many fish, she has been surrounded her entire life. But now, she wants to learn. Learn what makes them unique? What makes them different from other species? But her latest question has had the biggest impact, WHAT CAN SHE DO TO HELP?! She is currently in the process of earning her zoology degree with a pursuit of a veterinarian license, and she is on the hunt for the information she needs to make a difference in non-human animals lives every day.

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