Declawed cats are disabled, in pain and are expensive and dangerous to own. Declawing is the #1 reason why cats urinate outside the litter box. Some cats have had to be put to sleep after being declawed because they couldn't walk. Sometimes the claw will try to grow back or loose bone will cause infection, requiring subsequent painful and expensive operations.
- Published 2/1/03 on CourierPostOnline.com, "Eighty percent of the cats that are surrendered that are declawed are euthanized because they have a behavioral problem…. Declawed cats frequently become biters and also stop using litter boxes… One or the other…,” said William Lombardi shelter director, Gloucester County, New Jersey.
- A study of 163 cats that underwent onychectomy (declawing), published in the Jul/Aug 1994 Journal of Veterinary Surgery, showed that 50% suffered from immediate postoperative complications such as pain, hemorrhage, and lameness; and long-term complications, including prolonged lameness, were found in nearly 20% of the 121 cats who were followed up on in the study.
- In a study published in the January, 2001 JAVMA, 33% of 39 cats that underwent onychectomy developed "at least" one behavior problem immediately after surgery, with the most common problems being litter box problems and biting.
- In a recent study published October, 2001, JAVMA by Dr. Gary J. Patronek, VMD, PhD., “…declawed cats were at an increased risk of relinquishment.”
- A recent national survey of shelters from the Caddo Parrish Forgotten Felines and Friends indicates that approximately 70% of cats turned in to shelters for behavioral problems are declawed.
- From the Summer 2002 issue of PETA’s Animal Times: “A survey by a Delaware animal shelter showed that more than 75% of the cats turned in for avoiding their litter boxes had been declawed.” [emphasis added]
- In my own three-year experience, 95% of calls about declawed cats related to litter box problems, while only 46% of clawed cats had such problems—and most of those were older cats with physical ailments. Of my calls, only declawed cats have cost their owners security deposits, leather sofas and floorboards. And it’s mostly declawed cats that have been prescribed pain killers, anti-depressants, tranquilizers and steroids. Two-thirds of my calls are about litter box problems. In 90% of those cases, the cat is declawed, sick or old. In 7 years, only 3 people have called about a “scratching-the-sofa problem” - yet countless of “healthy” declawed cats have peed on sofas.
This information comes from http://www.goodcatswearblack.com/declawing/about_declawing.htm. Please go there to read more compelling information about the horrors of declawing and to see other helpful links.
WHAT ABOUT LASER SURGERY?
Laser surgery is being
marketed as the "better" or more "humane" way to
declaw a cat, but it is not without complications & consequences
and the end result is still the same - amputation of healthy
cat toes - done by burning, which can result in fourth-degree
burns in the bone as seen in this picture.
"I had Roscoe
and Jaspurr laser declawed about two months ago and it has been
nothing but pain and suffering for them. I chose to do it with the
laser because the vet said 'it was less bleeding, less painful, and
less swelling.' What she did not tell me is about all the
complications that go along with the surgery."
Lisa Violet's Declaw Horror Stories
"Complications
(bleeding, limping, swelling, infection) were generally worse in
the laser onychectomy group in the first 2 days after surgery but were
equivalent thereafter."
My
Vet Said Laser Was Better, Dr. Jennifer Conrad,
DVM, The
Paw Project
"No matter how the claws are removed, a
cat without claws is missing part of his toes and has to go
through life without being able to perform one of the most enjoyable
and beneficial parts of being a cat: scratching - with claws. The
whole basis of scratching; the aspect that provides the refreshing
workout and exercise, is pulling against the resistance of dug-in
claws". Gary Loewenthal, author of "Why Cats Need
Claws" from Is
Laser Declaw Better?
http://www.pawsneedclaws.com