Houston Veterinarians
Declawing Cats: The Good and the Bad
It is not uncommon for cat owners to experience some frustration with pets that like to scratch their household items such as furniture or carpet. The usual response in today’s world is to remove the claws of the cat to stop it altogether. But before you decide to declaw your cat, there are some things you should know about the procedure.
The Good
Sometimes cats become problem scratchers and no matter what efforts you make to break the habit there's just nothing that can be done to fix it. This can cause a bad situation, as the cat will continually scratch your furniture or perhaps worse, scratch members of your family. In such a situation, declawing your cat can be good for your family and would be better than the alternatives, such as giving it away to a shelter or putting it outside.
The Bad
There are people that are against declawing cats, including some entire nations in Europe, where it is actually an illegal act. Declawing a cat is considered inhumane by these nations, and this is a sentiment that is echoed by a number of people in the United States as well.
The declawing procedure is probably more serious than most people realize. It takes a cat about 10 days to recover from the surgery. This means that a cat has close to 10 days of pain while it still needs its feet to get around and to scratch in the litter box. Your cat will recover and likely be fine after the procedure, but most people don't consider that cats do experience pain.
If you have decided that the declawing procedure is right for you and your cat, we can help. For more veterinary care information and other general pet health care questions, contact your local Houston vet clinic.