Declawing Your Cat

Lots of people enjoy having a cat as their household pet. One of the drawbacks of having a cat, however, is that they come equipped with a full set of teeth and claws that they know how to use. A cat can make minced meat out of any sofa, chair or loveseat just for fun. Its always fun to roughhouse with a cat, especially when they are kittens, but more often than not, playing with your cat will leave you with a forearm covered in scratches. Cats rely heavily on their claws because, unlike dogs, they have very weak jaws and therefore attack using stealth more than brute force. Some people, for the sake of their fine furnishings like to have their cat declawed, but what are the effects of this procedure for your cat? Declawing a cat is no simple grooming procedure that can be performed at the local pet shop. A cat's retractable front claws are connected to muscles and nerves in their paws. Thus being declawed is a surgical procedure performed by a veterinarian that will require anesthetizing your cat. Once a cat heals from the procedure, however, it is generally no worse for the wear.

How being declawed will affect your cat depends mainly on your cat's lifestyle. All cats sharpen their claws on surfaces-it's an instinctive behavior. You can not train a cat not to sharpen their claws. I had a large tom cat as a child. My cat was declawed (not our choice, he came to us that way) and he still exhibited this behavior, sharpening the claws that were not there on any convenient surface. Having our cat declawed certainly preserved the furniture, but it was not always great for the cat. Our cat was an indoor/outdoor cat that could come and go as he pleased. He was street-wise and could therefore be trusted to wander throughout the neighborhood. As a wandering tom, however, he often got into fights with other cats over the dumpsters of nearby restaurants and the local bait shop. Our cat was large and tough but he often got the worse of these fights, coming home with scratches, bruises and gouges. Thus, since he was an outdoor creature, being declawed was a major disadvantage to our cat because he could not properly defend himself.

Therefore, if you are seriously considering having your cat declawed, you may also want to consider confining it to the house, where it will be safe from the frequent territorial fighting that cats often experience. If you do not find declawing to be a worthwhile procedure than your furniture will suffer the consequences. You can cover the furniture with some kind of cloth or plastic cover to protect its delicate surface from your cat's claws or you can make a decision to not have expensive furnishings and a cat with claws at the same time. Having a cat declawed is an irreversible procedure and should be considered carefully by any conscientious pet owner. If you choose to go ahead with declawing, make sure that you learn all of the facts from your vet.