About Declawing - Do You Know?
by Linda Lachman


  • Many countries, including England, Germany, Australia and Brazil, to name but a few, consider declawing inhumane or illegal.

  • What we call declawing, more accurately known as "partial digital amputation", is so horrible that it has been used to torture prisoners of war. It would be similar to amputation of your finger to the first knuckle.

  • In the aftermath of such a painful procedure, even your indoor cat must still walk on its paws, use a litter box and try to maneuver up or down, causing additional pain.

  • A cat that finds itself outdoors without claws is virtually defenseless.

    THERE ARE BETTER ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING:

  • NAIL TRIMMING. You may be concerned about clipping your cats nails yourself at first. However, trimming is a simple procedure. Just avoid drawing blood, by being careful not to cut into the dark part of a lightly squeezed tip.

  • BUYING OR BUILDING A SCRATCHING POST. Most cats are easily trained to use a scratching post rather than using your furniture. Posts can be purchased at pet stores, made at home or bought as inexpensive cardboard. Add some catnip on your post and your kitty will find it hard to resist!

  • SOFT PAWS. Reasonably priced, and developed by a veterinarian, Soft Paws are vinyl nail caps that last four to six weeks and are harmless.

    SO, PLEASE DON'T HURT YOUR CAT BY DECLAWING!