Chitika

söndag 27 september 2009

Is Cat Declawing Humane?

By Moses Wright

There is significant controversy over whether or not declawing a cat is humane. While many cat owners may accept declawing as part of cat ownership, there are many more humane alternatives to cat declawing.

What is cat declawing? When a cat is declawed, the end portions of the cat's toes are removed. Another method of declawing, called a tendonectomy, involves cutting the tendon to the nails. This leaves the cat without the ability to extend its claws.

The main reason that cat owners elect to get their cat's declawed is to stop or prevent destructive cat scratching. Some cat owners believe that they must have their cat's declawed to save their furniture and even themselves from getting scratched. A cat owner who gets the cat declawing to stop cat scratching during play may be disappointed when the declawed cat bites since they can no longer use its claws to defend itself.

Complications of cat declawing can lead to long-term health problems and infection. Cat declawing can cause a cat to walk differently which can lead to abnormal joint where and skeletal problems. If a declawed cat becomes stray, the cat is defenseless and at risk of serious injury.

Decline can cause litter box problems. When a cat experiences pain from declawing, the pain may be worse when the cat digs in litter box. The cat may associate pain with the litter box and avoid the litter box.

Organizations concerned with the humane treatment of animals promote alternatives to cat declawing. Many of these organizations consider declawing to be in humane.

The cat owner can expose the claws by gently pressing on the cat's paw. Using a regular fingernail clippers, the cat owner can put off the tips of the nail being careful to avoid the pink area of the nail which is the quick. The quick will cause the nail to believe if the quick is cut.

Scratching post can teach the cat to only scratch where appropriate. If a cat does not use the scratching posts, the cat owner may have some success with training the cat to use the scratching posts by rubbing them with catnip and placing them near places where the cat has done destructive cat scratching.

One of the alternatives to cat declawing is to use vinyl claw covers. These vinyl nail caps glue onto a cat's claws and stay in place for approximately five weeks. Vinyl claw covers come in a variety of colors.

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