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If you are taking home a new kitten, one of the options available as a pet owner is whether or not to declaw your cat. Many people will declaw their cats due to concerns over scratching furniture or for the safety of small children. However, declaw surgery is an amputation procedure that should be carefully considered.

What does it mean to declaw a cat?

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) released a new official statement on declawing cats, stating that declaw surgery should only be performed if all other alternatives to prevent scratching have been attempted. The AVMA believes that pet owners should be educated on what is normal for cats and also have a comprehensive understanding of what a declaw procedure entails.

Declaw surgery is when a veterinarian will remove the last bone in the cat's toe, which contains a growth plate and the nail. The surgery cannot be reversed.

As more and more cats began to be kept as indoor pets, their need for claws for protection diminished. Veterinarians began to routinely offer declaw surgery when a cat was spayed or neutered. Once cat owners began to realize that the declaw surgery was an amputation and potentially controversial, many stopped getting the procedure.

Alternatives to Declaw Surgery

Scratching by cats is necessary. All cats go through scratching motions, declawed or not. The purpose of scratching is to deposit pheromones that are received by other cats, to remove old nail sheaths, and to express excitement. For pet owners with expensive furniture, this scratching can cause irreparable damage. Veterinarians suggest providing acceptable scratching pads for cats and training the animals to use these.

Other alternatives to declawing a cat include:

• Regularly clip the nails of the cat to keep them maintained
• Glue nail covers to the tip of the nails to reduce scratching damage
• Cover furniture edges in foil or double sided tape to make less appealing
• Spray with water when scratching furniture as a form of training
• Use of synthetic pheromones to discourage scratching

While declawing a cat is generally thought to be unnecessary, there are a number of situations where it is in the best interest of all involved. A declaw surgery should be considered for cat owners that are elderly with thin skin, diabetic, or immune-compromised.

Any concerns about declawing a cat are best addressed to an experienced veterinarian who can help determine what the next best step for your situation may be.