Declawing And Alternatives Links: Delcaw Hall Of Shame || Photos of declaw surgery (warning photos are graphic) || Excellent Declaw Informational site - Stop Declaw || Declaw Surgery - What it really is! || Educate Don't Amputate! Declawing, what you need to know. Declawing is serious painful mutilation of the cats toes. | |
| The cat's claw is not a toenail at the end of the toe as in other animals. It is a movable digit attached to muscle as a finger might be. Declawing is akin to cutting off half their toes. When the end digit, including the claw is removed, the sensory and motor nerves are cut, damaged and destroyed. They do not repair themselves or grow back for many months. Following the surgery there is a wooden lack of feeling, then a tingling sensation during the long convalescence while the cat must walk on the stub end of the second digit. All the while the cat is in excruciating pain, remember that during all this time the cat may not "rest" his feet as we would after a similar operation but must continue to scratch in his litter box, walk and attempt to jump as usual regardless of the pain. |
 Obtain more information here about declawing at Max's house!! |
 |
The story of Benny and his experience with being declawed!
Benny was picked up as a stray running around Vancouver Wa, now this may not seem unusual except for the fact that he is an absolutely breathtaking large purebred Bengal and that he is a 4 paw declaw! This beautiful boy was underweight for his size at 14 pounds, he also had some injuries meaning he was not able to defend himself with no claws ... continue story here. |
|
Ragdoll Rescue NW does not endorse or promote this action. Declawing is an unacceptable treatment to something that has much better alternatives with less pain!!
"Soft Paws" Nail caps for cats! Soft Paws are vinyl nail caps that glue on to your cat's claws. This amazing product effectively covers the claws so no damage occurs when your cat scratches. An Effective & Safe solution for Problem Cat Scratching. Visit "Soft Paws" for more info! Soft Claws® Nail Caps for Cats - found at Petsmart Nail Trimming An article provided by max's house. Nail Trimming we have found, is a great asset in keeping active scratching kitties at bay. It aid's in easier bathing, preserving the furniture, protecting your skin as well as the young childs skin, rough play and of course when there is a naughty cat either to you or another pet. Nail Trimming is pretty easy to do and after a few times your cat should settle into it. Its a small price to pay when the other method involves mutilation and such pain."RRNW" Scratching Post RRNW, personal tips for getting cats to scratch on a post of course is first have several around of different types some carpet some sisal some tall and some flat. All cats like to scratch and some prefer vertical to horizontal and some visa versa! Add catnip to the posts often to encourage them to scratch where they are suppose to! Put a small post right on the corner of the couch that always seems to draw them due to placement in the room. Keep furniture covered with quilts, couch covers or other also this helps with the fur and they don't like to scratch on loose fabric! An empty tin can with beans in it and the end covered, shaken will work as a deterrent when acting naughty as well as the good old squirt bottle! But it is much better to try and get them to do the right thing than to scold them for doing the wrong thing, cats do much better with positive reinforcement than punishment. Found at Petsmart. Sticky Paws. Sticky Paws are extra-sticky adhesive strips that you can put on furniture, countertops, just about anywhere. They're invisible to your cat, but when they feel the sticky sensation on their paws, they'll just hate it and they'll learn to stay away. Found at Petsmart. Pet Organics No-Stay Furniture Spray. Teach pets to stay away from certain areas by spraying these safe, natural repellents directly on the off-limits spot. Harmless blend of natural herbs that makes treated surfaces undesirable to pets. Feliway Stress Reducer Hey, cats can get stressed, too! Helpful for calming a cat down, it puts the friendly hormone scent from the cheek in the air. It reduces or completely eliminates stress-related behavior including urine marking, vertical scratching, loss of appetite and reduced desire to play or interact. Great for new kittens. Found at Petsmart. Feliway Plug-in and Feliway Behavior Modification Kit.  The Paw Project Wishes to share the latest scientific studies on declawing, which debunk many of the myths, misrepresentations and misunderstandings surrounding declawing. Three recent articles on declawing have been published in the past year: 1. Effect of postoperative analgesic protocol on limb function following onychectomy in cats in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, July 1, 2005 2. Behavioural signs of postoperative pain in cats following onychectomy or tenectomy surgery in Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 2005 3. Chronic Pain Syndrome of Feline Onychectomy in North American Veterinary Clinics Clinician's Brief, April 2005. (Paw Project note: "onychectomy" is the scientific term for declawing) It is often claimed by proponents of declawing that declawing is a relatively minor surgery, -- a routine procedure, in fact -- and that cats are up and running around right after surgery. Postoperative pain, they say, is minor or only lasts a day or two. Proponents of declawing dismiss the possibility of phantom limb pain and behavioral problems initiated by declawing. The quotes from these article, below, suggest that those opinions are uninformed, inaccurate, and inhumane. Quotes from: Effect of postoperative analgesic protocol on limb function following onychectomy in cats "Onychectomy is a painful procedure in cats and can result in complications if the pain associated with onychectomy is not treated. Unfortunately, cats typically receive analgesic medications for postoperative pain less often than do dogs." (Paw Project note: A survey of over 1000 veterinarians by Wagner and Hellyer (JAVMA Dec. 1, 2002) found that 44% administered no pain medication after declaw surgery.) "Limb function in cats in the present study was still significantly decreased 12 days after surgery. Thus, providing analgesia for the duration of this period should be strongly considered." "Analgesics should always be administered to any patient undergoing a procedure that could potentially cause pain, and the inability of animals to communicate should not be interpreted as a lack of pain." Quotes from: Behavioural signs of postoperative pain in cats following onychectomy or tenectomy surgery "Approximately 24–45% (depending on the survey) of cats in North American householdsare declawed (Patronek, 2001), despite the fact that complications of a physical and behavioural nature are reported (Jankowski et al., 1998; Patronek, 2001; Yeon et al., 2001), and other non-surgical alternatives are available (Swiderski, 2002)." "It is known that pre-emptive analgesia prevents central sensitisation of the spinal cord to pain in limb amputation surgery, such as onychectomy, thus minimising phantom limb pain (Basbaum and Jessell, 2000)." "Because many animals, especially cats, tend to withdraw and remain quiet when in pain (Zimmermann, 1986; Mathews, 2000), behavioural variations associated with degree or intensity of pain may be difficult to detect. Moreover, a severe injury does not necessarily produce a stronger behavioural response than a minor injury (Anil et al., 2002)." Quotes from: Chronic Pain Syndrome of Feline Onychectomy "Another common concern is behavioral changes, which may include decreased activity, decreased appetite, or increased aggression. The inciting cause for these presentations within days to months to years is usually the lack of acute pain control in the immediate postoperative period." CONCLUSIONS · Declawing is a painful procedure · Pain is difficult to assess in cats since they often try to hide it · Pain from declawing is still statistically significant 12 days after surgery (Paw Project note: it could be much longer, but 12 days was as long as the study lasted) · Cats often receive inadequate pain relief after surgery · Besides causing short-term suffering, the pain from declawing can result in phantom limb pain and can cause behavioral problems Is anyone surprised by the conclusions? Benny's Story Continued from Above Benny is such a personality, very loving, way to smart for his own good, and he is territorial and must mark his territory by spraying. This was most likely the reason he found himself tossed out on the street with no defenses. I saw Benny when I was in picking up a Ragdoll Wannabe at the shelter in Vancouver and decided that if he did not get adopted in a reasonable amount of time I would go get him. I brought him home and he was fine with the other cats in fact he gets along with most but his territorial nature soon came out. So what do you do with a 4 paw declawed cat who won't stop spraying? Good question, what I have done for Benny is cat fence in my yard so he is as safe as he can be outside with the other cats that spray. All the sprayers always come in the garage to sleep at night, they all have their own beds and of course food, water and a litter box. Many people do what happened to Benny, toss them out to fend for themselves. Some may even have them put to sleep. I've chosen to try and work with them and deal with their problems. The main point of this message is this that declawing is a horrible mutilating and painful surgery for cats, some may recover and others like Benny may begin to spray for many reasons, in Benny's case I believe part of this is due to the lingering pain in his feet. He is a large cat and he needs his claws to help him in many ways, he can no longer jump like a cat, when he walks, his feet wiggle as if when he is putting them down and putting weight on them, it is very painful for him. He may also have nerve damage and pain, he can't even satisfy scratching an itch since they took his back claws too! All to save furniture I'm sure! So furniture is more important than a cats well being? In my opinion people who declaw should only have children's stuffed animals as pets! Ask many vet tech's who have seen how cats act when they come out of anesthesia from having their toes amputated! They will tell you that some go nuts tearing at the bandages due to the pain, causing bleeding and sometimes damage to what is left of their toes, now think of poor Benny waking up from having all of his toes taken off! How would you feel if it were you and you knew that you had lost all your finger tips and toes, and the only reason had been because of someone's selfishness amd ignorance. Now if you can't value your cat more than your furniture then you shouldn't own one. I make sure there are lots of good places to scratch for my cats, I keep my furniture covered with quilts to discourage those that have a hard time not using the couch. I keep a post right on the corner of one love seat they seem to love to use and it works! Plus because I love my cats more than inanimate objects I also would never buy things that I had to worry about in the first place! Cats respond quite well to a squirt bottle or a tin can with beans in it to rattle to get the attention off the bad thing they may be doing, even a blast from canned air works! A product called soft paws has worked for many really well! But please don't ever declaw your cat their are so many better ways than that to protect your furniture. And never believe that a declawed (any cat really) cat is safe running around a neighborhood loose! | |
|
Ragdoll Rescue NW and everything contained within these pages are the sole property of and owned by Copyright© 2005. unless otherwise stated, please obtain permission before using anything here. Donated Web Site Design and Maintenence Services Copyright© 1998. Cheyennes Creations All Rights Reserved, unless otherwise stated. All other trademarks/copyrights belong to their respective owners. |
|
