Declawing = Amputation

Two of the cats, Vincent and Anya, are declawed, very much not by my choice. Vincent was a stray in my backyard who came to us neutered, and declawed. Anya was a stray kitten who was used as a "practice kitten" by a new vet at my hospital. The hospital owners wanted the new vet to have experience with cat spays and declaws, so she had to do the surgeries on a non patient stray. I really didn't want the declaw even though I had already decided to adopt her regardless of what was done. I wasn't strong enough to demand that the declawing not be done. I will regret that forever, even though the surgery went well and she doesn't seem to be in pain, it is a mutilation.

What a lot of people don't seem to understand is that declawing is amputation of the last knuckle of the digit. The "thumb" is almost completely removed, the toe pad wears differently, the joints that are left feel completely wrong. Anecdotal accounts tell of declawed cats failing to cover their urine and feces in the litter box, or even using a litter box because their paws hurt, having limited mobility, or becoming obese because they can't exercise like a cat with claws.

It frustrates me to no end that our hospital declaws, and the cats of several of the doctors are declawed. Some people rationalize that these cats get or keep good homes that they wouldn't have otherwise. I feel that this is a failure of our society that we still view companion animals as things that can be mutilated to suit our needs.

Some people would argue that if I feel this way about declawing I must feel the same about spaying and neutering as that is also to support "our" needs, but that is not the case. The health benefits of spaying and neutering domestic animals is undeniable, not to mention the reduction of emotional stress and testosterone driven aggression, and unwanted litters. But that is another issue.

Obviously, I hate declawing, and my heart breaks for little Anya and handsome Vincent. I just hope that someday people change.