{"id":17387,"date":"2019-07-30T01:36:04","date_gmt":"2019-07-30T01:36:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=17387"},"modified":"2019-07-31T05:45:33","modified_gmt":"2019-07-31T05:45:33","slug":"curious-kids-how-are-cats-declawed-and-is-it-painful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/curious-kids-how-are-cats-declawed-and-is-it-painful\/","title":{"rendered":"Curious Kids: How are cats declawed, and is it painful?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ilana Halperin<\/a>, University of California, Davis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

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Curious Kids<\/a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Declawing a cat might sound as simple as trimming your pet\u2019s nails. But it\u2019s actually major surgery.<\/p>\n

A veterinarian cuts through the joint to amputate part of the cat\u2019s toes, from the last knuckle out to the tip of the claw.<\/p>\n

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Declawing amputates the bone at the tip of the cat\u2019s paw along with the claw.<\/span>
\nIlana Halperin<\/span>, CC BY-ND<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Scratching things is a natural behavior for cats<\/a>. It lets them get healthy stretching exercise and also provides stress relief.<\/p>\n

A cat might accidentally scratch you while playing. Or a cat might aggressively lash out with its claws. A pet owner usually chooses onychectomy, as declawing surgery is technically called, to prevent scratching injuries to people or damage to objects.<\/p>\n

Declawing will not address the real issue causing a cat to behave aggressively, so the risk of injury from biting remains. One study found that almost 50% of cats occasionally display aggression<\/a> toward both people they know and strangers.<\/p>\n

This surgery comes with risks of complications. Right after being declawed, the cat will be in pain<\/a>. Vets will prescribe medicine to help manage the immediate pain<\/a>. There may also be bleeding, swelling and infection.<\/p>\n

One study found that 42% of declawed cats had ongoing long-term pain<\/a> and about a quarter of declawed cats limped. In up to 15% of cases, the claws can eventually regrow<\/a> after the surgery.<\/p>\n

Once a cat is declawed, it must stay indoors only. Removing the claws removes the cat\u2019s main way to defend itself and climb well.<\/p>\n

Some pet owners see declawing as their last option before getting rid of a cat that scratches. The American Veterinary Medical Association \u201cstrongly encourages<\/a>\u201d people to learn more about the procedure before signing a cat up. It\u2019s possible an owner might not understand normal scratching behavior or how serious the surgery is.<\/p>\n

Many veterinarians, including me, do not perform declawing surgery. In most cases it\u2019s because they feel the elective procedure is not medically necessary and that it\u2019s not a humane choice for cats.<\/p>\n

Declawing is illegal in some American cities, including Los Angeles and Denver, and the state of New York. The U.K., Australia and many parts of the European Union and Canada have also outlawed declawing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Frequent nail trimming and protective nail caps can go a long way toward cutting down on scratching damage.<\/span>
\nAlena Ozerova\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you have a cat that just won\u2019t stop scratching, there are some other solutions. Frequent nail trimming and the use of plastic nail caps over the cat\u2019s claws can help. Offering scratching posts and other forms of environmental enrichment<\/a> can also reduce scratch damage. Veterinarians can prescribe therapies to reduce feline anxiety, too, including medications and pheromone diffusers that spread calming chemicals that cats naturally release.<\/p>\n

Living with a cat comes with the responsibility to keep that pet healthy and content. That means finding a fair balance between protecting the health of family members and that of the household cat. It may also mean coming to terms with the idea that some cats express their normal need to scratch on the furniture. Fortunately, veterinarians are available to discuss options to keep everyone in the household comfortable and happy.<\/p>\n

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Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live. We won\u2019t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.<\/em>\"The<\/p>\n

Ilana Halperin<\/a>, Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor in Community Practice, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ilana Halperin, University of California, Davis Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you\u2019d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com. Declawing a cat might sound as simple as trimming your pet\u2019s nails. But it\u2019s actually major surgery. A veterinarian cuts through the joint to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":17386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3410],"tags":[4760,4838,5622,3075,2197,4424,4842,4841,4837],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17387"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17391,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17387\/revisions\/17391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}