The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association says the procedure should not be called declawing but rather partial digital amputation of cats, and it has taken an official position opposing it. For years, many Canadian pet owners have routinely asked vets to remove their cats’ claws when they bring them in for spay or neutering. Their motivation is to stop their pets from scratching furniture.
Many vets now refuse to remove claws, as does Dr. Enid Stiles who helped draft the association’s position.
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‘A lot of possible complications’
“In order to remove that nail so that it never regrows, they actually have to remove the last bone of their toes on cats. So they’re going in surgically, (administering) general anaesthesia, removing all of those last digits, closing them up,” she says.
“Long term…they won’t be scratching your furniture but they may develop long term issues like chronic pain, behavioural problems, litter box issues, aggression that might be increased. So, there are a lot of possible complications that can occur.”
Practice banned in several countries
Stiles notes that many countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand have long banned the removal of cats claws. It was not a common practice there and so it was easy enough to disallow it. She says it will be tougher to make it illegal in the provinces of Canada but she thinks that will eventually happen.
In the meantime, the association is recommending veterinarians stop performing the surgery and instead, inform pet owners of alternative ways to deter cats from scratching the furniture. Cats do it to establish territory.
Vets can offer alternative solutions
People often set up scratching posts and then find their felines don’t use them. Stiles says it is important to put the post in a place near where their cat likes to scratch, to use a material they prefer. It could be carpet, wood, or cardboard. She also recommends covering the furniture that the cat likes to scratch with double-sided sticky tape, tin foil or some other material that they don’t like.
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