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The decision as to whether you should have your cat declawed is mainly one of personal choice. Claws can be damaging to people, other animals, and personal property. But they also provide cats with their main means of defense--their fighting ability.
Many people who have cats that mainly stay outdoors choose not to have their cats declawed. These cats don’t spend as much time indoors, so they don’t run the risk of clawing up your sofa, draperies, and tables. Leaving the claws in these cats also gives them fighting ability when they encounter other animals outside.
Deciding whether to declaw your cat probably depends on how much time your cat spends inside and how much damage your cat causes in your house or apartment. You should first try to train your cat to claw at a scratching post. If you can get your cat to scratch a scratching post when it feels the need to claw at something, there may be little need to declaw your pet.
Many people believe no cat should ever be declawed. They claim the removal of such a natural part of a cat is a painful process that doesn’t need to happen. Modern techniques of declawing usually requires your cat to undergo anesthesia and an overnight veterinary hospital stay. The cat dosn’t feel a thing. It then may take a couple days to a couple weeks for your pet’s paws to heal.
Another line of thought is to declaw your cat when it’s between three and 15 days old. Some vets say that declawing your pets at this early age helps them heal much more quickly, and they’re back nursing with their mothers within half an hour of the procedure. With this procedure, a gas anesthesia is used.
The only thing that declawing a cat does is keep your pet from damaging you and your property. It does not keep your cat from wanting to scratch things. Scratching things is a natural instinct of cats. If you choose to declaw your cat, you should be careful to keep your cat’s paws healthy and well maintained. Many cat owners who have their cats declawed complain of their pets developing calluses on their toe pads. They say this can cause almost as much damage to draperies and furniture as the claws themselves.
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