FAQs ON DECLAWING AND FELINE SCRATCHING BEHAVIOR

The term "declawing" implies the removal of the claws, but it is a misnomer. Declawing is not merely the removal of the claws. Rather, it is a series of amputations. The last bone of each of the ten front toes is removed, and tendons, nerves, and muscles that allow for normal function of the paw are severed. An analogy in human terms would be cutting off each finger at the last joint.

Declawing, also know as onychectomy, is not a minor procedure, but a potentially crippling one that robs an animal of integral means of movement and defense. Declawed animals may be at increased risk of injury or death if attacked by other animals. They are deprived of satisfying their instinctual behavioral impulses to climb, exercise, and mark territory. They are subject to the risks of general anesthesia and surgery, which include bleeding, infection, lameness, nerve damage, gangrene, extensive tissue damage, and death. A report in the January 1, 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) by Yeon, et al., states that 33% of cats suffer at least one behavioral problem after declaw or tendonectomy surgery. Jankowski, in JAVMA (August 1, 1998), reports that acute complications "develop in up to a half of onychectomized cats. Long term complications of the procedure (are) reported for about a fifth of onychectomized cats." Martinez, in Veterinary Medicine (June 1993), reports 11% lameness, 17% wound breakdown, and 10% nail regrowth post-operatively in cats having declaw surgery.

The estimates of the prevalence of declawing vary considerably. It may be that 25% or more of all owned cats are declawed. The reason for this high number is that many cat owners have incorrect assumptions regarding the procedure and that many veterinarians perform declawing unquestioningly or actively market the procedure. A survey of twenty Los Angeles area veterinary clinics, reported in the February-March 2003 issue of The Pet Press, found that 75% agreed to perform declawing without question and without any attempt to establish a medical, behavioral, or any other indication to justify the procedure. Not only is declaw-on-demand the norm, the staff at veterinary clinics commonly encourage clients, whose cat are scheduled for spaying or neutering, to "supersize" the procedure by adding declaw surgery for a discounted fee. Pet owners typically report that neither the nature of the procedure, complications, nor non-surgical alternatives is discussed.

Declawing is actually a very painful procedure. In DVM Best Practices, August 2002, veterinarian Kip Lemke illustrates typical levels of post-surgical pain using common surgical procedures. Declawing is associated with "severe pain," compared to spaying ("moderate pain") and neutering ("mild pain"). Pollari states in JAVMA (June 1, 1996), "Because these procedures are so routine, they are often trivialized by clients as well as veterinarians." "Declawing is very painful – there's no question about that…" says Dr. Katherine Houpt, professor and director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Carroll, et al., in JAVMA (July 15, 1998) report, "Typically, cats undergoing onychectomy (declawing) are not given any analgesics (pain medication) or are only given a single dose of analgesic before or after surgery…. There is a physiological cost associated with uncontrolled pain. Thus, provision of adequate analgesia…would be of benefit." However, the investigators go on to report that veterinarians often have misconceptions regarding the degree and duration of pain following declawing as well as the safety of analgesic use in cats despite the abundance of published data documenting the efficacy of these drugs. The article also points out the challenges in assessing pain in cats, who instinctively hide signs of pain. The difficulties of clinically recognizing pain in cats is reported by a number of other authors, including Winkler (J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 1997), Franks (JAVMA 2000) Cambridge (JAVMA 2000), and Gellasch (JAVMA 2002). Though cats are typically sent home one to two days after declawing surgery without pain medication, Carroll points out that "the optimal duration of post-operative analgesic treatment for cats is unknown." A cat's behavior may be misinterpreted since not all cats show outward signs of pain – crying, whining, or licking at a paw, for example -- after surgery. "What they'll often do is curl up and go to sleep in the back of the cage," says Dr. Karen Tobias, an associate professor in small animal surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, who conducted a study on pain in cats after declawing surgery. "Owners or veterinarians may think they're sleeping comfortably and not in any pain."

It appears that undermedicating cats after declawing is the norm. A survey of over 1000 veterinarians by Wagner and Hellyer (JAVMA Dec. 1, 2002) found that 44% administered no pain medication after declaw surgery. For those animals receiving pain medication there are potential problems. Some veterinarians have proposed the use of fentanyl patches. The patches, which are placed on the skin, contain a powerful narcotic. Their use in humans for post-operative pain was abandoned after several deaths occurred from accidental overdose.

Actually, declawed cats may be at a disadvantage. There is evidence that declawed cats are disproportionately abandoned at shelters, and that declawed cats may be euthanized more often because of the behavioral and physical problems that result from declawing. Pet owners typically cite protection of their furnishings as being foremost among their reasons for having a cat declawed; however, such owners may not realize that the pain and other complications from the surgery can cause behavioral problems that are even worse than the problems for which the cat's toes were amputated. A cat can still bite a child and may become more prone to do so if it has no claws. A cat whose paws hurt when scratching in a litter box may avoid the litter box altogether, a behavior that may not be tolerated by the owner.

Alternatives to declawing exist. Nail caps can be glued painlessly to a cat's claws to prevent damage due to scratching. A cat can be trained to use scratching posts to sharpen its claws without damaging furniture. Also, regular nail trimming, repellent sprays, and double-sided tape applied to furniture help deter a cat from unwanted scratching.

In a 1996 JAVMA article, Gary Patronek, VMD, PhD, using multivariate statistical analysis, found that declawed cats were at an increased risk of relinquishment to animal shelters and that among relinquished cats, 52.4% of declawed cats were reported to exhibit litter box avoidance, compared to 29.1% of non-declawed cats.

The risk of cats being relinquished to pounds if the owner cannot declaw the animal is grossly overestimated by the veterinary profession. In a survey of owners of cats that had been declawed and their veterinarians, reported by Dr. Gary Landsberg in Veterinary Forum, September 1994, only 4% of the owners said they would have relinquished their pet had it not been declawed. In contrast, the veterinarians in the survey speculated that 50% of the owners would have relinquished their pets. We could reasonably expect that if cat owners knew the risks and alternatives to declawing and if veterinarians took a more active role in offering and assisting with the alternatives (such as nail caps and nail trimming), the 4% figure would be further reduced. As veterinarian Nicholas Dodman, board-certified animal behaviorist and Professor at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, says, "There are very few people of this ilk (who would euthanize a cat if it could not be declawed) who could not be reeducated by an enthusiastic and well-informed veterinarian as to the inhumanity of this approach."

Janet Scarlett, DVM, of Cornell University, in the article, "The Role of Veterinary Practitioners in Reducing Dog and Cat Relinquishments and Euthanasias (JAVMA, February 1, 2002), states that client counseling is "probably the most effective means by which veterinarians can influence the number of dogs and cats surrendered to animal shelters today." Veterinarians have an opportunity to intervene because people relinquishing pets are veterinary clients. An estimated 50-70% of pets in shelters had visited the veterinarian in the year preceding relinquishment. Yet, Dr. Scarlett reports, "Only 25% of veterinarians routinely actively identify and treat behavioral problems." She writes, "Less than a third felt confident of their ability to treat common behavioral problems. Perhaps even more disturbing, only 11.1% of veterinarians felt it was the veterinarian's responsibility, rather than the client's, to initiate discussion about behavioral problems." Dr. Scarlett admonishes veterinarians to ask specifically about problem behaviors to uncover problems that clients are reluctant to mention or that they may not realize can be modified. Once identified, appropriate interventions can be recommended. It seems clear that the real solution to the euthanasia concern will be convincing veterinarians to offer proper education. Treating a behavioral problem such as scratching with a surgical procedure is expedient, but doesn't deal the root cause and perpetuates the misconceptions and unreasonable expectations about pet behavior that too often result in abandonment and death.

There is ample evidence that declawing does result in increased biting and litter box avoidance, the behaviors that scientific researchers and shelter workers agree are the most common behavioral problems cited as reasons for relinquishment.

Since 1966 there have been only six articles in the US veterinary literature, including one by a Canadian veterinarian, that examined the behavioral effects of declawing. The first (Bennett, et al.), looked at only 25 declawed cats, but reported that declawed cats were 18.5% more likely than non-declawed cat to bite and 15.6% more likely to avoid the litter box. Morgan and Houpt found that the 24 declawed cats in their internet survey had a 40% higher incidence of house soiling than non-declawed cats. Borchelt and Voith, looking only at aggressive behavior in a retrospective survey of pet owners, found declawed cats bit family members more often than did non-declawed cats. In a retrospective phone survey, Patronek found that among 218 cats relinquished to a shelter, 52.4% of declawed cats versus 29.1% of non-clawed cats were reported to have inappropriate elimination. The Canadian article, by Landsberg, reported that about 5% of cats developed either biting or litterbox avoidance problems after declaw surgery. These figures were obtained by means of a written retrospective owner satisfaction questionnaire, approximately half of which were distributed by veterinarians other than the investigator.

The most recent article (Yeon, JAVMA 2001) found that 33% of cats suffer at least one behavioral problem after declaw or tendonectomy surgery. The study showed that 17.9% had an increase in biting frequency or intensity and that 15.4% would not use a litter box. Interestingly, the study made little note of these findings, choosing rather to compare owner satisfaction with declawing and tendonectomy.

In a commentary of the Yeon article, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine Professor Nicholas Dodman, DVM, MRCVS, DACVB writes, "It is amazing that none of the studies to date on declawing has addressed the right questions to the right persons and drawn the right conclusions. This study is no exception. Owners are an unreliable source of information about their pets, especially months or years after the fact. …Almost one-half of the cats in the study required post-operative opioids to control pain following surgery, and the remainder would have probably benefited from it. The owners reported that one-half to two-thirds of the cats in this study showed signs of pain after surgery, likely only the tip of the iceberg. …In addition, though the authors were more interested in comparison of the two techniques, it is notable that about 30% of all cats developed a behavior problem after surgery, either house soiling or increased biting. Whatever the owners may have assessed, this was not a good outcome. And, to top it all, 42 of 57 cats (74%) had at least one medical complication following surgery. In light of such findings, it is hard to see why veterinarians don't spend more time and effort recommending alternatives to declawing than these painful and sometimes debilitating procedures. Instead, we seem to keep finding ways of justifying declawing as an essential component of feline practice."

In the December 2003 issue of Cat Fancy magazine, Karen Overall, DVM, PhD, DACVB, a board-certified animal behaviorist, writes that declawing is a complex behavior that "behavioral biologists have been almost wholly uninterested in" and that "fewer and fewer people favor declawing." She observes that "cats do not scratch to annoy us; they scratch to communicate something and the cues are physical and olfactory. This is one aspect of declawing that has never been investigated, and until we understand how much these elective surgeries affect normal feline behavior, we could do best to avoid them."

The National Council on Pet Population Study & Policy published "The Top Ten Reasons for Pet Relinquishment to Shelters in the United States" in 2000. The report showed house soiling, followed by aggression, as the most common behavioral reasons for pet relinquishment. Destructive scratching did not make the list. It is noteworthy that only 3.3% of cat owners, according to Scarlett, et al. (JAVMA 2002) claim destruction of furniture as the unwanted behavior that led them to relinquish their pets. This figure is similar to the 3% of cats that, according to the study, were relinquished for being "unfriendly and disobedient."

The American veterinary literature has contributed only six articles in the past 37 years that exam the link between declawing and behavior problems. The few hundred cats in these studies don't compare to the millions upon millions of healthy, adoptable cats that are abandoned each year to be killed at animal shelters. Many shelter workers have seen the association between declawing and the behavior problems that are the reasons for relinquishment. Many animal shelters publicly discourage declawing, including those run by San Francisco Care and Control ("some declawed cats become more nervous biters; others are known to become even more destructive to furniture than before the operation; and many cats stop using the litterbox"), East Bay SPCA ("deprived of their primary form of defense, declawed cats become nervous, fearful, and/or aggressive, often using their only remaining defense, their teeth. Some cats stop using their litter pan. This may be associated to the discomfort of scratching in the litter after the surgery"), and Palo Alto Humane Society ("we have a no-declaw policy"). These organizations and the individuals working there are obviously highly motivated to find each cat a home and do not wish to see the cat returned. They have found that declawed cats, with a disproportionate rate of biting and house soiling, have a relatively low adoption success rate.

Janet Winikoff, former adoption program manager for The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria, Virginia, says, "I have seen firsthand the problems associated with declawing. It was not unusual for the shelter to receive surrendered cats who began exhibiting aggressive behavior and refused to eliminate in the litter box after being declawed. Sadly, these cats were typically considered unadoptable and euthanized." A widely reported survey by Forgotten Felines and Friends of Caddo Parish in Louisiana found that 70% of cats surrendered to animal shelters for behavioral problems were declawed. Most of these animals are ultimately destroyed. This statistic is again corroborated by a survey of a Delaware animal shelter, reported in the magazine, Animal Times, which puts the number at 75%.

In February 2003, the Gloucester County (New Jersey) Animal Shelter instituted a policy forbidding the declawing of any cat adopted from the county animal shelter. Director William Lombardi, an animal control officer with twenty years' experience, said, "Eighty percent of the declawed cats that are surrendered are euthanized because they have a behavioral problem. That totaled 300 cats at the shelter last year." He found that "declawed cats have a greater chance of having a behavioral problem than (non-declawed) cats. When a cat is brought into the shelter because it is biting or (not using the litter box), the first thing we ask is, 'Is it declawed?'"

Cocheco Valley (New Hampshire) Humane Society has also reported a disproportionate number of relinquished cats with behavioral problems having been declawed, and is another of the many animal shelters in the US to adopt a no-declaw policy.

The human diseases most associated with cats are Toxoplasmosis and Bartonellosis. The risk of developing these or other opportunistic diseases from cat scratches is exceedingly low. In his book, The Guide to Living with HIV Infection, John G. Bartlett, MD, Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, writes that common sense practices to avoid bites or scratches are sufficient and specifically states, "You need not declaw the cat." Dr. Bartlett was the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America in 1999 and has served as a consultant to the National Institutes of Health and as an editor for the New England Journal of Medicine.

Another infectious diseases specialist, Ralph Hansen, MD, of Pacific Oaks Medical Group in Beverly Hills, says, "The risk of diseases being transmitted from cats comes primarily from the litter box and teeth—in that order—with claws far down the list. There is no rational medical reason for a physician to recommend declawing a cat." His clinic treats over 2500 HIV-positive individuals. Dr. Hansen said that he has seen only one or two cases of full-blown Bartonellosis in the years since HIV was first recognized. Bartonellosis is also know as cat scratch disease (CSD), though, Dr. Hansen notes, current thinking is that Bartonella is likely to be transmitted by fleas.

In a Winn Feline Foundation article, Susan Little, DVM, says, "It is likely that CSD can also be contracted from environmental sources of the bacteria or from other animals. She continues to say, "Onychectomy (declawing) is also not recommended, since infection can occur without a cat scratch…. A common sense approach is the best way to safeguard against CSD."

To avoid the risk of toxoplasmosis, J. P. Dubey, MVSc, PhD, a microbiologist at the USDA Zoonotic Diseases Laboratory, recommends avoiding cat waste and notes that "the possibility of (disease microorganisms) sticking to cat fur is minimal, as is the possibility of transmission to humans via touching or handling a cat."

"Pet owners are far more likely to contract most zoonotic diseases from contaminated food or drinking water than they are from their healthy companion animals," says Suzanne Jenkins, VMD, MPH and C.M.G. Buttery, MD, MPH of the Office of Epidemiology, Virginia Department of Health. "Keep your cat's nails trimmed, but do not subject them to declaw surgery."

Michael G. Groves, DVM, MPH, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology at LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, writes, "Veterinarians often are consulted by the public, and occasionally by physicians and other veterinarians, for information regarding zoonoses, diseases that are transmitted to humans from animals." Veterinarians and physicians, "perhaps seeking 'zero risk,' advise patients to dispose of pets to prevent or alleviate a zoonotic illness. HIV-positive people may be told they that should not have animals at all. Although this advice may be well intended, it is often ill informed. Too often what is missing is some reasonable approximation of the true risk of disease transmission balanced against the benefits of pet ownership." Asked if declawing is an effective means of preventing human infection, Dr. Groves answers, "No, a significant number (of illnesses) are associated with bites, with wounds not inflicted by cats, or with no known site of inoculation. HIV-positive individuals and AIDS patients should be able to have cats if they follow the prevention guidelines…. The benefits of a companion animal for some people may outweigh any risks of pet ownership, provided steps are taken to keep the risk at a minimum."

A small number of declawed large and wild cats have had reparative paw surgery, which has resulted in significant improvement for the animals, but has not restored them to a normal condition. The surgery can take up to six hours to treat two paws, which significantly increases the inherent surgical risks. It has been performed on only a few domestic cats.

Declawing is performed solely for the convenience of the animal's owner. There is absolutely no benefit to the animal. Because declawing impairs the normal function of an animal's feet, declawing can be considered to result in a bad outcome. It is much more practical not to declaw in the first place, than to attempt lengthy and risky reparative surgery later.

The United States is unusual compared to our European counterparts with respect to the acceptance of declawing in veterinary practice. For example, there is growing support of the European Council's Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals, which prohibits declawing. To date, the Convention continues to gather signatories, and since its inception, countries such as Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, Norway and Germany have enacted laws expressly prohibiting declawing. European veterinary medical professional organizations, such as the UK's Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, have publicly expressed their accord, equating declawing with "mutilation" and stating that declawing for the "prevention of furniture or carpet damage is unacceptable."

In the United States, the city of West Hollywood has recently banned the declawing of animals within the city borders. This action, according to its City Council, "sends a clear message that West Hollywood prides itself on providing strong leadership in compassionate care of animals." In February, New Jersey passed a statewide law prohibiting the devocalization (debarking) of dogs. Like declawing, this is a non-therapeutic surgery that affords no benefit to the animal.

Further support for the enactment of laws prohibiting declawing has been expressed by the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, whose convention calling for an end to non-therapeutic surgeries, including declawing, ear cropping and tail docking, has been ratified by veterinary associations from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, British Columbia, Columbia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.

Attitudes concerning the relationship between humans and animals are evolving worldwide. In 2002, Germany became the first European nation to vote to guarantee animal rights in its constitution when the members of the Bundestag voted to add "and the animals" to a clause that obliges the state to respect and protect the dignity of humans. Article 20a of the German Basic Law now reads: "The state takes responsibility for protecting the natural foundations of life and animals in the interest of future generations." In January 2003, the European Union Parliament voted unanimously to ban the testing of cosmetics on animals as well as the sale and import of new cosmetics tested on animals. The farming of animals for fur was recently banned in England. Switzerland passed an amendment in 1992, recognizing animals as beings and not things.

Mohandas Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." Though animals are still very much 'things' in the eyes of American law, changes in the attitude of the American public are evident. Thirty-seven states have recently passed laws making some forms of animal cruelty a crime. A ban on declawing is consistent with this evolving attitude and would make California a leader and a model in the field of animal welfare.

Tenectomy is a procedure in which the tendons in the toes are severed. The cat still has its claws, but is unable to control them. This procedure does not necessarily protect people from being scratched, and it is associated with a high incidence of abnormal claw growth and muscle atrophy. In a 1998 JAVMA article, Jankowski, et al., concluded that "owners should be aware of the high complication rate for both [tendonectomy and declawing] procedures and of the need for constant trimming of claws of cats that have undergone tenectomy." Jankowski also reported that 55% of the cats having tendonectomy were still able to scratch with their claws to some degree, and that 10% of the cat's owners had the cats declawed after the tendonectomy procedure for this reason. In March 2003, the AVMA stated that tendonectomy is "not recommended."

Dr. Wendy Feaga, a Maryland veterinarian, wrote in Veterinary Medicine (May 1998) regarding tendonectomy, "I hope this cruel practice is stopped immediately." She describes a post-tendonectomized cat that "had badly arthritic toes and did not move around comfortably. The toenails were thick and disfigured, and the toes were painful on palpation. I was horrified."

Lasers can be used in lieu of a scalpel to perform declaw surgery, though the result of the procedure is the same. A study reported in the September 1, 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Association by Mison, et al., found that lasers offered no benefit over the more conventional methods of declawing, stating "differences in discomfort and complications between groups treated via scalpel versus CO2 laser were not clinically relevant." In another study, Levy and others (1999) found that complications (bleeding, limping, swelling, infection) were generally worse in the laser onychectomy group, compared to blade onychectomy in the first 2 days after surgery.

The current crisis of overpopulation of cats, dogs, and other animals is a human-caused tragedy of grave magnitude that calls for correction in the most humane, yet effective manner possible.

At this time, the most effective and acceptable form of contraception for most of these animals is surgical sterilization. It is essentially 100% effective and is reasonably safe. Moreover, surgical sterilization has secondary health benefits that direct benefit the individual animal, such as reducing the chance of certain cancers. Accordingly, the reasons for promoting surgical sterilization should not be taken to justify surgical mutilation.

The number of cats and dogs that end up in pounds and are eventually destroyed is estimated by all authorities to be in the millions annually. Until another alternative is available, surgical sterilization, when done properly by qualified personnel, benefits all companion animals by preventing unwanted pregnancies, as well as the deaths, of many animals.

Cats use their claws to maintain proper condition of the nails, for fun and exercise, and to mark territory visually as well as with scent. They stretch their bodies and tone their muscles by digging their claws into something and pulling back against their own clawhold. A cat's natural instinct to scratch serves both physical and psychological needs. Before domestication, cats satisfied these needs by clawing tree trunks. House cats can be trained to satisfy their desire to claw without damaging valuable property.

By far, the most common reason given by cat owners who are considering having their pet declawed is to protect furniture or other property. Some may believe that declawing will prevent the cat from injuring them. Some veterinarians will recommend the procedure to their clients. People may report that they are happy with their cats after declawing, because it makes the cats "better pets." Unfortunately, as many people discover too late, declawing may cause far worse problems than it solves. There are many better ways to treat behavior problems other than radical and irreversible surgery.

Declawing is the amputation of each front toe at the first joint (hind foot declaw surgery is not commonly performed on house cats, but is quite common in lions, tigers, and other big cats). This is equivalent to a person losing the entire tip of every finger at the first knuckle. The surgery is so predictably painful that it is used to test the effectiveness of pain medications. Initial recovery takes a few weeks, but even after the surgical wounds have healed, there are often other long-term physical and psychological effects.

Pain.

While the immediate post-surgical pain that the cats suffer is obviously severe, it is impossible to know how much chronic pain and suffering declawing causes. However, one can consider similar procedures in people. Many human amputees report life-long, painful "phantom" sensations from the amputated part. Declawing is ten to eighteen separate amputations, so it is not unreasonable to believe that declawed cats experience phantom pain in one or more toes. Cats typically conceal pain or illness until it becomes unbearable. With chronic pain, it may be that they simply learn to live with it. Their behavior may appear normal, but a lack of overt signs of pain does not mean they are pain-free.

Post-surgical complications.

Lameness, abscesses, and regrowth of the claw can occur after surgery. In one report that studied cats for only five months after surgery, about 25% of cats developed complications from both declaw and tenectomy surgeries (digital tenectomy or tendonectomy is a procedure, sometimes promoted as an "alternative" to declawing, where the tendons that extend the toes are cut).

Joint Stiffness.

In declawed (and tenectomized) cats, the tendons that control the toe joints retract after the surgery, and over time these joints become essentially "frozen." The toes can no longer be extended, but remain fully contracted for the lifetime of the cat. The fact that most cats continue to "scratch" after they are declawed is often said to "prove" that the cat does not "miss" its claws. However, this could also be explained by the cat's desperate desire to stretch those stiff, contracted joints.

Arthritis.

Researchers have shown that, in the immediate post-operative period, newly declawed cats shift their body weight backward onto the large central pad of the front feet and off the toes. This effect was significant even when strong pain medication was given, and remained apparent for the duration of the study (up to 40 hours after surgery). If this altered gait persists over time, it would cause stress on the leg joints and spine, and could lead to damage and arthritic changes in multiple joints.

Litter box problems.

Many experts say that declawed cats have more litter box avoidance problems than clawed cats. It is not uncommon for declawed cat owners to trade scratched furniture for urine-soaked carpeting. In one survey, 95% of calls about declawed cats related to litter box problems, while only 46% of clawed cats had such problems-and most of those were older cats, many with physical ailments that accounted for the behavior.

Biting.

Deprived of claws, a cat may turn to its only other line of defense—its teeth. Some experts believe that naturally aggressive cats that are declawed are likely to become biters.

Death.

There is always a small but real risk of death from any general anesthesia, as well as from hemorrhage or other surgical complications. Declawing that results in biting or litter box avoidance may result in the cat being dumped at a shelter or simply abandoned. If taken to shelters, such behaviors make them unadoptable, and they will be destroyed. Many cats are exiled to a life outdoors because of these unwanted behaviors, even though declawed cats should not be allowed outside—their ability to defend themselves, and to escape danger by climbing, is seriously impaired. They also risk injury or death by dogs, cars, coyotes, poison, and other hazards of outdoor life. It is unfortunately common to have outdoor cats stolen and used as live bait to train fighting dogs, or sold to laboratories or biological suppliers.

Despite their reputation for independence, cats can readily be trained to use a scratching post instead of the sofa, curtains, or rugs. Using surgery to prevent or correct a behavioral problem is expedient, but it is not the wisest, kindest, or best solution for your cat. Cats can be trained not to scratch furniture or other objects. Amazingly, many people do not even know that they should provide a scratching post for their cats. Because scratching is a deeply ingrained instinct in cats, if there is no appropriate spot, they will be forced to substitute furniture or other objects.

A vertical scratching post should be at least 28-36" high to allow the cat to stretch to his full height. Many cats prefer natural soft wood, such as a cedar or redwood plank, or posts covered with sisal rope. Some cats like to scratch on a horizontal surface; inexpensive cardboard scratchers are popular with these cats. Rubbing the surface with catnip, or using a catnip spray, may enhance the attractiveness of the post. For the more adventurous types, there are cat trees in dozens of sizes and colors, with features such as hidey-holes, lounging platforms, hanging toys, and other creative amenities.

There are many other options as well, such as clear, sticky strips to apply to the furniture, and other deterrents, as well as a multitude of climbing trees, mats, and other distractions that will protect your possessions. Adequate exercise, especially interactive play sessions, will also help channel kitty energy. For aggressive scratching, conscientious nail-trimming or soft plastic caps for the claws, Soft Paws, are a good beginning. Remember, never play or roughhouse with your kitten or cat using your bare hands. You don't want her to get the idea that biting or scratching human skin is okay. And while it's fun to watch the kitten attack your wiggling toes under a blanket, when he's 15 pounds with inch-long canine teeth, it's not nearly as amusing. Serious aggression problems require assistance from your veterinarian or a professional behavior consultant.

There are a number of veterinarians in the U.S. that have become accustomed to performing the declawing procedure without thinking about—or recognizing—the consequences. Some even recommend routinely declawing kittens at the same time they are spayed or neutered, whether or not they have developed destructive scratching behavior. However, top veterinary behaviorists and the American Veterinary Medical Association agree that declawing should not be considered as routine or preventive procedures. Your veterinarian has an obligation to educate you as to the nature of the procedure, the risks of anesthesia and surgery, and the potential for complications.