Imagine that your fingers had been amputated at the first knuckle.

How would that effect your life? How

long would it take you to relearn previous skills like writing, playing an instrument, or even just holding
something? That’s the human equivalent of how a declawed cat lives. Although many cat owners
understandably believe that declawing their cats is a harmless procedure, it can be painful and
permanently damaging. Such a shocking, sudden change and its side effects can wreak havoc on both
mental and physical health.

To begin, let’s turn back to the point of sudden loss of digits. Waking up in a strange building with parts
of your fingers completely missing sounds like a horror movie, doesn’t it? It would be easy to panic and
suffer mental side effects. Trauma comes to mind. But drama aside, the removal of the cat’s natural
weapons and defense system could lead to serious stress and paranoia, which can lead to improper
eliminating outside the litterbox, which leads to… Well, I think that’s obvious. Declawing also results in
the removal of a cat’s defense system, which may lead to an increasingly defensive personality.

Claws are obviously an important part of cat’s lives. They’re an important tool for hunting, climbing, and
other such activities, as well as their natural defense mechanism. Without claws, a cat loses half of its
options in a fight, as well as thwarting possible escape routes such as climbing up a tree. When I was
younger, we had a family cat that had been declawed, who we had named Sonic. Sonic often tried to
squeeze past us to get at the outside world whenever we left the house, and sometimes succeeded. We
weren’t too worried when this happened, as he normally found his way back to our house after an hour
or two without issue, but this time was different. As the hours passed, we became worried that
something had happened, and just as we had made up our minds to search for him, he appeared on the
back porch, covered in cuts and scratches. Sonic wasn’t seriously hurt and recovered, but he was lucky
that he was able to get away. He didn’t have access to his claws to defend himself and had suffered the
consequences.

Although these side effects seem like they couldn’t be any worse, there are more permanent side effects
that could come of an imperfect surgery like this. If not removed completely, claws may grow back in
misshapen ways, digging into the cat’s flesh and causing constant pain. To get an expert opinion in here,
according to a study led by veterinarian Nicole K Martell-Moran, declawed cats tested were more likely
to exhibit behaviors suggesting back pain and stress, such as excessive grooming to the point of fur loss,
biting, or eliminating outside the litterbox than cats with their claws. Furthermore, more than three out
of five declawed cats x-rayed had shards of bone still embedded in their paws from onychectomy
surgery. Cats with these residual bone shards showed significantly more signs of back pain, biting, and
elimination outside the litterbox than declawed cats who did not.1 Another article by Maureen A. Cooper
states that, although declawing is usually a routine procedure for veterinarians, around half of the
patients of such operations experience complications shortly afterward while they are still hospitalized.
Almost another fifth experience side effects long after they are sent home.2

So, what do cats gain from declawing, you might wonder. The answer is nothing. Declawing is what’s
called a “convenience surgery,” which is only performed for the owner and not because of the cat’s
health. In few cases, a cat will be declawed to stop it from hurting other cats or people, whether
accidentally or not. Since the surgery has so many possible ways in which it can negatively affect a cat’s
life, and so many possible side effects, this should be the only reason it is performed. Considering the
possible damage to a cat’s mental and physical health , those thinking of declawing their cat should
consider the circumstances and risk: do they care more about their new sofa they ordered, or their cat’s
wellbeing?

Works Cited
1
K Martell-Moran, Nicole, “Pain and Adverse Behavior in Declawed Cats” May 23, 2017, Sage Journals,

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1098612X17705044
2
A Cooper, Maureen, “Bilateral flexor tendon contracture following onychectomy in 2 cats” March 2005,
National Library of Medicine, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1082868/