Regardless, if either veterinary procedure is performed, via the new “laser” technique or the older surgical removal, the aftermath symptoms and behavioral affects are the same. Declawing cats is illegal in many parts of the US but sadly still continues. The x-ray image on the left shows the actual bone removal within the cats’ paws – not jut the claws. The last knuckle for cats provides the growth source for a nail. In order for the procedure to produce the result of no nails, these bones must be surgical removed.
Our organization has a special interest for rescuing previously-declawed cats. Our organization receives previously-declawed cats from various places such as animal controls, owner surrenders, and strays. Declawed cats are especially fragile when abandoned by their previous owners for countless reasons. Because they are without claws, which provides them with all of their natural defenses, these cats thrive differently and often experience stress of change more profoundly than cats who have their claws.
Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Even though analgesic drugs can be used post-operatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge.
The procedure known as “declawing” is the surgical removal of the entire end of the cat’s toe, amputating off the bone and cutting through the attaching ligaments and tendon. A more accurate term describing what this procedure entails would be “de-knuckling.”. Declawing operations are the human equivalent of removing the first joint of all your fingers.
Declawing involves more than simply trimming a cat’s nails to the quick; it actually involves amputation of the tips of the digits, bones and all. The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of cats’ recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. Cats that are more stoic huddle in the corner of the recovery cage, immobilized in a state of helplessness, presumably by the overwhelming pain.