Shut up you damn troll.
Declawing is not merely the removal of the claws, as the term "declawing" implies, but is a series of amputations. The last bone of each of the ten front toes of a cat's paw is removed, and tendons, nerves, and muscles that enable normal function and movement of the paw are severed. (Hind foot declaw surgery is not commonly performed on house cats, but is a common practice in lions, tigers and other big cats.) An analogy in human terms would be cutting off each finger at the last joint. Declawed cats are deprived of the means to defend themselves or flee from danger. Declawed cats have been injured or killed by other animals when they could not climb out of harm's way or had impaired ability to protect themselves.
Declawing, also know as onychectomy, is not a minor procedure, but a potentially crippling one that robs an animal of integral means of movement an 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.
Facebook
Twitter