Finally, declawed cats often stop using their litter boxes. They may associate the pain they feel in their paws when trying to cover their waste with the litter box itself. They seek a less painful place for elimination, such as the carpet or bathtub or even the bed or piles of laundry.
Dr. Bahr recommends finding the softest cat litter available to help a declawed cat use a litter box comfortably. She explains, “Declawed cats ... toes hurt from being amputated and owners should avoid any litter that is coarse or feels like small pebbles or shards of glass.”
Recycled paper is one of the softest cat litter materials, which is why it features regularly among our list of the best litters for declawed cats. Fresh News Unscented Non-Clumping Paper Cat Litter is another.
Most cats are “back to normal” within seven to fourteen days. How should I take care of my cat after the surgery? Replace the normal granular litter with shredded strips of paper or a specially formulated dust- free pelleted litter for the first five to seven days.
Declawing can cause paw pain, back pain, infection, tissue necrosis (tissue death) and lameness. Removing claws changes the way a cat's foot meets the ground and can cause pain like wearing an uncomfortable pair of shoes. Improperly removed claws can regrow, causing nerve damage and bone spurs.
The practice of declawing has fallen out of favor in recent decades, and is even discouraged by the American Veterinary Medical Association, but many pet owners still contemplate the practice.
Safeguarding the welfare of domestic cats. AVMA discourages declawing as an elective procedure and supports non-surgical alternatives. Declawing is a major surgery involving amputation and is not medically necessary for the cat in most cases.
Declawing can cause infection, abnormal claw growth within the toe, inflammation, arthritis or behavioral changes such as increased aggression, biting, emotional trauma or litterbox avoidance issues.
Declawing is both painful and traumatic, and it has been outlawed in Germany and other parts of Europe as a form of cruelty. Many veterinarians in the U.S. refuse to declaw cats, who experience extreme pain when they awaken after surgery and have difficulty walking until their paws heal.
Studies show that declawed cats are at higher risk for biting and aggression, are more likely to have trouble using the litter box and have a significantly increased chance of back pain.
Reasons for declawing
Human Benefits—Many owners choose to have their cats declawed to protect their furniture or other household possessions. Scratching is a normal behavior of cats, but destructive scratching represents approximately 15 to 42% of feline behavior complaints.
Some studies suggest that between 20% and 25% of pet cats in the US have been declawed.
Many people report that they are happier with their cats after declawing, because it makes the cats "better pets." Unfortunately, many people have also discovered -- too late -- that declawing frequently causes far worse problems than it solves.
According to research published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, declawing increases the risk of long-term or persistent pain, manifesting as unwanted behaviors such as inappropriate elimination (soiling/urinating outside of the litter box) and aggression/biting.
Declawing of cats is illegal in Australia and is not ethical. Cats are naturally territorial and during scratching they leave both visual messages (the scratch mark) and invisible messages (pheromones from their paws).
You've Hit the Spot
Although elevator butt may seem rather insulting to us, it's actually the cat's very positive response to the fact that you've hit just the right spot when petting her. Typically, that spot is at the base of her tail.
It seems that 25%–43% of all cats in American homes are declawed. The reason for this high number is that many veterinarians actively market and recommend the procedure without disclosing the details of the procedure to their clients with cats. Others perform declawing unquestioningly.
Issues such as nerve pain or phantom pain can persist for years, sometimes for their whole life. Also, cats often change the way they walk, which can result in back pain. Declawed cats may also stop using the litter box because of irritation and pain that comes from stepping on regular litter.
Applying nail caps — Nail caps, such as Soft Paws, can be applied to your cat's nails as a protective shield. While they need to be replaced every couple of months, depending on how quickly your cat's nails grow, they are an excellent alternative to declawing.
Laser declawing is considered by some in the veterinary community to be the most humane method for declawing. Reasons cited for this are that the toes undergo less trauma with laser, nerve endings are “sealed” off leading to less pain, and less bleeding occurs.
In 2008, California lawmakers passed a law that would have stopped local governments from banning declawing. But the bill never became law because then Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Thursday, a majority of lawmakers in the California Assembly appeared eager to ban the procedure statewide.
According to research published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, declawing increases the risk of long-term or persistent pain, manifesting as unwanted behaviors such as inappropriate elimination (soiling/urinating outside of the litter box) and aggression/biting.
For the most part, cats require nail cutting about every 2-3 weeks. Mature cats usually need more frequent nail clippings than kittens. Make sure you provide a scratching post to support your cat's instinctive urge to claw and to keep those nails trimmed between clipping sessions.
Are nail caps safe for cats? According to Mary Molloy, animal behavior counselor and founder of Nirvana Tails in NYC—yes, absolutely. “[The caps] do not prevent the cat from retracting his claw, and if properly applied, they do not cause any pain or damage to the claw bed,” she reports.
It offers many benefits over traditional declawing, including less bleeding and a reduced chance of infection. Laser declawing is a permanent way of declawing cats and assuring the claws do not grow back. Your cat's feet are less likely to bleed after the procedure because the laser cauterizes as it cuts.