Declawing
Have you been wondering about declawing your cat?
Here at the Sudbury Regional Cat Hospital we strongly recommend that you do not declaw your cat. Declawing is an unnecessary surgical procedure where the last digit of your cats toes would be removed, and this can result in long term issues, such as chronic pain, lameness, aggression, over-grooming, and refusal to use a litterbox.
Declawing is usually done to change a cats behaviour, however there are many alternatives to this surgical procedure. First of all, scratching is a natural behaviour that cats should have the freedom to do, and there are ways to direct them to scratch in agreeable places.
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Cat scratch posts/pads (some cats scratch vertically, some horizontally)
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Positive reinforcement when they scratch in the appropriate places
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Regular nail trims
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Temporary synthetic nail caps
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Synthetic facial pheromone sprays/diffusers
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Appropriate environmental enrichment
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Hire a certified cat behaviour specialist
If you would like more info, please check out the following pdfs:
How to prevent cats from scratching in undesirable areas