I’m sorry but I disagree completely with this study and BTW supposed researchers you aren’t finding toe amputated cats in shelters being given up due to biting because most shelters will immediately kill the cats without even seeing a cage. So with just that in mind I call into question the validity of this research. Cats with amputated toes being adopted is because of marketing and perception. I have 2 toe amputated foster cats right now that I cannot find a home for. One has been with me over 4 years and the other almost 2 years.
We’ve tried to save toe amputated cats that we ultimately had to help cross because the bones were dissolving in their paws from botched messed up toe amputation surgeries. We have had to get several corrective surgeries because the toes were trying to grow back. It’s a disgusting money hungry procedure. In my experience in rescue most people that care more about their furniture than a life shouldn’t have a cat and be it for one excuse or another will dump or kill the cats when it’s no longer convenient for them

I’m not sure about this research but coming from a country where we don’t declaw, there is no option to declaw your cat purely for the convenience of the owner. Immunocompromised individuals exist in those countries that have outlawed declawing and they live in perfect harmony with their clawed cats. Instead of promoting declawing, they are provided with advice on how to handle their cats correctly and to avoid rough play. According to the AAHA this situation does not warrant declawing your cat as made clear in this statement: “The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention does not list declawing as a means of preventing disease in either healthy or immunocompromised individuals.”

Bottomline is, declawing does not present the slightest benefit to the cat whatsoever. Having moved to Canada I have seen plenty of declawed cats from friends and neighbours, some that I have had to cat sit, and they all seem to exhibit this trait of “sweet one moment, bite and hiss or groan the next”. I hope someday soon that the culture of declawing dies out and that less people will be asking for this barbaric procedure. May the future generation of North American kitties keep their toes!

Maybe you want to check out Dr. Gaynor’s article in NAVC (a peer-reviewed veterinary journal) that describes a chronic pain syndrome in some declawed cats. If you don’t think that is exactly “phantom pain,” it is very similar.

I agree with the others who posted, I do not trust any study the AVMA puts out, they are biased and untrue. Why is it many shelters now have a no-declaw contract, they refuse to adopt a cat out if kitty will be declawed BECAUSE DECLAWING DOES CAUSE ISSUES.
Does declawing contribute to behavioral problems such as litter box avoidance or biting?
Yes, declawing a cat can be the reason that cat loses its home. Cats may be abandoned by their owners after being declawed because the cats develop behavioral changes or other problems after the declaw surgery. These behaviors include biting and urinating or defecating in unwanted areas outside of the litter box. Declawed cats with these behaviors are more likely to go to the pound, where an estimated 70% will be euthanized (killed). The pain of declawing sometimes causes cats to be reluctant to walk or play, and as a result, owners sometimes neglect them or mistreat them.
Since 1966, there have been several articles in the veterinary literature that have examined the behavioral changes caused by declawing:
Yeon, et al., (JAVMA 2001) found that 33% of cats suffer at least one behavioral problem after declaw or tendonectomy surgery. The study showed that 17.9% of cats had an increase in biting frequency or intensity and that 15.4% would not use a litter box.
Bennett, et al., examining 25 declawed cats, reported that declawed cats were 18.5% more likely than non-declawed cat to bite and 15.6% more likely to avoid the litter box.
Morgan and Houpt found that the 24 declawed cats in their internet survey had a 40% higher incidence of house soiling than non-declawed cats.
Borchelt and Voith, looking only at aggressive behavior in a retrospective survey of pet owners, found declawed cats bit family members more often than did non-declawed cats.
Gaynor (in North American Veterinary Clinics, April 2005) described cats suffering from a chronic pain syndrome as a result of declawing that is associated with increased biting.
In a retrospective phone survey, Patronek found that among 218 cats relinquished to a shelter, 52.4% of declawed cats versus 29.1% of non-declawed cats were reported to have inappropriate elimination.
Landsberg reported that about 5% of cats developed either biting or litter box avoidance problems after declaw surgery. These figures were obtained by means of a written retrospective owner satisfaction questionnaire, approximately half of which were distributed by veterinarians other than the investigator.
In a commentary of the Yeon article, Professor Nicholas Dodman, DVM, MRCVS, DACVB of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine writes, “It is amazing that none of the studies to date on declawing has addressed the right questions to the right persons and drawn the right conclusions. This study is no exception. Owners are an unreliable source of information about their pets, especially months or years after the fact….Almost one-half of the cats in the study required post-operative opioids to control pain following surgery, and the remainder would have probably benefited from it. The owners reported that one-half to two-thirds of the cats in this study showed signs of pain after surgery, likely only the tip of the iceberg…. In addition, though the authors were more interested in comparison of the two techniques, it is notable that about 33% of all cats developed a behavior problem after surgery, either house soiling or increased biting. Whatever the owners may have assessed, this was not a good outcome. And, to top it all, 42 of 57 cats (74%) had at least one medical complication following surgery. In light of such findings, it is hard to see why veterinarians don’t spend more time and effort recommending alternatives to declawing than these painful and sometimes debilitating procedures. Instead, we seem to keep finding ways of justifying declawing as an essential component of feline practice.”
In the December 2003 issue of Cat Fancy magazine, Karen Overall, DVM, PhD, DACVB, a board-certified animal behaviorist, writes that scratching behavior is a complex behavior that “behavioral biologists have been almost wholly uninterested in” and that “fewer and fewer people favor declawing.” She observes that “cats do not scratch to annoy us; they scratch to communicate something and the cues are physical and olfactory. This is one aspect of declawing that has never been investigated, and until we understand how much these elective surgeries affect normal feline behavior, we could do best to avoid them.”

It’s true that you won’t find those cats with behavior issues due to declawing in the shelters because owner surrenders have no holding period and shelters rarely deal with rehabilitation of cats. In other words, the cat is killed upon intake.

I have no respect for any study put out from the AVMA because they have shown they place very little to no value on cats. With the AVMA declawing is a business which generates revenue so they will never advise against declawing. They want a loophole so they can continue to make money off cats which afford the cat no benefit except to offer the cat a possible lifetime of pain and problems. Why do you think they turn their heads when vets advertise kitten packages? How is it a last resort when they will neuter your 4 month old kitten and declaw at the same time? It’s all about the money. If anyone truly believes the AVMA cares about cats, look up their stance on feral cats. The AVMA endorses catch and kill for feral cats. Believe a study from the AVMA? I think not.

I totally agree with the other comments, I trust nothing that the AVMA puts out nor do I trust any vet who declaws. Im curious to know within this study was the cats age factored in? The age of the cat could make a big difference, if a kitten was declawed I would expect less or no phantom pain versus an older cat being declawed. I would imagine an older declawed cat would be more likely to bite then a kitten. Again, with an older declawed cat I would imagine that their length of stay in a shelter would be longer then a kittens. True I believe vets are slowly deciding not to declaw but most vets still do. The excuse that if declawing is banned people will relinquish their cat is ridiculous, there are human alternatives if someone is worried about their furniture. As far as the immunocompromised, the CDC does NOT recommend declawing, no personal physician should be recommending that their patients have their cat declawed. Within this article is the same lame antique reasons that the AVMA & their vets are still preaching in order to justify declawing a cat. All of it is false, there is no reason (unless the paw is diseased) to amputate. Declawing has been proven to be inhumane, elective & unnecessary. With all that being said the only conclusion is that the declawing veterinarians are just greedy & want the revenue that declawing brings in. Makes the veterinarian profession look real bad, they don’t even follow AVMA guidelines, just do as they please which is to maim, cripple their cat patients for greed.

Declawing is banned or considered extremely inhumane and rarely done in 44 countries now! It is also, thanks to the Paw Project, banned in 8 Californian Cities. Declawing is animal abuse and a punishable criminal offence in many countries, so why is it still legal in the USA and Canada, the civilised world wants to know? Even before it was banned here in the UK, our vets would not do it, they would not break their sworn oath to cause no animal to suffer, there is no doubt about it, declawing causes suffering at the time of the surgery, also often throughout a cat’s life, they suffer mentally and/or physically. Many are dumped when behavioural problems from the declawing begin, anyone who won’t tolerate a cat with claws certainly won’t tolerate a cat biting them or with litter box avoidance. The AVMA policy to educate cat owners as to the seriousness of declawing and after all other alternatives have been tried is ignored by the vets who advertise neuter/declaw packages, or declawing with discount, young kittens are declawed for convenience! Cats need their toe ends in which the claws are embedded and there is no excuse under the sun to take them away. Not for babies, children, dogs, immunocompromised people OR furniture! We in countries where declawing is banned manage nicely with all of those along with our fully clawed cats. Surely it’s time this cruel surgery was consigned to the history books where it belongs!

I’m really sick and tired of reading this ‘to help protect immunocompromised people/children/the elderly/people with fragile skin’ BS because BS is what it is. There are 4.5 MILLION people bitten by dogs in the USA each year, 30,000 of whom will require reconstructive surgery (source WHO). A bite is FAR more dangerous than a scratch because it is a puncture wound so why aren’t you ripping dogs’ teeth out if you regard it as so necessary to mutilate cats’ paws? Bites aside, an exuberant dog jumping up at people can cause nasty (unintentional) scratches with its claws, even to those without fragile skin (and I speak from experience.
The number of countries where declawing is a criminal offence is more than twice what is quoted here i.e. there are 28 countries in the EU alone, and the practice is banned throughout the Europe (EU and non-EU countries which pushes the number to over 30).
Here in the UK we have never declawed cats. Cats’ claws are such a non-problem that even Soft Paws aren’t used, but nail-clipping is common. Our main cat charity, Cats Protection (cats.org) has rescue centres all over the country, hundreds of them, check any and you’ll be hard pressed to find ‘destructiveness in the home’ as the reason the cat has been surrendered so I’m fast forming the opinion that many Americans are just too f*****g idle to train their cats IF – and it is IF, because beyond the kitten months most adult cats DON’T routinely scratch furniture – they scratch the furniture and/or to idle to get the cat a proper, decent scratching post ( as opposed to something cheap and flimsy that will tip and deter the cat).

I will never again employ a vet who declaws.

My cats suffered because my vets never mentioned it was amputation, they never made an effort to tell me exactly what this amputation is. THEY HAD NO PROBLEMS FOUR PAW DECLAWING THEIR INNOCENT VICTIMS.

They lie, they offer excuses so you feel it is perfectly acceptable to remove a cats toes! OUTRAGEOUS, and they continue to deceive their clients.

Do unto others doctors, you can not declaw with love.

#OUTLAWDECLAW

Using surgery to correct a perceived behavioral problem is highly unethical NTM: cruel and unusual. The studies used in this article have obviously been manipulated. Opposing facts state that 60% of cats in shelters with behavioral problems are declawed. And it is just as easy to manipulate a peer review study in favor of one’s prejudice as any as any other.

To everyone posting comments, all to which I thoroughly agree, please know that Steve Dale is a staunch AVMA supporter and has always deemed declawing as a “last resort”, which we all know means NO cat is safe, so don’t be fooled by any of his declawing articles – they may look anti-declawing but they are all peppered with the same lies that the AVMA spews out, i.e, “keeps cats in homes”, “needed for compromised immune systems”…. I am not surprised he has written this following the announcement of the New Jersey proposed ban.

I stopped supporting Steve Dale many years ago and I suggest everyone else do the same – until he truly becomes a true cat advocate.

Kitty Katty – you have NO idea what you are talking about. No idea. I called declaw “Barbaric,” and have been saying so LONG before it has been politically correct (among many, including long before the Paw Project). I am no supporter of the Paw Project for many reasons. They came after one veterinarian I know who hasn’t declawed in many many many years as one example. I am happy to speak to you anytime about what I’ve done, and if you still think I am not a true ‘cat advocate’ that is fine. Call in to my radio show– SPEAK with me instead of hiding behind a blog comment, though still I do appreciate your comment because you obviously care.

Steve you shine out as a vet sitting on the fence over declaw. We all note that you don’t actually say that you do not declaw cats.

People are not stupid and AVMA loving vets who hide behind the woefully inadequate AVMA statement on onychectomy should really just fess up to what they do.

You don’t appease or reassure people by dancing around an issue pretending that you don’t really approve of declaw, don’t support the The Paw Project and sing the praises of a trade body, the AVMA

What you are doing Steve, has a name, it’s called “running with the hare and hunting with the hounds”

More crudely, it’s known as being a coward or two faced.

Either pee in the pot of get off the pot!

I have just adopted an 11 year-old declawed (mutilated) cat from a friend who never did want her but took her in long ago because her first owner was getting ready to take her to the shelter. Her first owner had her declawed because the cat was “messing up her furniture.” Hello? Don’t have a cat if you are so concerned about your furniture. If you’re stupid enough to get a cat when you have expensive furniture, GET a scratching post and TRAIN your cat. If you don’t want the cat at all, rehome it properly, don’t just take it to a shelter. I trained my other cat, she is a feisty little knucklehead and training was a bit of a pain, but she learned to use only her post. When she would go to scratch the furniture, I’d tell her “no’ and offer her the post and encourage her to use it. I even sprayed it with catnip, whatever it took! Cats can learn to leave your furniture alone if you are persistent. Mutilation is a lazy way out. Insofar as declawed cat behavior problems, the declawed cat I adopted does not have litterbox problems if you keep it clean which is how all littlerbox cats are from what I understand. She does not pee all over the house like some people say declawed cats do. She does not bite if you let her sniff your hand first before you pet her, although she will let you know if she doesn’t feel like being petted. Cool with me, I’m the same way (hah). She does not appear to have arthritis or any health problems. She is overall quite a pleasant, clean, quiet, gentle creature, but she has a somewhat sad demeanor. I want so much to have the later years of her life be happy. I feel she deserves that after all she’s been through. She will never climb trees and fences like my other cat loves doing, we’ll have to let her out under our supervision only, but she will be okay. Declawing is illegal in the UK. It should be everywhere. Barbaric, horrible and mutilation is all it is.

My husband and I rescued a cat from a shelter. She was there due to her destructive nature. She literally shredded all of our furniture. All she ever wanted to do was claw at our furniture. We tried everything. She had a cat tree, scratching posts, toys, etc. We used every diversion technique under the sun. Spraying her with water bottles, covering the furniture with tin foil, powders designed to discourage scratching/clawing, bitter tasting sprays, etc. We even tried putting the little soft caps on her nails. We tried for months to stop her destructive scratching to no avail. We could clearly see why she had been surrendered to a shelter. Despite her behavior, we were in love with her and could not bear to take her back to a shelter. We had no choice but to have her front claws removed. She adapted to it very well. She never had litter box issues, such as going outside of the box. She bounced right back. She still to this day gets on the furniture and makes scratching movements with her paws. It’s like she thinks she still has her claws. It has been years now and she still does this. The fact that she still engages in this behavior even after her claws were removed just shows me that we would never have been successful in teaching her to stop clawing. It is just a very deep instinctive behavior that she will never stop. We have no regrets having to have her claws removed. It was either that or take her back to the shelter where someone probably would have adopted her, got her home and realized her destructive ways and taken her back to the shelter. We feel she is better off having the surgery and having a good, loving home with us. Sometimes you just don’t have a choice.

Well, Steve what is your stance on declawing dogs? I find that dog claws are far more destructive than a cat’s claws. I wouldn’t care to own a dog that had its claws.

Up until the last couple posts it sounded like nothing but an echo chamber of people vilifying declawing.

When I was four my parents had a cat that was not declawed. The cat scratched me just above my right eye causing the two inch scar I have today. It could have significantly damaged my eye.

After that incident my parents declawed their cats. Growing up I have had several cats and declawed them all. None of those cats had any destructive behavioral problems. Certainly no biting issues.

I also have many family members and friends who have declawed cats… not one has ever had one with a biting issue from declawing. Which makes me wonder… is this biting issue (or destructive behavioral problems) made up by those who are simply looking for supportive evidence to prove declawing doesn’t work or isn’t worth it???

I’m not saying biting or destructive habits don’t ever happen after a declaw… but I suspect it’s very few and far betweeen. I think you people are over-hyping the issues and I believe you know you are.

I will say with certainly there have been at least three times we have been at a pet store, were really interested in a cat and immediately were turned off after we saw the threatening anti-declaw language on the adoption form.

I can only imagine we are not alone and large number of cats are not adopted, spending months or years confined in tiny cages rather than have a nice ‘forever home’. Have you ever been to a pet store, saw a cat in a cage and about a year later that same cat is STILL there??

Unfortunately those thinking about adoption but are then turned off by the aggressive anti-declaw language aren’t reported or realized.

I have to wonder… how many of those cats are euthanized because they can’t find a home? That’s the real question. Unfortunately nobody will ever know those numbers because they aren’t reported. How would these pet havens ever know how many people almost adopted but didn’t because they didn’t want to think about a cat possibly destroying thousands of dollars of furniture?

And reading some of the statements above… it’s ridiculous to say someone who is concerned about the condition of their house and furniture shouldn’t be allowed to own cats. Like make the choice… either nice furniture or cats. Most people want to keep their home in good order. Our sectional was $4,000… and that’s just one couch. I don’t know I would take it too well if I came home from work and the couch was significantly damaged.

As a veterinary explained to me… pain medications as well as techniques are advanced today compared to 20, 30 years ago. There is minimal pain involved for a few days to a week or so. She has four cats, all declawed and none have had any side effects or behavioral problems because of the declaw. She said there will always be a level of discomfort from ANY medical procedure…. think spayed / neutered.

Think of people who had surgeries… major surgeries like joint replacement… something much more invasive. Most of you probably have had them. Were you in pain from the surgery for the rest of your life? Or did they administer pain medication that keep the pain level down until you healed?

Bottom line… anti-declawing language on adoption forms prevents large numbers of cats from being adopted. Who knows how many of those are euthanized without ever finding a home.