What to Know Before Declawing a Cat

Things to Consider When Declawing a Cat - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats. Hello, my name is Dr. Carolyn Quagliata, I am the owner and the founder of City Pet Doctor, New York City Premier House called Vet Service. If you are thinking about declawing your cat, there is a few things I would like you to know before you do so. The first thing is actually what a declaw is, it is actually amputation at the last joint of a cat toe. So it is a major orthopedic procedure and it should be done by a veterinarian who has a lot of experience because it is a potentially very painful procedure and the cat should stay in the hospital for at least 24 hours after the procedure on very good pain medication. The next thing is that there are a lot of really great options to explore before you are thinking about doing the drastic declaw, the first thing is scratching paws, like sisal scratching paws work great with cats and the other is soft paws which are vinal plastic coverings of the cat nails so that they are less likely to damage any of your furniture or scratch anyone. There are a few instances where decline can be considered and the first instance is when the cat is showing aggression or harming anyone in the household and, that maybe another animal or a person or child in the household and the second reason would be if the cat is leaving with immunocompromised person and a cat’s scratch could be very detrimental. So again, there a lot of great options to look at before you are thinking about declawing your cat. So I would definitely encourage you to do those before you do the declaw.Hello, my name is Dr. Carolyn Quagliata, I am the owner and the founder of City Pet Doctor, New York City Premier House called Vet Service. If you are thinking about declawing your cat, there is a few things I would like you to know before you do so. The first thing is actually what a declaw is, it is actually amputation at the last joint of a cat toe. So it is a major orthopedic procedure and it should be done by a veterinarian who has a lot of experience because it is a potentially very painful procedure and the cat should stay in the hospital for at least 24 hours after the procedure on very good pain medication. The next thing is that there are a lot of really great options to explore before you are thinking about doing the drastic declaw, the first thing is scratching paws, like sisal scratching paws work great with cats and the other is soft paws which are vinal plastic coverings of the cat nails so that they are less likely to damage any of your furniture or scratch anyone. There are a few instances where decline can be considered and the first instance is when the cat is showing aggression or harming anyone in the household and, that maybe another animal or a person or child in the household and the second reason would be if the cat is leaving with immunocompromised person and a cat’s scratch could be very detrimental. So again, there a lot of great options to look at before you are thinking about declawing your cat. So I would definitely encourage you to do those before you do the declaw.