Declawing Your Cat: Here are the Alternatives
This past fall, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) revised their position statement on the declawing of cats. The Association opened their statement by exclaiming, “The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) strongly opposes declawing (onychectomy) as an elective procedure. It is the obligation of veterinarians to provide cat owners with alternatives to declawing.” They continued on to explain that scratching is a normal behavior for felines and the act of declawing is actually a surgical amputation of the toe bone. With this new information in mind, it’s important to take the time to understand the many alternatives to declawing. These alternatives will not only benefit your cat and its health, but will also help to keep your home damage/scratch free.
Cat Furniture & Scratching Posts: Scratching posts seem to be the go-to when it comes to finding a new object for your cat to scratch, and they even serve multiple purposes while coming in a wide variety of designs. Once you purchase one, you’re sure to find your cat scratching, sleeping, and playing on its new post constantly.
Nail Grinders: Have you ever thought to take you cat to the spa? With a nail grinder, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing, and you may find that you cat absolutely loves the pampering. Nail grinders help to file down claws quietly and efficiently, making your cat far less destructive than before.
Soft Paws Nail Caps: If another destruction-taming spa day seems to be in your cat’s future, try out nail caps for size. They’re like fake nails, but for your cat, and they’re completely nontoxic and safe. Nail caps are very simple vinyl caps that glue onto a cat’s claws and come off naturally after four to six weeks of use.
Feliscratch by Feliway: Sometimes scratching posts just don’t fix the whole problem. You may discover that your cat likes to use the post, but still explores other areas of the house with its claws. In that case, there is still hope and yet another alternative that pairs with scratching posts. Feliscratch is a pheromone solution that is applied directly to the post and is proven to stop scratching on unwanted items.
