Interviewer; Our next question is from Larry, he writes, “My wife wants to get our cat declawed but I heard it’s inhumane”, is it safe to do this or should we leave it as it is?
Dr Nelson; Big discussion I’ll give you a kind of just a thumbprint of both sides some people consider it amputation & you’ll hear all kinds of extreme descriptions of it that are completely wrong & then there are other people that say ahh it’s just like trimming their nails, that’s wrong too.
Not every cat should be declawed but a lot of them have to be because they’re indoor cats & the older people don’t want to be scratched & the don’t want their house ruined & things like this. I’m Just gonna say discuss it with your veterinarian, he or she is the expert in it. There is some discomfort but it’s fairly brief, but not every cat, unless they’re having a problem should be declawed either.
Interviewer; Especially if your cat goes outside at all, it takes away some defenses.
Dr Nelson; Even declawed cats can climb trees & things like this but does take away on their defense, just don’t let them outside.
