My Pet World: AVMA statement promotes alternatives to declawing cats
If declaw were banned by law, many cats living with compromised people would land in shelters. Also, forcibly taking cats away from their owners (on doctor's orders, for example) would devastate many owners. In some cases, particularly among seniors, a cat can be their best friend and only companion.
Increasingly, veterinarians are offering behavior-training alternatives to clients seeking to declaw. When clients insist on the procedure, many veterinarians now say "no." Of course, there's always someone down the street who might do the job.
Brown says education is key.
All cats need to scratch; even declawed cats go through the motions. Cats communicate by scratching, depositing pheromones that send all sorts of messages. Cats don't scratch to sharpen their nails, but to remove worn-out nail sheaths. Many to scratch to express joy or excitement.
The problem for most cat owners isn't so much that cats scratch, but where.
By providing desirable places for cats to scratch (vertical and horizontal scratchers) and making furniture undesirable, cats can be trained or retrained.
"It's just not true that once a cat begins to scratch somewhere that you can't retrain (the pet)," Brown says.
One method is to clicker train using a small, inexpensive box that makes a click sound to encourage appropriate behavior. Food and praise are used as rewards. Dangling a toy against a scratching post encourages a cat to bat the post, in the process depositing its individual scent.
While the AVMA stops short of saying declaw should never be done, its new position indicates that it should remain an option of last resort for veterinarians and pet owners.
Download a free handout, "Think Twice Before You Declaw," written by myself; certified cat behavior consultant Beth Adelman, veterinary behaviorist Dr. Lore Haug and Dr. Ilona Rodan, past president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, at: http://www.stevedalepetworld.com/images/stories/declawing.pdf.
========
(c) 2014 DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
