The trend years ago was to de-claw a kitten at about 3-5 months of age. De-clawing a cat is not just removing their nails. The surgery known as declawing involves removal of the last joint of each toe, along with the claw. In Europe and England this procedure is just not performed. They believe that is inhumane and unnatural to do this procedure.
Here are the reasons why you should not de-claw your kitten or cat.
#1 Cats use their claws and the lower joint for balance
#2 There is no need to declaw your cat to keep them from scratching you.
#3 Cats basically are undergoing an amputation- kind of like humans having the tips of their fingers removed.
#4 Cats can be trained very easily to use a scratching post corrugated cardboard scratching pad.
#5 Keep your cats nails trimmed on a weekly basis. Start trimming your cat's nails when the are young so they do become used to you doing it. Enlist the help of a willing friend or take your cat to the vet or groomer and have them trim the nails.
We have five cats and all them remain indoors and none of them scratch our furniture. We have taught them to go to their scratching post to exercise their desire to scratch.
There are wonderful shaped corrugated cat scratchers by Imperial Cat called Scratch n Shapes that come with a bag of organic catnip. They are made of corrugated cardboard and you may purchase vertical scratchers or different shaped couches and animal shaped scratchers. If scratching in an unwanted place does occur, you may use Feliway Spray or the Feliway Plug in diffuser to help with this.
Your cat's claws are used for balance, for exercising, and for stretching the muscles in their legs, back, shoulders, and paws. In order to stretch these muscles they dig their claws into a surface and pull back their own ric exercising for humans. This is the only way a cat can exercise, stretch and tone the muscles of its back and shoulders. The toes help the foot meet the ground at a precise angle to keep the leg, shoulder and back muscles and joints in proper alignment. Removal of the last digits of the toes drastically alters the conformation of their feet and causes the feet to meet the ground at an unnatural angle that can cause back pain similar to that in humans caused by wearing improper shoes.Scratching is a natural behavior. Cats and their wild ancestors scratch the bark of trees to maintain their sharpness and also shed cuticle layers surrounding the nail itself.
Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Mickey_Weaver
