Although common, declawing is often considered an act of animal cruelty.

Onychectomy, popularly known as declawing, is an operation to remove an animal’s claws surgically by means of the amputation of all or part of the distal phalanges, or end bones, of the animal’s toes. Because the claw develops from germinal tissue within the third phalanx, amputation of the bone is necessary to fully remove the claw. It is like trimming a human’s finger by amputating it at the knuckle.

Declawing is commonly performed on cats to prevent accidental scratching. This can be any type of scratching: furniture, people, drapes, or other pets. It’s natural for anyone to want to stop this damage from happening, and so people turn to the only solution that they think exists, and declaw their cats despite the painful and invasive procedure involved. All to often people elect for declawing their kitten instead of a humane solution such as Purrdy Paws as an alternative to declawing.

Medical drawbacks to declawing include pain in the paw, infection, tissue necrosis (tissue death), lameness, and back pain. Declawing and removing claws, changes the way a cat’s foot meets the ground and can cause pain similar to wearing an uncomfortable pair of shoes. There can also be a regrowth of improperly removed claws, nerve damage, and bone spurs. Some cats may become biters because they no longer have their claws for defense. There are also other negative side affects to declawing, but these are the most common results to cat or kitten declawing.

Veterinarians will often point pet owners to declawing, because it is a high profit margin procedure. While many vets, groomers, and organizations are affiliates of Purrdy Paws and utilize soft nail caps, there are many that still rely on the unnecessary surgery of cat declawing. If you are a vet, groomer, or other pet focused organization, Purrdy Paws offers a great wholesale program for our soft nail caps, so that you can offer these as an effective solution to problem pet scratching, rather than declawing.

So what can you do instead of declawing?

We recommend two things:

First, early training of your cat to use a scratch post, and a continuous routine of daily play sessions. If you have the opportunity to be with your cat since they were a kitten, please consider investing in a scratching post and entice your cat (treats!) to use it. Your cat will than use this post as their scratching station rather than your couch ! This will help any pet owner from considering the need for declawing. Daily play sessions also have so many benefits, from energy release, to bonding, to the smiles it brings. Nail caps will absolutely help you here too. Cats will enjoy all of their daily activities, including scratch posts, while wearing Purrdy Paws, and you will never have to worry about an accident from happening.

Second, the simple solution of using Purrdy Paws soft nail caps to stop all accidental or problem pet scratching. Purrdy Paws are so easy to apply, super affordable, and we offer full customer service for any questions you might have.

Purrdy Paws are a fun alternative to declawing. We all love how adorable our cats look. Purrdy Paws soft nail caps are available in over 40 colors ! Celebrate the holidays by giving your cat red, white, and blue nail caps for the 4th of July ! Get ready for Christmas with glittery green and red nail caps ! Have a favorite sports team, no problem, just choose their colors ! The possibilities are endless and so much fun !