This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, July 22, 2011 - There comes a time when every cat owner has to face a decision: to declaw or not to declaw? Tattered curtains, shredded furniture, an occasional scratch may make cat owners weigh their options, but the answer isn't always so simple.
The declawing of cats, officially called onychetomy, is a common procedure in veterinary medicine. However, what some see as a necessity, others view as mutilation.
"If they did to humans what they do to cats, that is what it would look like," Mare Florentino, of the St. Louis Animal Rights Team, said, pointing to a banner, which showed an X-ray of a hand with the fingertips removed. "You wouldn't want that done to you."
Florentino and a small group of START members gathered in mid-July to protest cat declawing at this year's annual American Veterinary Medical Association conference, held in downtown St. Louis.
"This just shows the AVMA is willing to do procedures to animals that aren't in their best interest," she added. "These are the medical professions in charge of the care of the animals and here they are hurting them."
It's not just START that has taken up the cause against declawing. Larger animal rights organizations such as the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals have taken it as an issue, one of many, that puts them at odds with the AVMA.
Teresa Chagrin, of PETA, said it was "shocking and disturbing that vets would suggest mutilating animals to fit our lifestyles."
"The AVMA can do so much good, but it's really sad they aren't," she said. "Vets are basically saying mutilation of an animal is the answer to humans' problems."
"[Mutilation] is an emotional word, trying to evoke an emotional response," Dr. Chris Moritz, a veterinarian and AVMA member, said. "I think that unfortunately, as with most complicated issues, it is not that simple."
The AVMA's policy on declawing cats says this: "Declawing of cats should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents a [biological] risk for its owner(s)."
"Not every cat can be trained not to destroy people's belongings," said Moritz, who practices at Creve Coeur Animal Hospital. "Sometimes, even if it's not an ideal decision, the declaw procedure may save cats' lives. It may keep them from being in a shelter situation, or being in an outside situation where they're subjected to dogs, diseases, automobiles."
Moritz emphasized that declawing procedures always are followed by pain management practices. According to Moritz, while declawing is never an ideal decision, it is in the best interest of the human-animal bond, thus the pet itself.
People can be "faced with the decision of keeping the cat and being at odds with the cat or declawing the cat," Moritz said. "I think if I were a cat, I would prefer to be declawed rather than be punished for the rest of my life, or be thrown outside, or be taken to a shelter."
However, some owners say that declawing can result in behavioral issues like biting or litter box problems, which can also land cats back in shelters.
According to Emily Abeln, office manager for the Open Door Animal Sanctuary, of the approximately 350 cats currently in the shelter, about 15 are declawed. While those animals do not exhibit behavioral problems, it is because the shelter does not take in cats that bite or have other issues.
"We get a lot more phone calls (from people who) want to get rid of their cats that are declawed," Abeln said. "We don't take them in if they have behavior problems, so we have more cats that have their claws."
Still, not all cat owners have had that experience.
Lara Embree has owned four cats, only one of which, her most recent, was not declawed. Embree said she got the first three as kittens and had their claws removed early. The fourth was already an adult when she adopted it and had not had the operation.
"Our declawed cats were all fine," Embree said. "In fact, we had one that was great, didn't show any signs of aggression. She was a great cat, very loving, very sweet. Never bit anybody. Never had any problems with her in that respect."
Embree also pointed out that her fourth cat also does not have any behavioral problems because it was trained not to scratch by its former owners -- a practice endorsed by Florentino and other animal-rights groups as a healthier alternative.
Dr. Elizabeth Colleran, president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, said that claims that declawing changes behavior aren't always true.
"There is no empirical research that says declawing changes behavior," Colleran said. "People make claims like that and there is no data to back it up."
According to Colleran, the association believes declawing should be the last resort after education and attempts to train the cat to scratch only appropriate things.
"Declawing is not medically necessary," she said. "It is reluctantly a reasonable approach as long as there is aggressive, adequate pain management."
Colleran called declawing "truly the last choice" and repeatedly emphasized that it must be done by a skilled surgeon and followed by adequate pain management. practices. While not ideal, said Colleran, declawing under appropriate conditions is not mutilation, as organizations like START or PETA would say.
"Skilled surgeons who take into consideration the anatomy and procedure do not mutilate cats," Colleran said.
Embree agrees -- and believes in the merits of declawing.
"To be honest, I never thought of it as a bad thing as long as it is done responsibly by a trained vet," Embree said. "I found that it's one of those things that can make a cat a really good pet to have. Cats do scratch; they do use their paws. Even my cat without claws would still paw at things."
Embree added, "If you're going to have a cat with small children around, I think it's a good idea to have them not have its claws, just because it does make them a better pet to have around small children. You don't want to have a pet around small children and be worried about scratching them."
At the end of the day, it comes down to a philosophical difference about the role of animals in human society.
"Most veterinarians adhere to animal welfare kind of ideals, which means animals should be treated with respect, treated humanely, cared for properly, but they still are able to be used for human purposes, whatever that may be," Moritz said. "That's where the departure occurs. There is a fundamental difference between animal welfare and animal rights."
Ryan Schuessler, a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, is a summer intern at the Beacon.