Why declawing is harmful to cats as Khloé Kardashian shares regret over the procedure
Topics: Khloé Kardashian, Cats, Animals, Celebrity
Niamh Shackleton
Featured Image Credit: @khloekardashian/Instagram
Topics: Khloé Kardashian, Cats, Animals, Celebrity
Animal welfare experts have shared the risks that come with declawing your cat following Khloé Kardashian's recent admission about having the controversial procedure done to her pets.
Speaking on her podcast last week, Khloé revealed that her cats have been declawed and expressed her regrets about her decision.
She admitted: "I was really misadvised about getting my cats declawed. I’ve never owned cats before. I didn’t even know that was a thing."
Khloé has two cats – Grey Kitty and Baby Kitty – which she got for her daughter, eight-year-old True.
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"I feel really, really terrible that I did go in this direction," Khloé went on. "I feel like that’s why my cats are miserable and it was at my doing."
As of this year, cat declawing is illegal in six states, those states being: New York, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
Khloé further noted that her cats have to stay indoors and she that's 'so afraid' that they might break out one day as 'they have no way to defend themselves' since being declawed.
"It makes me sad," the mom-of-two added.
Per Humane World for Animals, the process of declawing a cat involves amputating the last bone of each toe on a cat or kitten’s paw.
"It would be like cutting off your finger at the last knuckle," says the nonprofit organization. "The standard method of declawing is amputating with a scalpel or guillotine clipper. The wounds are closed with stitches or surgical glue, and the feet are bandaged."
Humane World explains on its website how the surgery can negatively impact a cat and how painful it can be for them.
Post-surgery complications include paw pain, back pain, infection, tissue necrosis (tissue death), and lameness.
"Removing claws changes the way a cat's feet meet the ground and can cause pain like wearing an uncomfortable pair of shoes. Improperly removed claws can regrow, causing nerve damage and bone spurs," it adds.
Elsewhere, PETA has spoken out following Khloé honest admission and advised others to not make the same mistake as the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star.
"At least Khloé Kardashian knows now that amputating cats’ toes at the joint leaves them with lifelong misery and pain and robs them of their natural ability to stretch, climb, and defend themselves," PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations' Daphna Nachminovitch said in a statement to the Daily Mail.
"Cats need scratching posts and regular nail trims, not mutilation surgeries done purely for human convenience. PETA urges everyone to avoid Khloé’s mistake and let cats keep the claws they were born with."