Can Declawed Cats Catch Mice?

In cities, cats are often kept indoors and are less likely to get outside so they do not sharpen their claws often and you need to cut them off. If the pedicure is too long, it will cause difficulties and discomfort for cats when moving.

Some pet owners choose to declaw their cats so that they do not need to worry about their furniture since the cats certainly scratch them. So, what is declawing? Can declawed cats catch mice? Is there any alternative solution instead of declawing?

All will be answered in this article! Let’s find these secrets with us right now!

Should we declaw a cat?

Before we come to the answer to this question, we need to know that declawing is different from trimming.

Declawing

Effect of scratching nails

Scratching nails is a normal behavior of a healthy cat.

It is a way of exercising and marking the territory of the cat. It is also a self-defense tool. By scratching the nails, they will remove the dead cells and keep the nails sharp.

However, the scratch will significantly affect the furniture in the owner's home. Therefore, they decide to declaw the cat so they could not scratch and break down the furniture anymore.

What is declawing?

There are a few misconceptions about the declawing: declawing a cat is harmless and will help to avoid the damage when they scratch their claws. In fact, we need to know that the declawing of the cats’ nails causes more catastrophic consequences for our pets.

Declawing is the surgical removal of the last bone-joint of each claw. Many countries have adopted a law prohibiting the declawing a cat unless it is a cancer treatment.

Also, this is a very futile surgery and does not bring any health benefits to the cat. The operation is done with a knife/scissors, foot part or laser. However, who was cut bones that do not hurt?

Consequences when you decide to declaw your cat:

• The cut-off tendon leads to malformations of the cat. Due to the inability to control the nails for grinding, the growth rate of the nail thickness will be stronger. And you will have to prune them more often!
• Surgical removal of the nail will also change the cat's toilet habit. Declawed cats are often unable to use the toilet properly. The simple reason is that they feel so painful to scratch the sand.

And so, for their convenience and to ease the pain of scratching the sand, the cats will poop and pee wherever they feel comfortable, at any time.

• Declawing a cat also increases the risk of limb and tissue necrosis, affects the nervous system and damages the nervous system. Cats will also have to practice walking, have difficulty climbing because of balance loss. They might even become disabled.

Check us out for further detailed healthy cats guide!

Can a declawed cat still catch mice?

Have you ever observed a cat hunting mouse? It will catch a mouse and uses claws to injure the prey. Then, it will bite mice by teeth to kill them.

Therefore, if the cats lack their claws, they can bat at their preys.

In fact, declawed cats still can kill the mouse by themselves, but it might be tough. Probably before the cat prepares time to kill prey, the mouse could escape.

It is undeniable that without claws, cats cannot complete their task well.

In addition, for the safety of declawed cats, you should strictly keep them indoors. You should know that lacking their self-defense tool; cats cannot protect themselves as well as oppose to the other animals and hunt preys.

And in case your declawed cat may get lost or run away, they are certainly unable to hunt, then they will be hungry and might die if you cannot find them early.

So, briefly, it is possible for a declawed cat to kill a mouse but it would cause a lot of difficulties for the cat!

What can we do instead of declawing?

If you want to protect your belongings, choose good solutions. Cats scratch the belongings for a variety of reasons - to peel old nails, mark their territory, entertainment. That is completely natural.

So, you can try some other solutions below:

Trimming cat’s nail frequently

The texture of the cat's nails

The claw of the cat is very long and hard. First, you need to identify the area that can be cut. The easiest way to find is to base on the curvature of the nail. The part which can be trimmed is the one starting to curve down.

For white nails pets, you will more easily identify when exposed them to light, reddish pink is the marrow of the nail, or in other words, the dangerous area must not be cut.

The right way to trim cat’s nail

• Step 1: Make the cat feel safe, keep the leg needed to cut, but note that you should use a moderate force. Don't squeeze too strong will make the cat react.
• Step 2: Incline the nail clipper and cut the nail in the direction of forming a 45-degree angle (see the picture).

Note: Use a specialized nail clipper for cats.

• Step 3: Check that the nails are okay by turning their feet upward to observe. If there is a black dot between the claw, you should not continue to cut more.

Conversely, if you do not see black dots, you can cut a bit more. For those who are not accustomed to cutting nails for pets, you just cut a little. Don't cut too thick.

Setting up many scratching posts in your house

The best area to place the posts is near the cat's sleeping area, as they tend to scratch after waking up. Besides, you should also put a lot of scratch posts around the house to satisfy their needs.

It is essential for you to place the cat scratch post as it will determine whether it will scratch it or the furniture in your home.

If you just put one or two posts, it will not be enough, and they will continue to scratch the furniture in your home.

After this article, you are given information about “Can declawed cat catch mice?”. Besides that, we also want to provide you with some notes that you should pay attention to taking care of your cats.

If you want to declaw your cat, please consider carefully!