Declawing cats is harmful and unnecessary. It is a common misconception that you can declaw a cat and the cat will go about life as they did before. When a cat is declawed, they amputate the last bone of each toe on the cat. The Humane Society compares it to “cutting off your fingers at the last knuckle”. 
Declawing has already been outlawed in around 50 cities, countries, and provinces, and we would like Minnesota to follow in these footsteps. 
“Domestic cats are digitigrade, meaning they walk on their toes. Removing the toe's first digit will alter the way your cat walks​ and may affect the joints in its leg. This may eventually lead to your cat developing arthritis in its hip and other joints. So removing its claws can be seriously detrimental to your cat's long-term health,” The vet reviewed website The Spruce Pet states.

“Declawing can cause paw pain, back pain, infection, tissue necrosis (tissue death) and lameness. Removing claws changes the way a cat's foot meets the ground and can cause pain like wearing an uncomfortable pair of shoes. Improperly removed claws can regrow, causing nerve damage and bone spurs,” according to The Humane Society.

“This typically unnecessary and cruel amputation requires that cats relearn how to walk. Walking on the affected legs remains painful for the rest of their lives and permanently disables them, affecting their balance and climbing abilities. As a result of their chronic pain and weakened defenses, declawed cats suffer from mental anguish and are fearful in situations in which they were once confident,” says PETA. “Thankfully, more and more people understand the grave harm declawing presents to animals, and no veterinarian worth their salt would ever declaw cats”.

If causing endless pain is not enough reason to change this law, maybe damages to your homes will be. When cats are declawed, the litter in their litter boxes causes discomfort and pain in their amputated toes. Sometimes shredded newspaper is used to help, but that is an unfamiliar texture for them. Both the pain or the unfamiliar texture often cause cats to go to the bathroom outside of the litter box. This causes damage to carpet, hardwood, walls, and the smell sticks around. Please, prioritize your cat’s health and safety over your couch cushions. Buy lots of cat scratchers, trim their nails, hang blankets over highly scratched furniture, and look into more HUMANE solutions that do not involve an irreversible amputation.

“In England declawing is termed ‘inhumane’ and ‘unnecessary mutilation’,” says Veterinarian, Dr. Christianne Schelling. She also states, “Many declawed cats become so traumatized by this painful mutilation that they end up spending their maladjusted lives perched on top of doors and refrigerators, out of reach of real and imaginary predators against whom they no longer have any adequate defense. A cat relies on its claws as its primary means of defense. Removing the claws makes a cat feel defenseless. The constant state of stress caused by a feeling of defenselessness may make some declawed cats more prone to disease. Stress leads to a myriad of physical and psychological disorders including suppression of the immune system, cystitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).”

Please put your cat’s lives first and sign & share this petition so more people understand the harm declawing is doing to our beloved family members.