Beyond the Procedure: Study Reveals Declawing Causes Lasting Neurological Damage and Worsens Arthritis Pain in Cats
The controversial practice of feline declawing (onychectomy) has long been opposed on ethical grounds, with bans increasingly common due to concerns about chronic pain and compromised welfare. However, the precise neurological and physiological mechanisms of this pain have remained poorly understood. A groundbreaking new study moves beyond anecdotal evidence to provide concrete, clinical proof that declawing is associated with severe, long-term neurological changes that sensitize cats to pain, significantly worsening the effects of common age-related conditions like osteoarthritis (OA).
Untangling the Source of Pain: Declawing vs. Arthritis
A major challenge in studying post-declaw pain is the high prevalence of osteoarthritis in aging cats. If a declawed cat is in pain, is it from the procedure itself or from underlying OA? This research directly addressed this confusion through a sophisticated secondary analysis of data from eight previous studies. Cats were divided into three clear groups:
Healthy Control Cats: No declawing, no OA.
Non-Declawed OA (NDOA) Cats: Cats with osteoarthritis but all claws intact.
Declawed OA (DOA) Cats: Cats with osteoarthritis that had also been declawed.
This design allowed researchers to isolate the unique pain contribution of declawing itself.
Alarming Findings: A Cascade of Sensory and Functional Decline
The results revealed a stark and alarming contrast between the DOA group and the others:
Somatosensory Alterations (Neuroplastic Changes): DOA cats exhibited significant signs of hyperalgesia (an exaggerated response to painful stimuli) and allodynia (a painful response to a normally non-painful touch, like light pressure on the paw). This indicates that their entire nervous system had become sensitized—a condition known as nociplastic pain—making them perceive pain more intensely than other cats.
Biomechanical and Functional Impairments: DOA cats showed greater lameness and mobility issues. Notably, these problems were exacerbated by weight, meaning heavier declawed cats fared even worse, likely due to increased stress on their already compromised limbs.
The Number of Paws Doesn't Matter: A particularly surprising finding was that the severity of these alterations was similar whether a cat had only its two front paws declawed or all four. This suggests the neurological impact of the procedure is systemic, not just localized to the amputated digits.
Objective Evidence of Nerve Damage
Critically, this study moved beyond behavioral observations to provide objective, physiological evidence. Nerve conduction studies confirmed the presence of axonopathy—damage to the long nerves that transmit signals—which was significantly worse in DOA cats. This provides a clear biological basis for the chronic neuropathic pain they experience, linking the altered sensations directly to measurable nervous system damage.
Implications: A Call for Global Bans and New Treatments
The findings have two major implications:
Validation of Bans: The study provides powerful, clinical evidence to support the growing global movement to ban elective declawing. It demonstrates that the procedure is not simply a nail trim but an amputation that induces permanent, negative neuroplastic changes, fundamentally altering a cat's sensory experience and compounding pain throughout its life.
Directing Future Care: For the millions of cats already declawed, this research underscores the urgent need to develop specific therapeutic strategies to manage their complex pain state, which is a combination of neuropathic, nociplastic, and OA-related pain.
In conclusion, this research definitively shifts the declawing debate from a question of ethics to one of irrefutable clinical science. It proves that declawing creates a lasting state of neurological hypersensitivity, condemning cats to a lifetime of heightened pain, especially when coupled with other common ailments like arthritis.
Read study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-16288-8
