Because there is a lack of rigorous long-term studies on declawing cats, the consequences of this practice have been long underestimated. Yet research we conducted in Québec shows that declawing causes irreversible nerve damage and chronic suffering. This mutilation must be banned, everywhere and forever.
I became interested in animal pain very early in my career. During my training in anesthesia and pain management, I was struck by how much the suffering of declawed cats was trivialized. I carried my indignation over this issue into my research career, and it’s now shaped my work for more than 20 years.
With my colleagues at the Groupe de recherche en pharmacologie animale du Québec (Quebec Animal Pharmacology Research Group, GREPAQ) at Université de Montréal, we had unique access to a colony of cats with natural osteoarthritis, a common and painful condition in animals that worsens with age.
