defunctbattery:

why-animals-do-the-thing:

gifsofprocesses:

Cat Claw retraction 

This is such a beautifully done graphic! It shows, really well, why declawing your cat can be so excruciating and disabling for the rest of their life. Notice how the bottom of the 3rd toe bone is mostly what’s weight bearing? If you amputate that bone (which is the most common surgery) the end of that 2nd toe that’s never meant to bear weight will be what your cat puts weight on when it steps. Also, notice how the tendon runs the whole length of the toe? That means when you cut the tendons to that final, amputated digit, you’re going to mess up tendon function in the entire toe. 

Cats are digitigrades which means they walk on their fingers, toes and pads (root of fingers/toes). The paw gets its shape because the fingers and toes aren’t flat on the ground but only the fingertips and toetips are touching it, which is why the “beans” are actually just the tips. When you declaw a cat, you cut off their fingertips and toetips and that is inexcusable.

Here’s also something I drew rather quickly to demonstrate