New York deserves two paws up for making it illegal to declaw cats.

Declawing isn’t a manicure — it’s a mutilation that involves amputating claws, bones, and cartilage. An equivalent surgery performed on a human would mean cutting off each finger at the knuckle nearest to the nail.

Robbing cats of these necessary and important body parts is painful and debilitating, and makes it difficult for them to balance, climb, stretch, leave scents, and defend themselves — innate functions that allow cats to be cats. It can also cause chronic back and joint pain as the cat’s shoulder, leg, and back muscles weaken.

Without claws, some cats may urinate and defecate outside the litterbox in an attempt to mark their territory, and they may become morose, reclusive, and withdrawn or irritable, aggressive, and unpredictable. Studies have found that declawed cats are up to 7 times more likely to have at least one behavioral problem and are more likely to be surrendered to shelters.

Trimming the tips off cats’ claws weekly, providing plenty of scratching posts, and covering problem scratching areas with plastic or another slippery material temporarily, if needed, can help preserve furnishings — and save cats from the lifelong trauma of declawing.

Every state should follow New York’s lead in banning this cruel practice.

Lindsay Pollard-Post,

The PETA Foundation,

Norfolk, VA