1
The occurrence of unwanted behavior in cats who have been declawed
Leeza Struwe
University of Southern New Hampshire
Commented [LS1]: Type your title in upper and lowercase
letters centered in the upper half of the page. APA
recommends that your title be no more than 12 words in
length and that it should not contain abbreviations or words
that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two
lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper,
should be double-spaced.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Commented [LS2]: The SNHU IHP 525 rubric guidelines
do not call for an abstract, so no abstract is to be included
with this paper.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
OCCURANCE OF UNWANTED BEHAVIOR IN DECLAWED CATS
2
The occurrence of unwanted behavior in cats who have been declawed
Topic
The health question I have developed is “What is the occurrence of unwanted behavior in
cats who have been declawed?”
Table 1. Articles findings
Variable
Martell-Morna, Solano
and Townsend, 2018 Fritscher and Ha, 2016
Unwanted behavior: periuria/perichezia
(inappropriate urination/defecation)
Odds ratio: 7.20, p<.001 N/A
Unwanted behavior: biting Odds ratio: 4.51, p<.001 Logistic regression
p=.456
Unwanted behavior: aggression Odds ratio: 3.00, p=.04 N/A
Unwanted behavior: barbering
(excessive licking or chewing of fur)
Odds ratio: 3.06, p<.04 N/A
Implications
Taken together these articles present conflicting evidence that declawing is related to
unwanted behaviors, see Table 1. Article findings. Fritscher and Ha (2016) only assessed the
relationship between declawing and biting behavior and found no relationship between the two.
This evidence seems counter to the everyday experiences I witness at the shelter with declawed
cats being turned in for biting and perouria. Martell-Morna, Solano and Townsend (2018) found
a relationship between declawing and four unwanted behaviors of periuria/perichezia
(inappropriate urination/defecation), biting, aggression and barbering (excessive licking or
chewing of fur). Some of these behaviors are seen commonly in declawed cats that are
Commented [LS3]: Each header is a header from the
rubric critical area. Please use headers to organize your
paper so you do not accidently leave out a section. Left out
sections receive a ‘0’ in that rubric area.
Commented [LS4]: Clearly state the question or topic you
developed.
Commented [LS5]: APA tables
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/19/
Commented [LS6]: APA in text citation for where the
material came from. No need for article titles as that is not
how they are identified in the reference page.
Commented [LS7]: Table Checklist
•Is the table necessary?
•Is the entire table single- or double-spaced (including the
title, headings, and notes)?
•Are all comparable tables presented consistently?
•Is the title brief but explanatory?
•Does every column have a column heading?
•Are all abbreviations; special use of italics, parentheses,
and dashes; and special symbols explained?
•Are all probability level values correctly identified, and
are asterisks attached to the appropriate table entries? Is a
probability level assigned the same number of asterisks in
all the tables in the same document?
•Are the notes organized according to the convention of
general, specific, probability?
•Are all vertical rules eliminated?
•If the table or its data are from another source, is the
source properly cited?
•Is the table referred to in the text?
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/19/
Commented [LS8]: Use in text citations throughout the
paper, do not use the titles of the articles, they are lengthy
and do not add meaning to your work.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/19/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/19/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/
OCCURANCE OF UNWANTED BEHAVIOR IN DECLAWED CATS
3
relinquished at the shelter, however I have never witnesses a cat being relinquished due to
barbering.
Biostatistical Calculations
The biostatistical calculations used by Martell-Morna, Solano and Townsend (2018) were
odds ratios and are interpreted in the context of the two outcomes. For example, the occurrence
of periuria/perichezia was 7.20, meaning it was seen seven times more in declawed cats than
clawed cats. Fritscher and Ha (2016) used logistic regression with the variables biting, length of
stay and risk of euthanasia. The p-value for biting behavior was .456, which means being
declawed was not significantly associated with biting behavior.
Commented [LS9]: Refer to the guide when unsure of how
to present statistics.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/22/
When including statistics in written text, be sure to include
enough information for the reader to understand the study.
Although the amount of explanation and data included
depends upon the study, APA style has guidelines for the
representation of statistical information:
•Do not give references for statistics unless the statistic is
uncommon, used unconventionally, or is the focus of the
article
•Do not give formulas for common statistics (i.e. mean, t
test)
•Do not repeat descriptive statistics in the text if they’re
represented in a table or figure
•Use terms like respectively and in when
enumerating a series of statistics; this illustrates the
relationship between the numbers in the series.
Commented [LS10]: I do not go over all the statistics in
my table, but rather chose 2 to show my understanding of the
statistical methods.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/22/
OCCURANCE OF UNWANTED BEHAVIOR IN DECLAWED CATS
4
References
Fritscher, S. J., & Ha, J. (2016). Declawing has no effect on biting behavior but does affect
adoption outcomes for domestic cats in an animal shelter. Applied Animal Behaviour
Science, 180107-113. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.023
Martell-Moran, N. K., Solano, M., & Townsend, H. G. (2018). Pain and adverse behavior in
declawed cats. Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery, 20(4), 280-288.
doi:10.1177/1098612X17705044
Commented [LS11]: An APA reference page with APA
citations is required.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
Commented [LS12]: DO NOT include the library link.
Only people signed into your library would be able to access
through that link. Provide the doi, which provides everyone
with access to the paper electronic location. If you cannot
find a doi for an older paper, just use a standard APA
reference, no doi or library link.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
Delivering a high-quality product at a reasonable price is not enough anymore.
That’s why we have developed 5 beneficial guarantees that will make your experience with our service enjoyable, easy, and safe.
You have to be 100% sure of the quality of your product to give a money-back guarantee. This describes us perfectly. Make sure that this guarantee is totally transparent.
Read moreEach paper is composed from scratch, according to your instructions. It is then checked by our plagiarism-detection software. There is no gap where plagiarism could squeeze in.
Read moreThanks to our free revisions, there is no way for you to be unsatisfied. We will work on your paper until you are completely happy with the result.
Read moreYour email is safe, as we store it according to international data protection rules. Your bank details are secure, as we use only reliable payment systems.
Read moreBy sending us your money, you buy the service we provide. Check out our terms and conditions if you prefer business talks to be laid out in official language.
Read more