Declawing” sounds innocuous, especially when it’s pitched as part of a routine neuter or spay package deal for a kitten. And for decades, it was standard practice for many cat owners with indoor cats.

But a growing movement of veterinarians and animal rights activists are working to change the perception that declawing, or onychectomy, is a harmless procedure.

“They should call it ‘de-toeing,’ because that’s really what it is — an amputation of the third phalanx,” said Denver veterinarian Aubrey Lavizzo, who is leading the local PAW Project effort to make declawing illegal in Colorado.

Those words come at an emotional cost from Lavizzo, who once performed declawing procedures for insistent clients. Lavizzo, a board member of the Veterinary Leadership Institute, was voted 2011 Colorado Veterinarian of the Year by members of the Colorado Veterinary Medicine Association.

“As veterinarians, we take an oath that we will use our knowledge and skills to benefit society through the relief of pain in our animal clients. When you talk about pain in cats, it’s classified as mild, moderate and severe. Mild is a neuter. Moderate is a spay. And severe is a declaw.”

This level of frankness astounds and sometimes enrages many people. A 2011 Associated Press-Petside.com poll found that nearly 60 percent of pet owners believe that declawing is an acceptable practice.

Approximately 20 to 25 percent of the U.S. domestic cat population have undergone onychectomy, according to estimates by professional veterinary associations and animal shelter staff.

“Declawing was OK when I got out of veterinary school 30 years ago, and no one thought anything about it,” said Colorado veterinarian Kevin Fitzgerald, one of America’s most high-profile veterinarians, thanks to his “Emergency Vets” appearances on “Animal Planet” shows, his presence on the Denver Zoo board of directors, and his work as a consultant for the Smithsonian Institution.

“But society changes. Today, if declawing a cat is the only way I can save that animal from being put to sleep, then I’ll declaw it. But veterinarians really struggle with this. It’s gut-wrenching.”

The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Cat Fanciers Association oppose onychectomy. The American Veterinary Medical Association’s official position is that declawing should be a last resort, used only after all behavior modification strategies have been exhausted.

Onychectomy is illegal in Australia, Slovenia, Israel, Brazil, Japan, New Zealand and most member states of the European Union.

But onychectomy is legal in Colorado and in most of the United States, with some municipal exceptions. It was outlawed in West Hollywood, Calif., in 2003, largely thanks to exotic animal veterinarian Jennifer Conrad.

Conrad pioneered a surgery that mitigates or reverses declawing and tendonoctomies in tigers, lions and other big cats, and later founded the PAW Project, which galvanized the U. S. Department of Agriculture’s 2006 ban on declawing wild and exotic animals in the care of USDA-licensed owners.

As yet, no surgery can reverse or clean up a botched onychectomy on a domestic cat, Conrad says. She, Lavizzo, Englewood veterinarian Jean Hofve, Wild Animal Sanctuary founder Pat Craig and other declawing opponents believe that house cats suffer the same pain as their outsized kin.

“The claw of a cat — a big cat, a domestic cat — is part of the bone,” Craig said.

“It’s different from how it is with people. A cat’s claw grows right out of the bone. When they cut it, they clip the last section of bone, and it’s inevitable to miss a tiny bit. A lot of times, that bit grows back as a partial nail or bone fragment, either under the skin, pressing against tissue and nerves, or it grows through the skin.”

Lavizzo is conducting a radiograph study of X-rays taken of declawed cats’ feet, documenting the bone fragments and bone spurs left by imperfect onychctomies. He and Conrad believe that the pain from those remnants contributes to behavior changes in declawed cats, including biting and refusing to use a litter box.

A 2001 study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reported that 80 percent of declawed cats had at least one medical complication following surgery, and more than one-third developed post-surgery behavior problems (biting and house-soiling).

Jasper, a declawed Siamese male, passed through four homes before Denver resident Joanie Jones adopted him.

“He wouldn’t let me touch his paws for the first six or seven years of his life with me, and sometimes it takes three people to hold him down when we go to the veterinarian,” Jones said.

“He was declawed as a kitten. He’s still not agile like my other cats, who have claws. When Jasper jumps on the couch, he’s clumsy.”

Jones took Jasper to Lavizzo to be X-rayed. The images showed fragmented bone with spurs.

“We always see the same thing, because it’s so hard to do this procedure perfectly

,” Lavizzo said. “You can’t predict a successful outcome, and if you can’t predict a successful outcome, then you shouldn’t do the procedure.”

“Saving furniture is not a good reason for having a cat declawed,” said veterinarian Donna Valori of Table Mountain Veterinary Clinic. “But the truth is, there are some cases where it’s got to be done. When my own husband was in chemotherapy and his immune system was compromised, I declawed my cat. I love her dearly, but I wasn’t going to take the chance that he might get an infection if she scratched him. I’m not going to damn people for wanting to declaw a cat.”

So what’s a cat owner to do with a pet that’s eyeing an expensive piece of upholstered furniture?

Veterinarians suggest providing scratching posts, catnip-infused cardboard scratching pads, or using a squirt gun when a cat approaches a favorite piece.

“If you want a cat, scratching … comes with the territory,” Fitzgerald said.

“Dogs bark. Cats meow and cats scratch. … If your house looks like a museum, maybe having a cat isn’t a good idea.”

Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin