When America’s Favorite Veterinarians Knew Better, Did They Do Better?

October 31, 2018 This is a follow-up story to see if any of the top 10 finalists in the infamous 2015  AVMA/AVMF’s America’s Favorite Veterinarian contest stopped declawing. What we found is that 2 of the finalists in the top ten stopped declawing shortly after the contest was cancelled and one more stopped declawing sometime […]

It Still Haunts Me

He was an orange and white splotched kitty with a huge personality matched only by his massive purr. A love bug to everyone who came in and playful. He tolerated having ears and tail tugged by special needs children that came to visit and would purr and snuggle despite it all. He understood they just didn’t understand and that they just wanted love the same as he did. He was the heart of the shelter and the staff and we all had a special place for Magic.

I Was Bullied For Not Declawing A 7 Year old Cat

Dear City, So my story goes like this… In 2015, I declined to perform a declaw on a 7 year old cat. The husband and wife wanted me to declaw their cat who they were afraid would jump into their newborn babies crib and scratch it.  She was still pregnant and they didn’t want to […]

It is time to make a change

My decision to stop doing this surgery now is that other veterinarians will hopefully follow the new position statement from CVMA and stop declawing cats. As fewer and fewer veterinarians perform this procedure there is less of a concern that clients will go somewhere else and less concern that the surgery is not being done properly with the appropriate pain control.

The demand for this procedure comes from the public, and veterinarians should not be the only ones at fault . Cat owners need to stop asking us to do this procedure and we need say no and provide alternatives.

Clairabelle, the declawed kitty who is suffering from her amputations

In 2015 I adopted a 5 year old calico that was front paw declawed. She was declawed with her spay surgery.
I was told that she is a pure breed straight ear Scottish fold.
I picked her up in a freak snowstorm at 4 am because her former owner was leaving on vacation and would be dropping her at the vet for euthanasia if I couldn’t get her that morning. They said she was having cat pan issues. I was certain I could help her and I fell in love with the pictures they sent me of her. I’m happy to say that we never had any pan issues.
She is getting older and I noticed that her right leg was sensitive sometimes after she would jump down off the furniture. Lately, she is limping most of the time. I can feel a pointed piece of what I think is bone in her sore toe.
She is a love bug but when she is hurting she will gently bite my hand while I’m checking her feet. I love her dearly and I know she was destined to be my baby for the remainder of her days

I Think I Would Know If My Cats Toes Were Gone

This veterinary practice in Oklahoma uses a guillotine clipper for their declaws and says that they, “cut off the nail and nail bed then use surgical glue to close the incision.”
They charge $69 for a 2 paw declaw and $97 for a 4 paw declaw.
When a cat owner asks them if there are any negative consequences to declawing or if there will be complications they say, “typically not, we do them frequently with no problems.”

4 Myths to Debunk Before You Consider Declawing Your Cat

As one of the many veterinarians who refuses to perform declawing surgery, I feel that I’ve heard all the excuses under the sun as to why cats should be declawed. Or, at least, what people thought they knew about declawing. Many people are shocked to learn how awful declawing actually is, and wonder why it was the norm for so long.

Dixie, The 4 Paw Declawed Cat That Was Saved From Being Euthanized

Here is an update about Dixie the kitty who was relinquished by her owners to Tails Humane Society because of behavioral issues from her four paw declaw and was to be euthanized yesterday. Good news!!! She has a second chance in life!

Tails Humane Society said that Dixie is not going to be euthanized! She has to recover from a bad upper respiratory infection and needs dental work before she can be taken out of this shelter.

There are two rescues who want to get her out of the shelter and into a good home.

She’s a dreamer and she’s not the only one

To my colleagues around the world I just want to say the following: I see people beginning to dislike (hate is such a strong word) veterinarians, accusing them of just wanting the money.

Well, let us all show the world that we became vets because we love animals.

Yes, we need to make a living, but not at the expense of those animals we have vowed to help.