Story published on August 23, 2024
Why is this Cat Friendly Practice in Indiana still declawing cats when AAFP banned declawing in their Cat Friendly Practices on Jan. 1, 2021?
All Star Veterinary Clinic is a Cat Friendly Accredited practice that’s in Westfield, IN and is owned by Dr Emily King.
On January 1, 2021, AAFP banned declawing in their Cat Friendly Practices. https://www.dvm360.com/view/aafp-bans-elective-onychectomy-at-cat-friendly-practices
All Star Veterinary Clinic is still performing declawing in their Cat Friendly Practice according to an employee who works there and according to Dr Emily King, the owner, in a TikTok video posted on April 21, 2023 where she discusses the circumstances on when she might declaw a cat and how she does it well and with the right medications.
Here is what Dr King said on the 4-21-23 @Allstarveterinaryclinic TikTok video, “We don’t really promote declawing but if you had an elderly person that wants to have a pet and it’s bringing joy to that person’s life but yet the cat’s gonna cause some type of trauma because they have, they’re on blood thinners, I don’t know, whatever the scenario might be. Then I guess here, the way I approach it is I am going to declaw the cat here the way I do it, where I know it’s done well with the right medications than to say I’m not gonna do it and worry where the pet’s gonna go have it done. Because if the owner’s intent upon doing it, I don’t know if I can convince them otherwise, even though I’ve talked to them and I guess the reason I think that is because I’ve talked to them about all the reasons why you shouldn’t and here are the things you can do instead and then somebody still goes and has it done.”
You can go to TikTok and search “All Star Vet declaw” and find the video on @Allstarveterinaryclinic’s TikTok profile.
Also, All Star Vet posted a video on Feb. 25, 2019 on their facebook page where Dr Emily King is doing a 4 paw laser declaw. At the 2.50 minute mark Dr King says she’s getting ready to do that “Humane Society adoption spay and declaw.” Link to video on YouTube
Dr King said that it is foreign body Friday and that another vet is doing a surgery to remove a foreign object from a cat’s intestine and she said, “I live for this stuff, this is great, I love days like this.”
At the 5.40 minute mark, it appears that the surgery assistant and Dr King do not have gloves on as the assistant holds the claw in place with a clamp and Dr King holds the cat’s paw and burns off the cat’s toe bones.
Then at the 6.55 min. mark Dr King is wrapping the cat’s paws after the declaw and says this, “The way it looks you would think it didn’t go…(laughing), it went great. She’s going to recover nicely and finishing up our last little footsie, we’ll get her all cleaned up and she’ll move onto recovery so everything went according to plan.” Link – https://www.facebook.com/AllStarVeterinaryClinic/videos/1994563254170669
Our researchers wanted to see how All Star Veterinary Clinic, a Cat Friendly Practice, addresses declawing, so we made a short phone call asking them for the cost of a neuter/declaw, asked who is their declawing vet, and if the cats are ok long term after a declaw.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
Our researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw and the employee asked, “Are we doing all four paws or just the front?
They said that Dr Jones performs their declaws.
The employee said that typically an all four laser declaw is around $1100-$1300 and a two paw laser declaw is around $1000- $1200.
The researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and they said, “Yea, definitely” and said that the declawed cats stay overnight and go home the next day.
The researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after the declaw and the employee said, “Yes, we do see great recoveries over that.” The employee said that usually the cats heal pretty well when they are young, like around 6 months old and sometimes when they are older they take longer to heal but typically with the laser they do pretty well.
Researcher asked if Dr Jones does declaws regularly and the employee said they don’t see as many declaws anymore but said, “we do have a few that come in want it done.”
The employee said that Dr Jones recently declawed two older cats who were around 10 and 11 years old and they did very well.
We also wanted to see if all the other vet clinics in Westfield, IN also perform declawing and here’s what we found. We asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
Integrative Veterinary Clinic. (No declaw vet clinic.)
The employee said that they don’t perform declaws. Researcher asked if it’s bad for a cat and the employee said that there’s some research that it can cause pain later in life.
Hamilton Crossing Animal Hospital. (No declaw clinic.)
The employee said that they do not do declaws and their surgery doctor does not do declaws. Researcher asked if declaws are bad for cats and the employee said, “No, not at all. It’s just some doctors prefer not to do it.”
Coyne Veterinary Center. (No declaw clinic.)
The employee checked with their vets if they do the declaws and said that their doctors do not do them. The employee said there is some researcher that it can cause arthritis when they get older if they get declawed.
Westfield Veterinary Care.
The employee said, “We prefer not to declaw.”
Researcher asked if declawing is bad for cats and the employee said yes and said it’s equivalent to taking it off at the first joint on your finger so we try not to do that.” Researcher asked if they still do declaws. The employee said they aren’t taking new clients and wouldn’t be able to do it.
Researcher asked if they would do it for one of their clients and the employee said they prefer not to do it and said, “if you really beg us, we might do it but we just don’t think it’s really fair to the kitty cats.”
SpringMill Pet Wellness Clinics.
They have 14 locations but not all those clinics will do the declaws since not all their doctors perform declaws. Their facebook page says, “Pet Wellness Clinics proudly serves Indianapolis and the surrounding communities with the highest quality healthcare for your pet…”
The employee said they only do two paw declaws and a neuter/declaw is around $679. The employee said that some of their doctors will do the declaws and some won’t do them.
Researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said, “Generally the cats do ok” and said the doctors want to do an exam first to see if it’s the right move for that pet and for that family make sure there aren’t any undo risks.
Another employee said that some of their doctors don’t like to perform declaws because it’s considered an amputation and it can be pretty painful and there can be a lot of complications from it so they elect not to declaw.
The researcher asked if their declawing vets don’t think it’s bad for a cat and the employee said that they advocate because they do the procedure correctly, they would rather you have the procedure done with them, knowing they can perform the procedure correctly, rather than go somewhere that will mess it up and cause the animal more pain than what’s necessary.
The employee said that Dr Dechand (at their Westfield location) performs their front declaws.
Researcher asked if a declaw is ok long term for a cat and they said they are but there’s always a chance for complications since it’s amputation and a painful procedure and that’s what will be discussed at the consultation, including alternative options and then as a team you will decide if the declaw if the right thing for your cat.