I received this note from an awesome veterinarian. She is a true advocate for all animals because she thinks of the animal’s needs first and doesn’t declaw cats.
Dear City,
I have been a veterinarian for 20 years, 16 of which have been in 100% feline practice, and I have never had anyone threaten to euthanize or relinquish their cat because of clawing behavior. The behavior problems that I have seen result in euthanasia or abandonment are inappropriate elimination and biting, which I see far more often in declawed than clawed cats.
I have had several declawed cats deserted in front of my clinic, and many of my clients have found declawed cats abandoned outside or in shelters. A lot of cats are suffering from the chronic pain of declawing and still get dumped.
Declawing is banned in many other countries, and I’ve seen no evidence that any of them have higher relinquishment rates because of it. We absolutely cannot solve the problem of pet overpopulation by declawing.
I have always been adamantly opposed to declawing and have found that if I simply tell people that it requires amputating the last bone on every toe, the vast majority of clients do not want to do it. Most people really do love their cats, and they don’t want to hurt them, but they haven’t been informed about the procedure.
I always counsel people about having appropriate scratching posts, trimming nails, and using Soft Paws. It does require some effort, but so do most things worth having in life.
If you would rather put your cat through an unnecessary and painful surgery than work with them on their natural behavior, you’re going to get rid of the cat as soon as it becomes inconvenient for another reason.
If I were a cat, I would rather take my chances on my own with my claws than in a house with possible lifelong pain and no guarantee of a permanent home. I would ask any veterinarian who thinks that they are declawing to benefit the cat to imagine having to walk on their own freshly amputated toes and honestly ask themselves what they would choose.
I would encourage any cat parent who has a declawed cat who has had obvious problems, even years later, to inform the vet who did the procedure, because most vets who do it are of the opinion that problems are rare.
If the declaw was done recently, keep calling the vet who did it and keep making them recheck the cat. The reason so few vets still do ear crops on dogs is not because they think it’s unethical, but because it’s really hard to make people happy with the outcome and most vets don’t want to deal with an unhappy client over and over.
Sincerely,
Raina Weldon, DVM
Cat Hospital of Dallas
Attached is a picture of me holding one of my 5 cats, Odin, who is missing one eye because of an injury when he was a kitten (that’s how he ended up w/ me), but obviously still has all his claws. 
