Photo of a cat’s toe bones and claws after a scalpel declaw at an AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Story Published in December 2024
We wanted to see how common declawing is in Abilene, TX, so our researchers made short phone calls to the vet clinics in this town to ask them for the cost of a neuter/spay/declaw, if declawing is ok for a cat long term, and who is their declawing veterinarian.
We have withheld the names of employees for fear that they might suffer a backlash for their honest answers.
Out of 13 vet clinics in Abilene, we found only 3 who do not perform declawing.
We are unable to confirm if Abilene Animal Hospital is a declawing or no-declaw vet clinic. https://abileneanimalhospital.co/
If you know the answer to this, let us know or ask them to send us an email and let us know. [email protected] We will keep your information anonymous.
Windmill Animal Hospital. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Windmill Animal Hospital’s facebook page
(AAHA STILL allows declawing in their accredited animal hospitals. Please sign our petition to AAHA. We are almost at 50,000 signatures!) Link to AAHA petition
Here’s more declawing info from AAHA’s Windmill Animal Hospital.
“Cats do NOT cognitively regard declawing as a mutilation. However, they do commonly recognize they’ve been disarmed. Many cats who are a little inconsistent about being nice may start biting after being declawed.
· Cats who are aggressive and ready to strike with little or no provocation are MUCH safer for family members to be around, and much easier for veterinary staff to handle for medical care, after being declawed.
· With recent developments in veterinary medicine, cats declawed at Windmill Animal Hospital experience minimal pain peri- or post-operatively. All declaws at Windmill Animal Hospital are performed via laser surgery–thereby reducing post-op pain, swelling & bruising by 80%.” https://www.windmillvet.com/faq/13/cat-declaw/
Link to the declaw info in their FAQ section. https://www.windmillvet.com/faq/
Researcher asked an employee at Windmill Animal Hospital for the cost of a neuter/declaw. The employee asked, “Did you want just the front paws or front and back?”
Employee said that a neuter/2 paw declaw is $339. A neuter/4 paw declaw is $419.
The employee said that Dr Janice Price, their owner, performs the declaws. Researcher asked if she does them regularly and the employee said, “Yea, pretty regularly.”
They said you can upgrade for $35 more and get the laser declaw instead of the scalpel declaw.
The researcher asked what’s the difference and they said that it says the laser reduces post-op pain, swelling, and bruising by 80%.
The researcher asked if the cats are ok long term after a declaw and the employee said they do them on Tuesdays and keep the cats there for two days to make sure everything heals correctly and said you can ask the vet more about that.
They said you can just make an appointment for the surgeries and they will do them the same day and you don’t need to make an appointment for a checkup.
An employee also said that spay/2 paw declaw is $359 and a spay/4 paw declaw is $439.
Judge Ely Animal Hospital. No-Declaw vet clinic. AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital.
Judge Ely Animal Hospital’s Website
The employee said that they do not declaw cats. Researcher asked why they don’t perform declaws and the employee said because it is inhumane.
Southwest Animal Clinic. This is a Mission Veterinary Partner (MVP) clinic.
MVP banned declawing in all their clinics in 2021. Southwest Animal Clinic’s website
Chimney Rock Animal Hospital. No-Declaw vet clinic.
Chimney Rock animal hospital’s website
The employee said they don’t declaw cats. Researcher asked why they don’t declaw and the employee said because the cats can get arthritis when they are senior cats, it’s sometimes painful, and is bad for cats.
Callan Animal Hospital.
Employee said that a neuter/two paw declaw is $225 and a neuter/4 paw declaw is about $300 and their vet, Dr Callan, uses a clipper for the declaw. Researcher asked if Dr Callan does declaws regularly and the employee said, “Oh yea, he’s been doing declaws for a very long time.”
Researcher asked if the cats are ok long term from a declaw and the employee said, “Oh yea, they do great.” They said that all her cats are declawed and she won’t have one that’s not declawed in her house and have never had issues.
They said that Dr Callan uses the clipper method for the declaw and the cat stays one night. Researcher asked if they send the cats home with pain meds and the employee said they don’t normally send the cats home with pain meds, especially a young cat. They said she has never had to give her cats pain meds after a declaw.
They said normally they just do the front declaw and the only reason they would do a 4 paw declaw is if someone has leather furniture the cat would jump off of. The employee said she has a waterbed and she declawed her cats on all 4 paws because they would jump off her waterbed and their back claws would puncture the bed.
Buffalo Gap Road Animal Clinic.
Buffalo Gap Road Animal Hospital’s Website
Declaw review on Yelp with the declawing veterinarian, Dr Mark Hitchcock’s reply. https://www.yelp.com/biz/buffalo-gap-rd-animal-clinic-abilene-2
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw. The declawing vet, Dr Hitchcock, answered the phone and said it is about $300. He said he doesn’t use a laser and said, “I physically cut them.” He said that the cat has to go home with their feet bandaged for three or four days and use special litter, Yesterday’s News. (Purina no longer makes Yesterday’s News)
Researcher asked if a declaw is ok for a cat long term and he said that his wife doesn’t like it and has an attitude about declawing cats and said, “but I’m a vet and I do it because I get the request and charge money.”
He said you can go online/ the internet and look up declawing and you can inform yourself about it. He said in some states and in Canada it’s illegal and if you are a vet in Los Angeles and it’s one of those “oooky” things that everyone has an attitude or a feeling about but he can’t tell you one way or another. He said he’s a surgeon and he will do it, the cats get over it, and the cats live with it. He said he’s available to do it and is not going to talk you into it or out of it.
Researcher asked about the facts and if a declaw is bad for a cat or is it ok. Dr Hitchcock said he’s lived with declawed cats and it depends on if they are tearing up your lifestyle and if you have expensive furniture and things and you don’t want them scratching or tearing them up you will do it out of necessity or if they are mean to you or scratch you or use their claws on you you can keep their claws trimmed and use nail clippers. He said declawing is a surgical procedure and you are removing the end of their toes.
Researcher asked what the facts and studies show and if a declaw is bad for a cat. Dr Hitchcock said, “It’s not good or bad. It’s all about what you want for the cat. The cat’s not making the decision, you are.”
Researcher again asked if a declaw is physically bad for a cat. Dr Hitchcock said to go online and google “declaw cats” and inform yourself about it and said he will be there when you decide what you want to do. He said declawing a cat is a personal decision that you have to make on behalf of yourself and your cat and some people approve of it and think it’s suitable and others think it’s cruel and unusual punishment and advise against it.
Dr Hitchcock said he tries to not have an opinion one way or another about declawing because he’s the surgeon.
He said, “It’s like if you want to change your sex, talk to the trans surgeon if you’ve got an idea in mind.”
He said when you are ready to get your cat declawed, he will be there to help you get it done and make sure it all goes well.
Researcher asked if he declaws dogs if they are scratching a floor. He said you don’t declaw dog and it’s a bad idea and no one will do that.
He said he’s declawed hundreds of cats, he’s lived with declawed cats, and he sees declawed cats and they all lead happy lives and said there’s nothing wrong with declawing a cat as long as it’s what you want to do.
Frontier Veterinary Clinic and Pet Resort.
The employee said that a neuter/declaw is around $350. They said that the cats have to stay the night and get special litter and with a neuter it’s a package deal.
They said they only declaw the front paws and three of their vets can do the declaws. Dr Houser, Dr Candy or Dr Moore.
Researcher asked if they do the declaws regularly and the employee said yes. Researcher asked if the cats are ok from the declaw and the employee said, “Yea. It’s taking their little paws off but we do it on a regular basis.”
They said that you can just drop off the cat for the surgeries.
Abilene Veterinary Clinic. This is a VetCor clinic.
An employee said that a neuter is $94.21 and a declaw for all four paws is around $555 which includes pain medication.
Big Country Veterinary Clinic.
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw. The employee asked, “Is it two feet or all feet?”
A two paw declaw is $155.93 and a four paw declaw is $225.23. The employee said that they do declaws regularly. They said that Dr Eker is their vet for the declaws. Reseacher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said that with all pets as they age they start to form arthritis but if a cat is young, they are perfectly fine.
Dearing Veterinary Clinic.
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw. The employee asked, “Would you be doing all four or just the front?”
A two paw declaw is around $220 and a four paw is around $380. They said that Dr Dearing does their declaws. Researcher asked if he does them regularly and the employee said yes. Researcher asked if the cats are ok after a declaw and the employee said yes.
Radford Hills Animal Clinic.
They said a neuter/2 paw declaw is around $340. They said that Dr Mark Leavell does their declaws. Researcher asked if he does them regularly and the employee said yes. Researcher asked if the cats are ok after the declaw and the employee said yes.
Key City Veterinary Clinic. Midwest Veterinary Partners Clinic.
They require an exam before they do a declaw to go over certain information. They said that a neuter/declaw is around $290.
They said that they have two vets who do their declaws and Dr Amanda Williams has done the most declaws. They require that the cat gets pain meds and stays overnight.
Animal Health and Medical Center.
Researcher asked for the cost of a neuter/declaw. The employee asked, “Do you want front or all four?”
The employee said that a neuter/two paw declaw is around $235 and neuter/4 paw declaw is around $275. They said that Dr Bolt does their declaws. Researcher asked if Dr Bolt does the declaws regularly and the employee said, “Yes, he does it all the time” and he’s been a vet for over 50 years.
Researcher asked if a declaw is ok for a cat and the employee said that a younger cat will recover great and do great but an older cat will have problems and the recovery is a lot harder on them. They said that they can do the declaws on older cats.
Declawing is animal cruelty. Know the FACTS vs the MYTHS. Declawing FACTS
Declawing contributes to the moral stress in the veterinary profession. Declawing contributes to moral stress story