Petition to the AVMA- https://www.change.org/p/avma-make-declawing-below-the-standard-of-care
Story Published in Oct. 2016
Who knew that the disgusting business of cutting off cat toes would be a legal billion dollar a year vet profit center in America?
The AVMA did. That’s why they deceive people into believing it is ok.
The AVMA deceives the public about declawing so that their vets don’t have to. (Although most of the pro-declaw vets also deceive cat owners about declawing)
The AVMA exists only for its membership. Its members pay dues. Its members are also making money off declawing. This is why they refuse to learn that declawing is bad.
If you look at the European veterinary community, they all say that declawing is bad. They also don’t make money from declawing. This means they are less biased.
Remember this story I recently posted about AVMA vets who are making thousands and thousands of dollars from declawing and deceiving the public about this inhumane procedure? https://citythekitty.org/declawing-is-a-billion-dollar-business-heres-why/
(UPDATE FEB. 2019. THE AVMA TOOK DOWN THIS DECLAWING VIDEO OFF THEIR WEBSITE) http://bit.ly/yIfysv
Here is the American Veterinary Medical Association’s YouTube video about declawing.
Right after Dr Colleen Currigan’s* statement, “Cats can be safely declawed using different methods,” the AVMA’s Dr. Cia Johnson says at the 4.55 minute mark, “Some people believe that declawing your cat will lead to behavioral abnormalities such as inappropriate elimination or biting. However currently available scientific evidence does not support this claim.”
Aside from being an active member of the AVMA who graciously helps them explain how AVMA vets amputate cat’s toe bones and claws, Dr Currigan is the 2016 President of the “Cat Friendly” American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and owner of her Cat Hospital of Chicago, AAHA hospital. She charges $1100-$1300 for a declaw at her “Cat Friendly” and “Standard of Excellence” hospital, and after a cat’s toes are burned off with her laser, she provides them with extensive pain meds and monitoring.)http://cathospitalofchicago.com/team/chicago-feline-veterinarians.php
Also, here is the AVMA’s official declawing position. It says, “There is no scientific evidence that declawing leads to behavioral abnormalities when the behavior of declawed cats is compared with that of cats in control groups.” https://www.avma.org/KB/Policies/Pages/Declawing-of-Domestic-Cats.aspx
The AVMA position statement on declawing is purposely deceiving.
The AVMA says that there are no studies that show that declawed cats have more behavior problems when compared to a control group.
The AVMA’s intention is to make it sound like there is no evidence that declawed cats have more behavior problems but, the reality is that there really are NO STUDIES, (meaning none have been published), that compare declawed cats to those in a control group. Who is going to get 100 cats, the same age, the same sex and declaw half of them and then study the behavior in the 50 that were declawed compared to the 50 who weren’t declawed?????
Isn’t that the most super slimy way to deceive people?!?
Why would they do that?
Well, they couldn’t say the truth, which is that when you compare declawed cats to cats who weren’t declawed, then yes, there ARE MORE behavior problems caused by declawing.
Because how is that going to help keep cat owners and the public in the dark about declawing and keep vets making billions of dollars each year declawing cats?
Here is a study http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/full/10.2460/javma.249.6.638 Declawed cats and litter box avoidance issues[/button] that they just published last month in JAVMA which shows, “Cats that had undergone onychectomy and that lived in a multicat (3 to 5 cats) household were more than 3 times as likely to have house soiled as were single-housed cats with intact claws.”
When will the AVMA update their video AND their position statement to reflect the truth about declawing and how it DOES cause “behavioral abnormalities”? After all, they are the ones who published that study.
Here is a study from MAY 2017 that shows, “Declawing cats increases the risk of unwanted behaviors and may increase risk for developing back pain. Evidence of inadequate surgical technique was common in the study population. Among declawed cats, retained P3 fragments further increased the risk of developing back pain and adverse behaviors. The use of optimal surgical technique does not eliminate the risk of adverse behavior subsequent to onychectomy.”
Link- http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1098612X17705044?journalCode=jfma
Here’s another study from Canada that shows all kinds of negative issues, behavioral issues, and complications from all three methods of declawing cats https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3923482
Also, it is a fact that the AVMA (and AAHA) REJECT studies by veterinarians that show that there ARE negative consequences, pain, and behavior problems in declawed cats.
Here is a story by Dr MArty Becker with two studies that show how harmful declawing is for a cat. https://www.drmartybecker.com/veterinary-medicine/evidence-declawing-cats-just-keeps-mounting/
Also in the video this AVMA vet says at the 1.25 mark, “Scientific data have shown that cats with destructive scratching behaviors are more likely to be euthanized, relinquished, released, or abandoned.”
She mentions nothing about the thousands of declawed cats that are relinquished and euthanized because of litter box, aggression and biting issues. Go to petfinder and search declawed cats. You will be shocked at how many are thrown away. Here is an example of 75 declawed cats in rescues and shelters that are within 25 miles of the AVMA’s headquarters in Illinois. Why aren’t they helping save these poor cats? [button href=”https://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?location=60173&animal=cat&characteristics=declawed&distance=25″ color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Declawed Cats in shelters/rescues Near AVMA Headquarters[/button]
Scratching behavior as a cause of relinquishment was #16 on a list right next to “Too friendly” and “jumps on counter.”
Number 1 & 2 behavioral reason for cat relinquishment are litter box avoidance and biting.
Here are FACTS gathered in a story by GoodCatsWearBlack.com. Why isn’t the AVMA reporting these things? The AVMA purposely disregards information like this. [button href=”http://goodcatswearblack.com/declawing-issues/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Facts about declawing & litter box issues[/button]
- A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (“Risk factors for relinquishment of cats to an animal shelter”, by Patronek, Glickman, Beck, et al., JAVMA, 1996:209:582-588) found that declawed cats were at an increased risk of relinquishment to animal shelters. Among relinquished cats, 52.4% of declawed cats were reported to exhibit litter box avoidance, compared to 29.1% of non-declawed cats.
- From CourierPostOnline.com, February 1, 2003: “Eighty percent of the cats that are surrendered that are declawed are euthanized because they have a behavioral problem. . . . Declawed cats frequently become biters and also stop using litter boxes . . . one or the other.” —William Lombardi, shelter director, Gloucester County, New Jersey.
- A study of 163 cats that underwent onychectomy (declawing), published in the July/August 1994 Journal of Veterinary Surgery, showed that 50 percent suffered from immediate postoperative complications such as pain, hemorrhage, and lameness; long-term complications, including prolonged lameness, were found in nearly 20 percent of the 121 cats who were followed up in the study.
- A study published in the January 2001 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) found that 31 percent of 39 cats that underwent onychectomy or tendonectomy developed at least one behavior change immediately after surgery, with the most common problems being litter box problems and biting.
- A national survey of shelters from the Caddo Parrish Forgotten Felines and Friends indicates that approximately 70 percent of cats turned in to shelters for behavioral problems are declawed.
- From the Summer 2002 issue of PETA’s Animal Times: “A survey by a Delaware animal shelter showed that more than 75 percent of the cats turned in for avoiding their litter boxes had been declawed.”
- According to a study published in the October 2001 issue of JAVMA by Dr. Gary J. Patronek, VMD, PhD, “declawed cats were at an increased risk of relinquishment.”
- In three years of experience as a cat owner consultant, Annie Bruce (author of Cat Be Good) received 95% of calls about declawed cats related to litter box problems, as opposed to only 46% of calls about clawed cats—and most of those were older cats with physical ailments. Only declawed cats cost their owners security deposits, leather sofas, and floorboards. And it’s mostly declawed cats that have been prescribed painkillers, antidepressants, tranquilizers, and steroids.
At the 1.47 mark she says, ” Declawing should only be considered after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively or when its clawing presents an unacceptable disease or injury risk for its owner.”
The AVMA refuses to accept the facts from the human health experts that say cats should NOT be declawed for any human health reason! Use commonsense and the humane alternatives. [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/declawing-is-not-recommended-for-immune-compromised-people-facts/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Cats should NOT be declawed for human health reasons[/button]
The way that you can personally help end this corruption and unethical practice of profiting from declawing and mutilating cats and deceiving the public about the harmful effects of declawing is this way.
Find out if your vet declaws cats. If they do, respectfully ask them if they will stop. If they won’t then tell them you are going to take your business to an ethical, humane no-declaw vet who honors their oath to heal and help animals. Who puts the welfare of cats over the welfare of a sofa.
There are lists of vets who don’t amputate cat’s toe bones and claws at citythekitty.com, declaw.com, and pawproject.org
You will be an important part of cat history and will help to end this evil and dark chapter in the American veterinary profession.
Also please sign my petitions to help end declawing!
http://bit.ly/PurinaPetition
http://bit.ly/AAHAstopDeclawing
http://bit.ly/CatVetsStopDeclawing
http://bit.ly/MarsPetition
http://bit.ly/CornellCondemnDeclawing
Here is one of the points that the NYSVMS sent to NY legislators to make them believe that declawed cats don’t suffer long term pain from declawing. Yet they left off lots of other studies showing that many declawed cats DO suffer from long term pain from the declaws. When cats avoid their litter boxes, it is because their paws hurt! 