Here are the veterinary organizations that recently did the humane and right thing and stopped allowing declawing in their accredited veterinary practices.
——————————————————————————————- December 2020 A recent study showed that declawed cats have higher levels of cortisol in their bodies than cats with their toes and claws.
December 2020 update to this story. AAHA took legal action to get us to remove their information about how they address declawing from some of
Here’s our list of organizations, companies, and people who are on the right side and wrong side of history in regards to declawing.
UPDATE Aug. 2021. We received this note from Ruth Thompson, the director of the ANNA Shelter on Aug. 24, 2021. “Hi – hadn’t heard from
There are around 26,000 veterinary practices in America.
Around 21,000 of these practices declaw cats.
Most of these declawing vet practices are still using much needed PPE (masks, gloves, and gowns) to declaw cats and perform elective procedures despite national efforts to conserve this protective medical gear and despite the calls from the AVMA, state veterinary associations, healthcare organizations, hospitals, and state officials, to cease all routine surgeries and services.
These declawing vets are putting profits first and also defying nationwide pleas for sheltering in place, by allowing their clients to come to their clinics for these elective, non-therapeutic procedures.
These declawing vets are using precious PPE to declaw cats and this cruelty towards cats could contribute to more COVID-19 deaths.
In the midst of a crisis where everyone is pulling together to save each other, many declawing veterinarians remain selfish.. Despite worldwide efforts to conserve protective medical gear like surgical masks, gowns, and gloves, some declawing vets are still offering non-therapeutic surgeries in order to maintain their profits.
This selfish behavior risks infection with Covid19 in their staff, clients, and worst of all, hospital workers who are in desperate need of these limited resources.
We believe that every pet owner has the responsibility for providing a safe and supportive home for their animal that enables appropriate expression of natural behaviors and fully integrates them into the home and family. Every medical procedure supported by our veterinary practices has been put in place with the health and wellbeing of pets in mind and, based on this, we do not support the elective declawing of any animal in our veterinary practices.
Declawing includes surgical onychectomy, digital flexor tendonectomy, and generalized phalangectomy for non-medical reasons. Feline scratching and nail sharpening are normal behaviors and the removal of nails has been shown to lead to chronic pain and, in some cases, to cause long-term behavioral issues. We believe that education of pet owners about appropriate behavioral and environmental modifications are humane alternatives to these elective procedures.
Update!!!! GREAT NEWS! December 2020, AAFP announced that they will no longer allow declawing in their CAT FRIENDLY Practices! Dr Kelly St. Denis must have
International Cat Care (ICatCare.org) and its veterinary division licenses their Cat Friendly Program to the American Association of Feline Practitioners. (AAFP)
AAFP allows declawing in their CAT FRIENDLY PRACTICES. Here’s our 2018 survey of 156 CAT FRIENDLY Practices. 85% of them declaw cats.
Why would ICatCare license their Cat Friendly Program to an organization that allows this inhumane and mutilating amputation procedure in their CAT FRIENDLY Practices?