Story published Oct. 29, 2021.
On July 1, 2021, The American Assoc. of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) stopped allowing declawing in all their Cat Friendly Practices.
Many Cat Friendly Practices are also AAHA Accredited Animal Hospitals and we are finding some who stopped being a CAT FRIENDLY Practice because they wanted to be able to keep declawing cats.
Did Androscoggin Animal Hospital stop being a Cat Friendly Practice so they could keep declawing cats?
If AAHA would ban declawing in their accredited hospitals like VCA, Banfield, Fear Free Pets, and Mission Veterinary Partners did, many more cats would be saved from this inhumane and cruel amputation procedure. Please sign our petition to AAHA.
We reached out in an email in Sept. 2021 to this AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital and asked them some important questions about why they are no longer a Cat Friendly Practice and about declawing but an employee said, “They do not wish to comment.”
We did a boosted facebook post asking people in the Topshkam, ME area if they knew the answer to this question.
Update, Nov. 1, 2021.
Androscoggin Animal Hospital responded to our question with this comment on our facebook post. 
Number 1) We did not attack them online, in emails, and in phone calls. That is a complete LIE. We reached out to them privately and politely in an email asking them simple, professional questions about declawing and asking them about the Cat Friendly Practice issue. We asked them in a short and polite phone call if they received our emails and if they wish to answer them.
Number 2) Everything in our facebook post and story is factual and we asked a question.
Number 3) All they had to do was answer our email with a response like they wrote on our facebook post and that would have taken around 10 seconds.
Number 4) Fear Free Pets banned declawing in all their practices on Dec. 31st so that means that their 4 Fear Free certified veterinarians, including Dr Freedman, will not be able to declaw cats. It will be interesting if they become a no-declaw American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) hospital on January 1st or if they will continue providing this animal cruelty by either Freedman not being Fear Free certified or if one of their new vets will be the one to declaw the cats.
Androscoggin Animal Hospital in Topsham, Maine is an AAHA Accredited Animal Hospital. AAHA Petition
Androscoggin Animal Hospital has been an American Assoc. of Feline Practitioners CAT FRIENDLY Practice for many years as you can see in all their facebook posts. They are no longer a Cat Friendly Practice as of this year. 
As you can see in the screenshots below, they had the Cat Friendly Practice logo on their website until we reached out to them in the email. Why were they deceiving their clients to think that they were still a Cat Friendly Practice?
Since Androscoggin never got back with us, we did some research to see if they were a CAT FRIENDLY Practice that is still declawing cats.
In Sept. 2021, our researchers asked in a couple phone calls how much a declaw is, who their declawing vets are, if declawing is ok for a cat, and what method they use. We also asked if they are a Cat Friendly Practice.
Here’s what we found.
Employee said that they are a Fear Free Practice and a couple doctors who are cat friendly certified. The employee said that they would check with a manager and came back on the phone and said that they have a Cat Friendly certified doctor which makes their practice a Cat Friendly Practice. This employee also said, “We actually aren’t declawing cats anymore, it’s just case by case.”
They said that they are AAHA Accredited, which is correct.
Another employee said that a neuter/declaw is from $500-$630 and they said that Dr Karen Freedman does most of their declaws. She uses a laser which they said helps reduce pain. (Dr Freedman is a Fear Free Certified veterinarian.) When asked if a declaw is ok for a cat long term the employee said that it can cause behavioral issues, it is painful even if they use a laser, it can cause long term pain because it’s an amputation of the cat’s first knuckle and they have to walk on their amputated fingertips. They said they try to recommend Soft Paws first.
Here’s our story about an AAHA hospital in Cascade, MI that stopped being a Cat Friendly Practice so they could keep declawing cats. Cascade Hospital for Animals
The good news is Fear Free Pets will no longer allow their Fear Free Certified Practices or veterinarians to declaw cats. Dr Karen Freedman and any other Fear Free veterinarians who declaw cats at Androscoggin AH will have to either stop declawing cats or stop being a Fear Free Certified veterinarian.
Always take the high road, be polite, and educate.