"Humane Cat Declawing from Your Las Vegas Veterinarian" CAT FRIENDLY GOLD PRACTICE - City the Kitty

UPDATE : FEB. 2021. THIS CAT HOSPITAL DOES NOT DECLAW ANYMORE. AN EMPLOYEE SAID THAT THE PROCEDURE IS HARMFUL TO CATS AND IT’S HARD FOR THEM TO RECOVER FROM IT.

UPDATE- ON OCTOBER 26, 2017 THIS CAT FRIENDLY GOLD PRACTICE TOOK OF THE WORD “HUMANE” FROM THEIR DECLAWING INFORMATION ON THEIR WEBSITE. THEY STILL HAVE INFORMATION ABOUT DECLAWING CATS FOR IMMUNE COMPROMISED PEOPLE. THEY ALSO HAVE A LINK TO CLICK ON THAT SAYS, “SCHEDULE DECLAWING TODAY.” [button href=”https://allaboutcatsonline.com/our-services/declawing-surgery.html” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] “Schedule Declawing Today” from a CAT FRIENDLY GOLD AAFP practice[/button]

Screenshot from All About Cats Veterinary Hospital on October 4th, 2017. https://allaboutcatsonline.com/our-services/declawing-surgery.html

I was sent a heads up from a supporter about this American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) CAT FRIENDLY practice in Las Vegas and how they say they offer HUMANE cat declawing so I decided to have my research team look into it.

When you call their CAT FRIENDLY practice, and are put on hold the recording says, “We offer a full line of services: vaccines, spay, neuters, declaws.”

In September and October of 2017, I had my researchers call as first time cat owners in who wanted a spay/declaw. The nice person on the phone said that they won’t do the spay with the declaw since it is too much for their body to handle. So you have to schedule two different surgeries. One of the researchers asked if they could get a 4 paw declaw and the employee said that they would do the front two in one surgery and then you would have to come back a few weeks later to have the back paws declawed.

The researcher said they were concerned about reading things online about how declawing is bad so they asked the employee if their vets are skilled at them and is is ok long term for a cat. The employee said, “We do declaws at least a couple a week.” They said that the younger the cat the better and it’s best to do the declaw when they are a kitten.

The researcher asked why their declaw procedure is “humane.” The employee said because, “We do it the correct way, the way it is supposed to be done.” They use a scalpel to do the declaws.

The researcher asked if they just remove the claw or more. The employee said, “We take the claws and we kind of break the ligaments. So where the claw attaches to the foot is where we are going to cut if off. It just heals over.”

A declaw is $260 for a 4 month old kitten but if your cat is over 2 years old it costs $293 because they give the cat a pain patch.

Another researcher asked for a declaw for a 3 1/2 yr old cat and another employee said that a declaw would be $293 and a $20 consult appointment would have to be scheduled first. The researcher asked if their cat would be ok or are there long term problems. The employee said that, “Some cats develop sensitive paws, aggression , and biting because their claws have been taken away.” This employee said that the declaw is the removal of the first knuckle and heavier cats have more problems and take longer to heal. This employee said there are alternatives, Soft Paws that they can apply in their office. The researcher asked what the vet would recommend and the employee said it depends, “She might suggest the declaw surgery if the cat is on the more aggressive side or if there’s a household member who is immuno-compromised but if the cat is a happy, playful cat then she might recommend alternatives.”

More conflicting info on their website. (ALL THIS INFO WAS TAKEN OFF THEIR WEBSITE IN THE WEEK OF NOVEMBER 1, 2017) They also have declawing listed in their, “Complete Wellness Care” section along with spays and neuters. Screenshot from their website on October ——————————————————————————————————————————