AAHA “Standard of Excellence” & Declawing Cats

Photo is from an AAHA hospital with American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) vets, that declaws cats with their laser, tells cat owners there are no long term negative consequences from this inhumane procedure, suggests declaws with neuter surgeries to first time cat owners, doesn’t offer any behavior advice for scratching issues and cats, doesn’t suggest scratching posts or Soft Paws (they have a section on their website called “Behavioral Medicine” with a photo of a dog with a torn up pillow and say they help with behavior issues.)
They say their laser declaws aren’t painful, and say that it’s $199 for the front declaw, and they say, “doing it by a laser doesn’t hurt them as much as it used to when they used to just pull them (claws) out and it hurt them more.”

Houston Humane Society Declaws Cats. Guess Why.

“We do 4 or 5 a week, your cat should be fine in 15 days, and they are back to normal quickly.”

“we have older people whose skin gets real thin and their doctors tell them to get rid of their cats because one little scratch from their claws will just make a big gash so we declaw their kitties so they can keep them. 18 yrs old is the oldest cat that she’s declawed and we’ve never had any problems.”

“She (Dr Rigoni) wouldn’t do it (delcaws) if it caused long term health issues. Everyone has their own beliefs they consider that to be, she declaws almost all her cats. Do you want the front paws done or all four done?”
“She also does canine by the way, which very few people do. She taught herself, it’s a totally different method. They (dogs) can ruin walls by scratching and thing, drives her nuts. She taught herself how to do it. It’s a different technique. They don’t teach that in vet school. It’s not something we normally show.”

One of the many declawing factories in America

“Most people will just have the front claws taken out , the only time we would recommend having the rear claws removed also is there was a small baby at home or if you have leather furniture but if that isn’t an issue we would recommend the front.”
“We do several declaws a day. There is no age limit for a declaw.”
“Yep they should be ok unless it’s an outdoor cat and we don’t recommend doing it because they learned how to use their claws . I got mine declawed at 3 yrs and she was completely fine. The 4 paws is ok too? “yea that’s what I did on my cat. It’s more common to get the front ones done just because the front ones are what they claw with and tear your furniture up with but you could get all four done.”
“there’s no consequences or anything like that. Why people think it’s inhumane is just because it’s like cutting their knuckle off, which it isn’t, we’re taking the nail out of the cat and that’s where a lot of people think it’s inhumane but personally I don’t just because indoor cats don’t use their nails that much and but if it’s an outdoor cat and catches mice and all sorts of stuff like that, then yea I could see it, but indoor cats don’t use their nails much for anything.”

Never Give Up Protecting Kitties

City, I need help urgently. I am a seventeen year old college student at Northwest Missouri State University. I recently qualified for an emotional support animal for my various mental health problems. Over the weekend, I got a kitten to come live with me after the processing is finished. However, today I learned that they are requiring me to front declaw him before he moves in. Obviously, this is not going to happen, but I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to have to drop out/transfer schools, but I will not mentally make it through the semester without him, and there is no way I am going to mutilate my baby just so he can live here.

We Trusted Our Vet

Our vet told us that declawing should be done to be proactive. Never once did he mention he could teach us how to trim our cats nails. He didn’t offer a choice. He didn’t offer any education as to what the operation entailed. It was all so routine. Like it was just ‘what you did’.

We trusted our vet with the care of our babies. He hurt them and we didn’t even know it. What is even worse, is that he thinks he was providing a SERVICE to us.
I’ve not once had a vet explain to me the horrible side of declawing but they are quick to offer it as a “proactive solution”.

When you know better… you do better

Our chat was back in the spring some time. You were kind enough to educate me and forever change my views on declawing as i truly has no idea what the procedure really was. So…. I’m happy to introduce you to my 8 year old rescue I got this week named Bubbles ? … she was rescued by our local spca from a horrific hoarding situation and i fell in love with her the moment i met her ❤❤ she is the most loving and cuddly cat i’ve ever met!

Declawing her will NEVER be an option thanks to you and I found a great solution i think you will be proud of…. thanks again for helping me understand what declawing is and leave it in the past.

Furniture Friendly VCA, AAHA, and AAFP Veterinary Hospital

Here you have a standard of excellence veterinary hospital (AAHA) that is a Cat Friendly AAFP practice with AVMA veterinarians and one of the big chain veterinary companies. (VCA) Yes, declawing is legal and they aren’t breaking any laws but they are doing very unethical things by advertising declawing to stop furniture scratching and deceiving a lot of cat owners to believe that declawing is just fine for their kitties.

My Veterinarian Deceived Me About Declawing Taz

My baby, Tasmanian Devil was a graduation gift when I graduated high school in 2002. We waited til he was a year old then we got him fixed. When he got home he was so mad he tore up my mother’s couch.
We decided to talk to his vet about declawing. Well, we were told that he would be put under and there would be no pain whatsoever.
He was so very wrong, when it got cold his paws would swell and it was hard for him to walk. I felt horrible and heart broken.