Why are VCA Animal Hospitals in America Still Declawing Cats?

In a story in Today’s Veterinary Business journal in April 2019, VCA Canada’s national medical director, Danny Joffe, talked about why VCA Canada stopped declawing last year. 80 out of 82 VCA Canada veterinarians were in support of banning declawing. They all based their decision on the latest research about declawing that showed it caused pain and adverse behavior in cats.

Here are some of his quotes in this story.

“One of our underlying themes at VCA is that we don’t dictate medicine, so we have to be very careful with things like this,” said Danny Joffe, DVM, DABVP (Canine/Feline), national medical director for general practices for VCA Canada. “We surveyed our veterinarians and they were massively in support of a declaw ban.” “After discussing it with the two opposed, they actually came onside as well,” Dr. Joffe said. “So, we were able to reach consensus.”

VCA U.S. is still allowing declawing to be performed in their 800 plus animal hospitals. Todd Tams, the national medical director of VCA U.S., explained why they haven’t stopped declawing.

Here are some of Todd Tams quotes from this story.

“There are so many organizations working on this and so many geographical differences in the U.S.,” “Even in the state of California, where some areas have banned it, there are still so many varying opinions.”

“We try really hard not to do this procedure.”

“Our focus has been to proactively talk about the controversy with our medical and leadership teams and with clients to educate everyone on new recommendations and alternatives.”

“When a client asks to have a cat declawed, the doctor has a conversation with the client in the room, explains the procedure and offers alternative options. We’re able to successfully dissuade clients from doing it in most cases.”

Here’s the link to the PDF for this story. Today’s Veterinary Business

We had our researchers check on some VCA hospitals in America, on April 22 & 23, 2019, to see if they stopped declawing to ask for the cost of a declaw procedure. Here is what they found.

VCA Franklin Park Animal Hospital, Franklin Park, IL

The VCA employee asked, “Do you want 4 paws or just 2?” She said a 4 paw declaw with a spay is $447. She said that their Medical Director, Dr Pagor does the declaws. She said they don’t do them as much anymore because some people are against it.

VCA Del Lago Animal Hospital, Scottsdale, AZ.

VCA Del Lago has been at this location since July of 2007. Here’s a 2011 advertisement from the VCA Del Lago Animal Hospital’s Yelp account with declawing on it. The Medical Director, Dr Barnes, is still performing declaws at this VCA.

An employee said that a 2 paw declaw and spay is $908.25.

VCA NorthEast Animal Hospital, Grand Rapids, MI

Investigator asked for the price of a declaw. VCA employee asked , “Would it be two paw or all four?”

$550 for an all 4 paw declaw and spay. They said they are booked out about 2 months and Dr Hoover is the one who does those procedures.

VCA Animal Hospital of Garden City, Garden City, MI

Investigator asked for the price of a declaw.  VCA employee asked, “Did we want to do a 2 paw or 4 paw?” It’s $573 for an all four paw declaw/spay.

Dr Davis does the declaws. Asked about a laser declaw and they said you can go to their doctors wife’s practice for a laser declaw, Sheehy Animal Hospital.

(Sheehy Animal Hospital’s laser declaw and spay cost around $443. Their employee said that the laser helps with inflammation, swelling, heals cleaner, and there’s less blood loss. She said Dr Sheehy does the declaws and she is not doing as many recently because less people are asking for them. She said a couple years ago when declaws were really popular, she did a lot of them. They said that they haven’t seen any negative effects from their laser declaws.)

VCA Farmington Hills Animal Hospital, Michigan.

Employee said all their vets do declaws “multiple times.” They say they use a laser that cauterizes while it cuts and say it deadens the nerve endings which makes it not as painful and a quicker recovery. They said that a spay/declaw is around $670. They said they can do a four paw declaw but some of the doctors won’t do it at the same time. They would have to do either the front paws and then the back paws at a different time.

VCA Feist Animal Hospital, Saint Paul, MN

A spay/declaw and vaccinations are around $1200.

VCA Cedar View Animal Hospital, Apple Valley, MN.

A spay/declaw is around $800.

VCA Pets First Animal Hospital, Richmond, VA

A declaw is around $967.77 and the cat has to stay in the hospital for three days after the declaw.

VCA Lake Jackson Animal Hospital, Lake Jackson, Texas

A spay/declaw is around $470 and all their vets do them. They recommend Dr Pitts for the declaw.

Not one of these VCA’s,  in our short survey, said that an exam to discuss the procedure and the humane options would take place before the procedures.

VCA Brighton Animal Hospital in Brighton, Michigan

Starting prices for their laser declaws are as follows.

2 paw declaw:  $385.33

4 paw declaw:  $503.00

Employee was asked if they do declaws often and they said, “I don’t want to say we do them once a week, but we do a lot. They used to be more popular.” 

VCA Swartz Creek Animal Hospital in Swartz Creek, Michigan

2 paw declaw:  $204 including pre surgery blood work, pain meds and special litter.

They do not perform 4 paw declaws.

The employee was asked if the declaw procedure was fairly common at this practice and they said, “Oh yes.” 

The employee said that the sooner the better for the declaw, since as the cat gets older it will be harder to do the procedure.  They said depending on the cat’s size, she may need extra pain meds.

VCA White Lake Animal Hospital in White Lake, Michigan

2 paw declaw:  $307

They don’t do 4 paw declaws.

Employee said a declaw is not recommended in older cats as it can be harder for them to get used to walking on their toes and they try to do declaws on cats under 1.5 to 2 years old.  Employee explained the procedure and said they cut the toe to the second knuckle.  They said you need to use Yesterday News so litter doesn’t get trapped and cause an infection. 

Employee said they are “trying to get away from it”, but said they did a declaw last week. 

They have two doctors who perform them and they are both comfortable with the procedure; they have been doing it for awhile the employee said.

VCA Countryside Animal Hospital in Howell, Michigan

They use the “traditional” scalpel method and a laser method for their declaws.  The scalpel front declaw is $300.00 and the laser front declaw is $420.00.

A four paw declaw is only performed with the laser method. This method costs $550.00. The employee said that they have been declawing for years.

The VCA Oshtemo Animal Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan

You have to have an exam first and the doctor will provide information about the process and will allow the owner after that to make the decision if they want to move forward with the procedure.

The employee said this hospital is possibly going to stop performing the procedure but as of right now they are still doing them and have performed them for years.

They don’t perform 4 paw as it is not recommended.

A two paw declaw is $411.97.

December 2019 survey results from some AAFP  and VCA CAT FRIENDLY Practices.

VCA county West Animal Hospital, Illinois– $420 for a spay/declaw. They say they only do a 4 paw declaw for someone who is elderly or with a clotting disorder.          

VCA Cat Hospital of Chicago, Illinois. The medical director is Dr Colleen Currigan. Her website says she serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), where she was its President in 2016.

Researcher asked about a price for a declaw and the employee said, “That’s a tricky question. We generally discourage it. “ They said they only do them if there is a medical issue for the cat or for the owner or if you have a strong reaction to cat scratches.   Cost of a declaw is from $1200- $1400.

VCA Allendale Animal Hospital, Michigan. A 2paw declaw is $438 and a 4 paw declaw is $514.

VCA Allenwood Animal Hospital, New Jersey.  They said that they generally don’t do them unless there’s a justifiable reason. They have to be a kitten. Around $500.

VCA Castle Hills Companion Animal Hospital, Texas. They said they are trying to get away from doing declaws but it’s not that they won’t do them. Asked, “Are you thinking of 2 paws or 4 paws?” They use a laser. A 4 paw declaw is $678.88.

VCA Bent Tree Animal Hospital, Texas. (new VCA)   They say both doctors are good at declaws and Dr Kimball does more of them.

VCA Park Cities AH Dallas, Texas

They said, as a VCA we don’t declaw and said that as a whole company they decided to not do it anymore. They said that there is new research that shows declawing causes long term medical issues. Suggested cat trees, nail caps, trimming nails and said declawing is bad for cats.

Cats Exclusive VCA Rutherford, New Jersey.   They don’t declaw. They were recently bought out by VCA. They are also an AAHA and Fear Free hospital. They said they stopped declawing because their declawing vet, Dr Jose Pla retired. The employee said that they don’t do declaws because it is cruel and inhumane.