Reading Time: 5 minutes You’re not thinking about declawing your cat are you? If you are, you might have a hard time finding a vet. A growing number of veterinarians have stopped declawing. And now, The American Association of Feline Practitioners is onboard. It’s banning declawing at its certified Cat-Friendly practices.
Perhaps Banfield Pet Hospitals and VCA saw the handwriting (claw marks) on the wall. The huge vet clinic chains, both owned by Mars Petcare, now prohibit declawing cats. This is great news for the cats in their practices because all paws come with claws for a reason, and there are many ways to keep cats with claws from shredding the furniture.
If your cat is scratching your furniture, there are many alternatives to declawing
Now in the It’s Long Overdue Category: Banfield Pet Hospitals and VCA have both stopped declawing cats. Banfield published its new policy statement on declawing, except for medical reasons in January. VCA stopped declawing early this month.
“Current evidence does not support the use of elective declawing surgery as an alternative to relinquishment, abandonment, or euthanasia,” Banfield says in its policy statement. But it’s possible the huge chains of vet clinics saw the claw marks on the wall, too. Banfield’s policy statement also points out that several of the jurisdictions where it has hospitals ban declawing cats.
Declawing is illegal in New York State. And California, New Hampshire, Maryland and New Jersey are working on statewide declaw bans. Some of the cities that ban declawing include Denver and West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Monica and Berkeley in California.
Countries that ban declawing include England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Australia and New Zealand.
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Although the state vet association fought tooth and nail, New York in July became the first state in the nation to ban declawing cats.
Declawing cats is now illegal in New York State.
After years of unsuccessfully trying to claw its way through the state legislature, New York’s bill banning declawing cats finally became law in July.
Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal first proposed a ban on declawing cats in 2015. From the start, the state Veterinary Medical Society fought her tooth and nail.
Trotting Out The Usual Excuse For Declawing Cats
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