Vets, laws and declawing

If it's legal where you live, does your vet recommend declawing, and if he/she doesn't recommend it, will he/she do it if requested?

My vet doesn't recommend it, and she is the head of the "Friends of the Animal Shelter" board for our local shelter. I believe they will do it if requested, and all the cats they adopt as "office cats" (they currently have 3) are declawed.

Well, we work with several vets.

One of them used to do the "check this box if you want your cat declawed while he spay or neuter him/her" kind of thing, but we printed out material on declawing, the information that it's illegal in most countries, &etc., and they removed it. They now are equipped with educational material and they sell soft paws, and market soft paws instead of declawing. At least those represent ongoing sales (and they will match prices if people ask).

One will only do a declaw if medically necessary (for the cat or person).

The other one will do it if requested, but again, after the educational materials, the appropriate-scratching brochures, and the recommendation for soft paws. But they were anti-declaw before we were there, and I think before soft paws.

It's legal. But my vet is a "country vet". Here most kitties are indoor/outdoor including their own office cats - which are not declawed (they are both overweight, though. ).
I have personally heard the techs and vet discouraging it and instead suggesting training and soft paws, but I'm sure if a person was extremely persistent they may eventually give in. There is nothing on the paper work for a spay or neuter that has a declaw included option, heck you don't even get to choose pre-opt bloodwork - it's included and the paper work itself it simple and straight forward.

Illegal in Australia

Illegal in the UK

It's illegal in Germany, unless medically necessary for the cat, e.g., in the case of a clubbed foot.

It's legal here, unfortunately. If you ask my vet he'll try to talk you out of it unless it's medically necessary, but will do it on request.

So far, I'm encouraged about the replies. I had heard it was illegal in a number of countries, but I couldn't find a list.

There was a bunch of flap about it in CA recently, something about grandfathering local prohibitions before a certain date.

I have honestly not grilled my vet on the subject. I kind of don't want to know, because if I found out he strongly supported de-clawing I'd feel like I would need to find a new vet, and I don't need the hassle. I know he'll do de-claws, because there have been de-clawed cats in the recovery cages when I was there, screaming and smearing bloody paws all over the cage as they came out of the anesthetic . But he has never asked if I wanted a cat de-clawed at the same time as spay/neuter, and he doesn't de-claw his office cats (though some are de-clawed because they came that way).

Other vets in the area, on the other hand, will PUSH de-clawing, hard! One friend (first-time cat owner) had her boy neutered (after I talked her out of de-clawing ), and the receptionist made her feel like a negligent fool for not having him de-clawed. She was quite upset. Plus, I once called around for prices on spaying and neutering, and over half of the places I called offered their spay-or-neuter/de-claw "package price". I heard one vet tell someone that he recommended 4-paw de-clawing for indoor-only cats, and front-paw-only de-clawing for indoor/outdoor cats. . .

Of the cats I know who are spayed/neutered and not de-clawed, it's either because their owners couldn't afford the de-claw, or because I talked them out of it (or because they're my cats or my mom's cats).

It's a problem. I think the vet associations need to take a stronger stance on routine de-claws. Although of course I'd rather see it made illegal, but that probably won't happen. But the vet associations do have a lot of clout, and they could make a difference.

Mike, it's illegal in a number of municipalities in California (West Hollywood was the first. It is also illegal in Los Angeles, San Fran, and Beverly Hills) and in Norfolk, VA. CA subsequently made it illegal to make it illegal in NEW municipalities: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=207108

The list of countries where it is illegal other than medical necessity is:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, England (and Wales), Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland.

http://www.declawing.com/list.html
http://www.suite101.com/content/why-...w-cats-a246104

Originally Posted by Willowy

It's a problem. I think the vet associations need to take a stronger stance on routine de-claws. although of course I'd rather see it made illegal, but that probably won't happen. But the vet associations do have a lot of clout, and they could make a difference.

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Declawing would never be nationally illegal in the U.S., however, many organizations are pushing to make it law that vets must first provide educational materials on the declaw procedure and alternatives to declawing - orgs are pushing for a 1 or 2 week period between people being given this material and it being legal to proceed with a procedure. There's no traction to this that I'm aware of.

Originally Posted by LDG

Declawing would never be nationally illegal in the U.S., however, many organizations are pushing to make it law that vets must first provide educational materials on the declaw procedure and alternatives to declawing - orgs are pushing for a 1 or 2 week period between people being given this material and it being legal to proceed with a procedure. There's no traction to this that I'm aware of.

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I don't think any organizations will be able to make much difference, EXCEPT the vet associations. And, as much as I'd like to see bans, I know that laws probably wouldn't help (any kind of law; outright banning, waiting period, informed consent, etc.), because Americans are notoriously terrible at obeying laws. But if, say, the AVMA had clear guidelines pertaining to de-claws, and censured vets who didn't follw those guidelines, I do think that would make a difference.

I know my vet discourages the practice, and there is literature on Soft Paws posted throughout her office, but I don't know what she would do if someone insisted, or if there were special circumstances.

When we went for calvin's first visit to the vet, the vet tech asked me and I did not know then if we wanted to get Calvin declawed and I said no and she mentioned that a lot of people thought of this is as "wrong" and it was just fine. His vet then came out and asked and I did tell him that I had scarring issues but I did not plan to get calvin declawed but rather trim his claws. He called declawing "amputation" a few times, taught me how to trim claws and told me about soft paws. So my impression is that being in the practice he had to offer the services but was not too comfortable with it - or he would not have told how that's actually an amputation.
The owner of the practice saw me when we took Hobbes the first time and he did not ask. So maybe since they know that I did not declaw Calvin, they thought it was pointless to ask. Calvin's rescue has no declaw cause and her foster mom was ok about it. I had to sign a no declaw clause while adopting Hobbes.

The two vets I use DO NOT recommend declawing, but will do it after having the owner first read information about declawing and only then, if they insist. My vet has told me that most people will change their mind about declawing their kitten after reading how multilating it is and how emotionally damaging it can be to the cat. I would not go to a vet who "pushes" declawing as I am one hundred percent AGAINST declaw and am surprised in this country to hear that there are spay/neuter/declaw packages!! Many years ago, when I was a very little girl, my parents brought home two kittens from the shelter and had them spayed/declaw. It seems back then it was a very common practice. OK - I am aging myself here!!!!! I certainly wish it would be banned in this country. All cats can be easily trained to scratch appropriate posts if people take the time to train. It is very simple, and once the cat goes to a particular post, it always goes to the same place to scratch.

Originally Posted by Calvin&I

Calvin's rescue has no declaw cause and her foster mom was ok about it. I had to sign a no declaw clause while adopting Hobbes.

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All the rescues in my area require you to sign a no declaw agreement. But there are still some rescues that just offer you the declaw information and always recommend against it. And, yes, it is amputation. It is the same thing is if you were to cut off to the first digit joint of all of your fingers.

It's not done anywhere in Europe I think, countries both in and out of the European Union. In the EU countries it's illegal because they're progressive and in the non-EU countries it's not done because we're so backwards that even more mainstream surgical procedures like spay/neuter are a novelty of sorts It's illegal in my non-EU country tho (Serbia), but only because we aspire to be a part of the EU one day, not because it actually used to be done ever before (I doubt many vets have even heard of it).

Originally Posted by Feralvr

All the rescues in my area require you to sign a no declaw agreement. But there are still some rescues that just offer you the declaw information and always recommend against it. And, yes, it is amputation. It is the same thing is if you were to cut off to the first digit joint of all of your fingers. Makes me sick.

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When I was interviewed by calvin's rescue, one lady asked me if I would consider it and I expressed my absolute objection to it. Then when we went to get Calvin, my husband casually asked what she thought of declawing and the fostwr said that of 3 of her cats, she got the 1st 2 declawed and the one who got the laser procedure was fine, the traditional one had personality changes. So she suggested if we were to get it done, we should go for the laser. We told her we did not plan to. It's something I just cannot fathom doing. That was a qualitatively "better" rescue than hobbes's but has no clause against declawing.

My only previous encounter with a cat had been with my ex-roomate's kitten and he was such a darling. They initially told me that they were against declawing blah blah blah (the content was not blah but their sincerity was) and then decided to get new furniture. The kitten was destructive but they did not have enough scratching posts and never trimmed his claws. He was scheduled for his neuter and we thought that that may
change things but they did not give him a chance. The vet apparently told
them that soft paws do not work and they declawed him along with his neuter. Can you guess what our relationship with these people are now?

I live in Chicago and it is legal here unfortunately. Both the vets I use for my own and my fosters do declaw and seem to have no issues with it. It's done like any routine surgery. It's beyond me how a veterinarian that is supposed to work for the wellfare of animals can willingly perform such a barbaric procedure. How money can be so much more important than a cat's quality of life is unfathomable. But clearly it is.

Sadly because so many vets do it as a routine procedure without educating cat owners about the drawbacks many have no clue that there is anything wrong with it. A while back I got an application from a family that wanted to adopt two kittens from me. On their application they put down that they believed that declawing was necessary and were planning to have both kittens declawed. I was about to turn them down but knowing that they had never had cats before I decided to email them some information about declawing including pictures of the procedure. They emailed me back right away telling that they were shocked by what they had learned. They had no idea that this is what declawing is like. They just assumed that it was like removing nails on people and it was a standard thing to do with cats just like getting them vaccinated and fixed. It had never crossed their minds that it was any different. They decided that they would never do such a cruel thing to a cat and I let them adopt the kittens. They have turned out to be wonderful cat owners of non-mutilated cats.

I think a lot of people are like this family. They just have no clue. If they knew I think many of them would never have their cats declawed. But in my experience the information about declawing is not readily available out there. You have to look for it to find it. I think we have to do a better job of educating people who are not concerned enough to do their own research. Once people know getting a law against it would be much easier.