Anti-Declawing Handbook for Cat Lovers

Good news! We are getting closer every day to stopping declawing everywhere, forever! To help cat lovers and animal advocates understand the truth about declawing that so many veterinarians lie about, Dr. Jean has written a detailed, fully-referenced e-book called the Cat Lover's Anti-Declawing Handbook, updated in 2024 (I'm working on a revision now to include the full legal ban just enacted in the State of California!). Click here to download the free PDF  Please download freely, and send to anyone who needs it. Give it to your veterinarian; send it ...

2025-10-17T12:43:04-07:00April 29th, 2024|
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What Cats Should Eat

When revisions are made, Amazon automatically updates your copy! How do you know which food is the best to feed your cat? The answer depends on many factors, including your cat's age and health... as well as the your wallet! However, whatever your budget, if you learn the basics about how to assess the quality of any given cat food, you’ll be able to find a few foods that suit your cat. And you can easily improve the quality of any cat food with a couple of simple ...

2024-06-01T15:20:30-07:00May 12th, 2023|
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Selecting a Good Commercial Pet Food

Updated March 2024 Holistic veterinarians agree that the very best diet for your animal companion is one that you make yourself. A homemade diet, carefully balanced nutritionally, and using raw and organic foods, is closest to what Mother Nature intended. However, many of us do not have the resources to make our pets’ food, especially for multiple animals or large dogs. So, for those of us who rely, partially or entirely, on commercial foods for our animals. To make wise selections, the primary tool is the pet food label. It ...

2024-03-21T11:05:40-07:00February 18th, 2014|
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Declawing: A Rational Look

By Jean Hofve, DVM There are few feline issues as controversial as declawing. There is a great deal of myth and misinformation out there about it. If you are considering having this surgery performed on your cat, or if a veterinarian has suggested it, please read this article first to learn more about this major surgical procedure. Isn't it worth a few minutes of your time to make sure that you make a rational and informed decision? Declawing is not a simple or routine surgery. It should never be done ...

2016-11-19T12:31:11-07:00May 17th, 2013|
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Physical Consequences of Declawing

Declawing changes the way the cat's paws function, and this creates stress on the joints of the paw, wrist, elbow, shoulder, and spine. The cat's gait changes, as weight is shifted backward from the toes to the large rear pad of the paw. Research has demonstrated that, after declawing, cats shift their entire weight more toward the hind legs. This is quite a feat, considering that the front legs normally bear about 60% of the cat's entire weight. Within 6 months or so, normal weight distribution among the four legs ...

2013-08-11T10:29:52-07:00February 1st, 2013|
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Feline Hyperthyroidism Update

Discovery News reported this week that "In a new study that analyzed the blood of 62 domestic cats and 10 feral cats, researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that cats living inside homes had higher blood levels of a class of chemicals called PBDEs, compared with their outdoor-living peers." Unfortunately, that is not news; that study was originally published in 2009. (Read it here: www.istc.illinois.edu/info/library_docs/RR/RR-115.pdf). That study wasn't terribly original even then; it's based on Dr. Larry Glickman's work at Purdue from 2004. There are more than 200 ...

2018-01-01T21:58:22-07:00March 20th, 2012|
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Disclaimers

The proprietor of this site (littlebigcat.com) is Jackson Galaxy. Jackson, Dr. Jean, or Little Big Cat, Inc. may receive compensation from other websites  or products we mention on this blog. You should probably assume we do. Sometimes, products we promote were given to one of us as free samples. For the purposes of the Liability Disclaimer, "information" includes (without limitation) any statement of fact or opinion, advice, data, documents or computer readable material in any form whatsoever. Liability Disclaimer In preparing this site, we have endeavored to offer current, correct ...

2012-04-05T08:42:21-07:00November 26th, 2011|
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Copyright Notice

This site and all the information and all graphic representations or images on it belong to Little Big Cat in the absence of any contrary indication. Copyright and all intellectual property rights in any information and any graphics on this site, or relating to it, including but not limited to ebooks and reports sold or sent from this site, are vested in Little Big Cat and reserved unless otherwise indicated. No part of the text or graphics on or from this site, including but not limited to ebooks and reports ...

2011-11-27T12:14:16-07:00November 26th, 2011|
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Declawing Cats Required to Rent?

Updated January 13, 2024 By Jean Hofve, DVM and Judith Beggs, JD    Many landlords require cats to be declawed before they will rent to a cat guardian.* Sadly, because it's already hard to find a place that allows pets, many cats fall victim to this unfair requirement. If you're thinking about declawing your cat in order to find a place to live, please print out this article, show it to your prospective landlord, and ask them to waive the requirement. Landlords need to know the truth about declawing, and ...

2024-01-15T13:59:45-07:00November 17th, 2011|
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The PURR Act: The Pet Food Industry Should Not Regulate Itself

The pet food industry wants the federal government to let it govern itself. It's not like they've ever killed tens of thousands of pets with dangerous, contaminated food... wait, what? They have? Good grief!

2025-11-26T08:38:46-07:00November 25th, 2025|
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BEAM: Clarify Your Pet’s Health Journey

B.E.A.M. stands for Behavior, Energy, Appetite, and Mood, and it gives you a quick, reliable snapshot of your pet’s overall wellbeing. When BEAM looks bright, things are good. When BEAM goes down, something’s off — even if you don’t see an obvious symptom yet. Genetics, Epigenetics, and the Exposome Modern medicine often focuses on genes, as if they are the cause of disease (they’re not). CRISPR-based drugs and genetic editing are the hottest areas of research right now. But genes are not the whole story. DNA is the blueprint that ...

2025-11-26T09:23:16-07:00November 25th, 2025|
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Cats and Bird Flu

Updated 11/18/25 Bird flu (avian influenza, H5N1) has gotten a lot of headlines over the last year. If you're a subscriber to our free monthly newsletter, you've read a lot about it. [And if you're not... go here to sign up right now!  littlebigcat.substack.com] 1/5/26 Update: The USDA reports new bird flu outbreaks in five states, including two backyard flocks, a game-bird farm, and a broiler operation. The "good" news is that these were caught early, but the bad news is that there have also been die-offs in wild flocks ...

2026-01-05T14:06:53-07:00September 6th, 2025|
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Please Don’t Give Pets as Gifts

Updated 12/22/25 This is Brody, who is a very good dog. Giving is a wonderful thing, and we all have good intentions when shopping for our loved ones. You can easily picture a child opening a beautiful box with an adorable kitten inside, or of covering their eyes and leading them into a room where a puppy wearing a big bow is waiting. We have these joyful images lingering from our own childhood, as well as from social media, TV ads, and movies. A pet may feel like ...

2025-12-22T10:18:34-07:00November 29th, 2023|
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Natural Flea Control for Dogs & Cats

Fleas! Everyone hates these nasty, blood-sucking parasites. Our war against fleas is epic and ongoing, but each of us must fight our own individual battles. There are three fronts to fight on: the pet(s), the home, and the outdoor environment. But before we sound the battle cry, we need to know our enemy! WHY ARE FLEAS SUCH A FIERCE ENEMY? "Fleas come with three basic marching orders, or biological imperatives: to survive, to eat, and to reproduce." Fleas have a number of strategic advantages in this war: Masters of ...

2024-05-31T10:32:21-07:00September 17th, 2023|
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Privacy Policy

The following policy applies to Little Big Cat, Inc. at www.littlebigcat.com. Little Big Cat is committed to protecting the privacy and security of its online visitors. We adhere to privacy principles and only collect the minimum amount of personal information needed and look after your personal information responsibly. We date our privacy policies so that you can see when our policy has been updated. We consider the following, among other things, to be personally identifiable information: first and last name, e-mail address, street address and phone number. We do not collect personal information about individual visitors to our website. Site ...

2020-05-17T09:49:46-07:00May 17th, 2020|
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Grain-Free Dog (and Cat) Food, Taurine, and Heart Disease

FINAL UPDATE 12/27/22  The FDA has closed its investigation into this matter, saying there is "insufficient evidence" to establish a causal link between diet and DCM in dogs. They will not be providing any further updates.  NOTE: We now know that, as suspected all along, the purported link between grain-free pet foods and heart disease was entirely speculative. I can say with confidence that grain-free foods DO NOT cause heart disease in dogs or cats. There was and is no scientific evidence to support FDA's original theory, much less its naming ...

2022-12-30T22:31:45-07:00August 3rd, 2018|
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