Photo credit: Liz West The barbaric procedure of cat declawing is under serious fire, as well it should be! After being banned in eight California cities by the end of 2009, there have been efforts--led by the Paw Project--to get declawing banned elsewhere. Until recently, those efforts had failed relatively early in the process. It's been said that "Laws are like sausages — it is best not to see them being made." Indeed, it's messy. I've been involved in legislative processes in Colorado and California, and the typical abysmal ...

So, your cat is declawed: maybe it was done prior to adoption; or a landlord or  family member may have insisted on declawing, your veterinarian may have talked you into it, or you just didn't know at the time how physically and psychologically damaging declawing is. But at this point the damage is done, and it is irreversible. Now what?  Fortunately, there are things you can do for a declawed cat to help relieve pain and improve quality of life. 1. If you think your cat may be experiencing declaw ...

Declawing is an extremely painful procedure. According to the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), "Physically, regardless of the method used, onychectomy causes a higher level of pain than spays and neuters. Patients may experience both adaptive and maladaptive pain; in addition to inflammatory pain, there is the potential to develop long-term neuropathic or central pain if the pain is inadequately managed during the perioperative and healing periods."  (Emphasis added; please note that veterinarians who claim that using a laser decreases pain are not justified by the facts; using a laser ...