Declawing has long been treated as a routine procedure—but it was adopted without scientific support and carries lasting consequences for cats. In this episode of The Animal Advocate, Penny explores how declawing became normalized, what the research shows now, and why veterinarians and lawmakers are reconsidering the practice.

From chronic pain and behavioral fallout to shifting professional standards and growing legislative momentum, this episode walks through what every cat guardian and advocate needs to understand. You’ll also hear about humane alternatives and practical actions to help move policy forward in your community.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How declawing became common in the U.S. despite the lack of scientific justification

• What recent studies reveal about pain, complication rates, and long-term effects

• Why declawed cats often bite more and avoid the litter box

• The veterinary community’s evolving position and the 2025 standards requiring AAHA accredited clinics to stop performing the procedure

• Where declawing is banned and how state and city laws are strengthening protections

• How to find and use model bills when working with legislators

• The difference between civil and criminal penalties and how enforcement works

• Over 40 countries’ approaches to declawing 

• Realistic, non-surgical alternatives for managing scratching behavior

• Steps you can take to advocate for improved laws in your state or municipality

Key Takeaway:
Declawing isn’t a simple nail procedure—it’s a form of surgical amputation with lifelong impacts. Understanding the medical, behavioral, and legal realities helps advocates push for humane, practical solutions that protect both cats and the people who love them.

Episode Highlights: 

01:44 — How declawing became “normal” despite the lack of scientific study
03:27 — Medical risks: complication rates, chronic pain, and recent research
04:27 — Why declawed cats bite more and how it affects behavior
05:10 — Shifting positions of veterinary medicine associations
06:13 — State and city bans and how California helped shape national momentum
08:18 — Legislative updates in Minnesota, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and more
09:24 — How bans are written: civil vs. criminal penalties and enforcement
10:23 — International approaches: 40+ countries with bans or restrictions
11:06 — Effective alternatives: trimming, soft caps, and scratching supports
12:01 — How to take action locally and use advocacy tools to educate lawmakers

Resources Mentioned:

• Links to pending legislation in Minnesota (HF 1857 and SF 1935) Illinois (SB 257), and Pennsylvania (HB 1716. and SB 846)

• Existing state bans: California, New York, Washington, DC, Massachusetts , Maryland , Virginia and Rhode Island

• Medical and Legal Summary and Alternatives to Declawing

• Contact us anytime at podcast@animaladvocacyacademy.com

Because compassion is great, but compassionate action is even better.

Transcript:

So, cat people, have you ever worried about your cat’s claws destroying your furniture? Some people turn to cat declawing to deal with that issue, thinking it’s a simple procedure, maybe more than a manicure, but certainly not major surgery. And then the cat comes home, and everything seems fine. But over the next few weeks, everything changes. The cat who always used the litter box starts peeing on the carpet. The gentle cat who never bit anyone becomes aggressive. Or the playful climber suddenly walks like every step hurts. What the owner didn’t realize is that declawing isn’t just removing claws. It’s actually amputating the last bone of each toe. Yikes. Should we be allowing this? Let’s talk about it.

Welcome to the Animal Advocate, where we arm animal lovers with the information and inspiration you need to become effective advocates. I’m your host, Penny Ellison, and I’ve taught animal law and advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania since 2006. If you’ve ever thought someone should do something about that, I’m here to guide you on your journey to being that someone. You can find us on the web at animaladvocacyacademy.com and that’s where you’ll find show notes and resources and you can send us your comments on episodes and ideas for topics you’d like to hear on future shows. So onto today’s topic.

Today, we’re talking about cat declawing. After seven decades of this being considered normal and routine, things are finally changing for cats. Seven states have banned it. And my home state, Pennsylvania, has a bill moving right now. So let’s talk about what declawing really is, why it matters, and how you can help end it in your state.

 So first, what does declawing actually mean? The term itself is pretty misleading. Most people imagine that it’s no big deal. The reality? Veterinarians amputate, as I said, the entire last bone of each toe, not just the claw, but bone, tendons, ligaments, and nerves. So why is such an extreme procedure required just to get rid of the claw? Well, because a cat’s claw grows from deep inside that bone. So to prevent regrowth, you have to remove the bone itself. If you do this to a human hand, you’d be cutting off each finger at the last knuckle. Typically, vets do that on all 10 front toes, though some cats are declawed on all four paws.

So how did we get here? Declawing became standard American practice in the 1950s as a solution for furniture scratching. By the 1990s, it was so Routine that surveys showed it was packaged with spaying and neutering. In over 20% of cases. A major surgical elective amputation became standard kitten care with zero scientific study of long-term impacts.

 So what happens to cats when they get declawed? Well, the research is pretty troubling. Medical complication rates range from 24 to 80%, depending on technique used. These complications include hemorrhages, infections, nerve damage, chronic pain, bone spurs, and sometimes claws attempting to regrow under the skin, which is really painful. And unlike UTs, cats walk on their toes, not their foot pads. So every single step involves bearing weight on amputation sites. So when fragments are left behind or tissue doesn’t heal right, it’s like walking with a pebble in your shoe forever. A 2018 study found declawed cats were three times more likely to have back pain because shortened limbs and altered gait forced them to shift weight differently. Another study in 2025 found they show signs of long term neuroplastic pain sensitization. So they have pain all the time.

And the behavior changes. When cats lose their main defense mechanism, their claws, many turn to their backup – their teeth. Declawed cats are far more likely to bite. Others develop litter box aversion because scratching in litter hurts their paws. Some become withdrawn or even aggressive. Now, the CDC doesn’t recommend declawing, even for immunocompromised people who might be worried about getting infections. Why? Because cat bites are far more dangerous than scratches. By increasing biting behavior, declawing actually increases health risks to humans.

So what does the veterinary community say about all this? And this matters because veterinary organizations have historically lobbied hard against declawing bans. But the good news is, positions are starting to shift. The AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association, the largest professional group of veterinarians, now strongly discourages elective declawing. The American Association of Feline Practitioners strongly opposes it. And the American Animal Hospital Association, the AAHA, revised its 2025 standards to require accredited practices to stop doing non therapeutic declawing.

 Yet some state veterinary associations still fight bans. There’s a financial dimension here, of course. Declawing is lucrative. And when state legislators consider bans, they face organized resistance, sometimes from groups arguing that medical decisions should be left to a vet’s professional judgment.

 So let’s talk about the law now for advocates. Where has it been banned? Well, seven states have banned elective declawing. First was New York in 2019. So this is all really recent. Then Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode island and California. Washington, D.C. also banned it.

And I want to examine California’s path in particular, because it’s pretty interesting. So, like we’ve talked about often, local ordinances create momentum that leads to state laws. So West Hollywood became the first US city to ban declawing all the way back in 2003. The California Veterinary Medical Association sued to block it, and they won, but the Court of Appeals reversed and reinstated the ban. That was 2007. Then, the veterinarians lobbied at the state house in Sacramento and got the legislature in 2009 to pass a state law that would prevent cities from passing ordinances limiting medical procedures. It was set to take effect on January 1, 2010.

Seeing the writing on the wall, seven more cities, including the biggest ones – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, they rushed to pass their own bans before that state law went into effect. Fast forward to October 2025. That state law that didn’t let municipalities ban declawing goes away and is replaced with a statewide ban. With overwhelming bipartisan support, with unanimous support in the assembly, that shows the direction that things are headed, and not just in California. I know California is always out there in the forefront, but California was the seventh state to ban declawing. So this is really where it’s going nationwide. And beyond statewide bans, cities like Austin, Texas, Denver, Colorado, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Madison, Tacoma, they’ve all passed their own prohibitions on declawing.

And three state bills are moving right now in Minnesota, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, and New Jersey and Michigan have had bills introduced, though they haven’t advanced quite as far as. So rather than go through all those bill numbers and tell you about those laws, we’ll put links to all of the bills in the show notes so that if you live in one of those states, you can contact your representatives about them. And if you live in another state, you can use them as potential models. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.

 So most of these bans follow a similar framework. They define declawing clearly as a surgical amputation of all or part of the last bone of a cat’s toe, explicitly including tendonectomy. They prohibit the procedure except when it’s medically necessary, like for tumors in the nail bed, severe injury, disease, infection, or other conditions that threaten the cat’s health. They explicitly exclude cosmetic reasons, convenience, or behavior management from that exception.

The penalties are typically civil rather than criminal. For example, New York’s law imposes fines up to $1,000. Minnesota has an escalating fine structure for repeater vendors, and that’s common. And this addresses concerns about criminalizing veterinary practices while still providing a deterrent effect. And by that I mean these laws generally focus enforcement where the procedure happens – in the veterinary office –  so the penalties fall on the veterinarian performing it. In nearly every jurisdiction, it’s the veterinarian, not the cat owner, who is the one legally prohibited from carrying out a non therapeutic declaw. Owners aren’t fined for having a declawed cat, and they aren’t penalized for seeking advice. The only scenario that triggers liability in some places is if someone actively arranges for an illegal surgery, but even then, enforcement is usually directed at the clinic. Lawmakers have been careful to avoid punishing pet owners. They recognize that the aim is to stop the practice, not to deter people from seeking care or to create new penalties for ordinary cat guardians.

 If we look internationally, opposition to declawing is even more dramatic. Over 40 countries have banned or consider declawing unethical, including most of Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and Brazil. In Canada, eight of 10 provinces have banned it.

So now when you’re advocating for bans, assuming you might, you might need to address the but what about the scratching? Objection. So let’s talk a little bit about alternatives.

First, we need to understand why cats scratch. Their nails grow in layers called husks, and scratching removes outer husks to make room for new growth. It also stretches muscles, marks territory through scent glands in their paws, and helps cats express emotions. The alternatives are straightforward. Regular nail trimming keeps claws blunt, nail caps like soft paws. Cover claws with vinyl caps and they can last four to six weeks. It’s also helpful to provide scratching surfaces they’re allowed to use, like posts and cardboard scratchers, and then use positive reinforcement when the cats use the appropriate scratcher.

So now we have examples of states that have passed these laws and we have alternatives and medical support. So how can we be the change? Well, we’re making it very easy for you.

Check out the Show Notes. If your state has pending legislation, find it. Find the bill number right there in our show notes, then contact your state legislator. Put the bill number in your subject line, say support HR whatever the number is, and then write a short email about why you think they should support it. If your legislator is on the committee where the bill is pending, your call or email matters even more. Committee members decide whether bills even get a vote. If your state doesn’t have pending legislation, you can help get a bill introduced. Check out those same pending bills and the bills that have already passed in the show notes and reach out to your state legislator or a state legislator that you know has sponsored other animal welfare bills and ask if they consider sponsoring a declawing ban.

You can also just work at the municipal level. Cities can pass their own bans, even in states where it’s still legal statewide. You can find a city council member willing to sponsor an ordinance.

Also, you can just share information on social media, focus on facts and not judgment about people who’ve previously declawed cats. Explain what the procedure actually involves, share that it’s a bone amputation, not just a nail removal. Mention that it’s banned in over 40 countries and seven US states, and note that major veterinary organizations are now even starting to oppose it.

The movement to ban cat declawing represents a cultural shift in how we think about animals who share our homes. For decades, convenience and aesthetics justified a procedure causing permanent alterations and sometimes lifelong pain.

But as our understanding of animal welfare has evolved, as research has documented the harms, policy and law are finally catching up with ethics. There’s still work to do, and that’s where we come in. Forty three states still permit it. Millions of cats live with permanent effects of past surgeries. Many cat owners still don’t understand what they’re asking for. But change is happening, and you can be part of making it happen in your state or city.

That’s it for today. The Animal Advocate Podcast is brought to you by the Animal Advocacy Academy. You can find episodes and show notes@animaladvocacyacademy.com along with a link to our Facebook and LinkedIn pages where we discuss our podcasts, and we’d love to discuss your thoughts and experiences there.

If you’re interested in learning more about protecting animals, subscribe to the show so you get every episode when it comes out. If you have any questions on this or any other topic related to animal law, email them to podcastnimaladvocacyacademy.com and we’ll make sure to get them answered. We’ll either email you back or feature them in a future episode, or both. And remember, compassion is great, but compassionate action is infinitely better. Until next week, Live With Compassion.