Tomorrow the Vet Blog will return to veterinary Q&A. But today I can’t resist the following piece from DVM Newsmagazine.

San Francisco considers ban on cat declaw surgeries

Jul 16, 2009
DVM NEWSMAGAZINE

San Francisco — San Francisco may become the second U.S. city, the other is West Hollywood, Calif., to adopt legislation banning the declawing of cats for non-therapeutic reasons.

The San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare voted 5-1 Thursday to recommend that the Board of Supervisors ban the procedure. The proposed legislation is the most recent, and restrictive, attempt by the city to ban declawing. In 2003, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution “urging pet guardians and veterinarians to discontinue the practice of declawing cats in the city and county of San Francisco.”

If approved, the city’s law could mirror one passed in West Hollywood in 2003.

The article continues:

Commissioners questioned whether declawing might be necessary for cats in households of immunocompromised persons, a common argument in favor of keeping declawing legal.

Convenience declawing is, in my opinion, set to go the way of the dodo bird, debarking, tail docking, and ear cropping. However, the last quote from the article brings up a complicating factor of declaws.

The last time I declawed a cat was several years ago. The cat was owned by an elderly gentleman who had diabetes. The owner’s skin was very thin, and the cat’s claws, even when well trimmed, frequently cut through his skin accidentally. The cat was not aggressive, but even the action of making “kitty dough” on the owner’s lap could send the man to the emergency room.

The owner decided he had two choices: give the cat up (which often is a euphemism for put the cat to sleep) or declaw the cat.

My decision to perform the surgery was not ethically cut and dried. I was careful to utilize state-of-the-art pain management for the procedure. The man and the cat were able to continue enjoying their lives together.

I hope that any laws banning declawing of cats make considerations for such instances.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Utah Veterinary Medical Association Takes Issue with AVMA’s Stance on Tail Docking and Ear Cropping
• DVM Newsmagazine: Rabies Rate in Cats Four Times That in Dogs
• Can Pets Catch Swine Flu?
• Teen With Gumption Plans to Drive the Final Nail Into Debarking’s Coffin
• Las Vegas Enacts Mandatory Spay/Neuter Law

I freely recognize that I practice veterinary medicine in one of the most progressive places in the world. Just a couple of states over, things are quite a bit different.

In November, 2008 the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) adopted an official policy against cosmetic ear cropping and tail docking. It turns out that some vets in Utah aren’t happy about that.

Here’s an excerpt from an article in the July, 2009 issue of DVM Newsmagazine.

AVMA’s hard line too hard?
Call for softer stance on cosmetic surgery among resolutions facing convention delegates

Jul 1, 2009
By: Christina Macejko
DVM NEWSMAGAZINE

SEATTLE — The Utah Veterinary Medical Association (UVMA) wants the AVMA to lay off the “hard-line slant” it took when the policy on ear cropping and tail docking was changed late last year and is asking the House of Delegates (HOD) to soften the policy.

In November 2008, the American Veterinary Medical Association’s (AVMA) executive board changed the policy to read, “The AVMA opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes. The AVMA encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards.”

While the association was not necessarily in favor of the practice before, the policy change, for the first time, explicitly states its opposition to it.

It’s a move that UVMA says was made under pressure from outside groups.
“One of the reasons the Animal Welfare Committee suggested a change to the executive board was to bring the policy more into line with the American Animal Hospital Association and other countries,” UVMA explains. “We are the American Veterinary Medical Association, not any other and do not need to apologize for our positions.”

I have said repeatedly that I believe ear cropping and tail docking as well as debarking and declawing will wane in availability in coming years. Each year fewer vets are willing (or even able) to perform these surgeries.

New graduates from veterinary school generally abhor the procedures. Older vets who have no moral qualms with the surgeries (and who evidently run the show in Utah) are retiring every day.

The demographic shift will settle this debate in time. Meanwhile, the ethical wrangling over the procedures continues.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Teen With Gumption Plans to Drive the Final Nail Into Debarking’s Coffin
• The Utah VMA Won’t be Happy About This: Nation’s Largest Veterinary Chain Discontinues Tail Docking and Ear Cropping
• AVMA Comes Out Against Ear Cropping and Tail Docking
• Ear Cropping and Tail Docking Create Ethical Dilemmas for Vets
• DVM Newsmagazine: Rabies Rate in Cats Four Times That in Dogs

I made a typographical error in yesterday’s post. The post stated that I believe declawing is “long for this world.” What I meant to say is “not long for this world.” One word can really change the meaning of a sentence!

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• San Francisco Moves to Outlaw Declawing Cats
• Utah Veterinary Medical Association Takes Issue with AVMA’s Stance on Tail Docking and Ear Cropping
• Teen With Gumption Plans to Drive the Final Nail Into Debarking’s Coffin

I’d like to thank Doreen for forwarding a great article to Dogster HQ. The article, from the Boston Herald, discusses a Massachusetts teen’s efforts to make debarking surgery illegal in his home state. Here is a quote from the article:

Needham High freshman Jordan Star doesn’t claim he can talk to the animals, but as the surprise driving force behind a bill to outlaw the surgical silencing of dogs and cats, the teen is doing a fine job speaking on their behalf . . .

Under his proposed law, to which Democratic House Majority Whip Lida E. Harkins and Republican Sen. Scott P. Brown have signed on as sponsors, devocalization would be illegal in Massachusetts unless a veterinarian licensed in this state certified for a town clerk or, in Boston, the police commissioner, that the operation was a medical necessity.

And, in case you had any doubts about Mr. Star’s opinion of the sort of people who have their pets debarked, here is a particularly choice quote from the article:

Anyone breaking the law would face up to five years in state prison and a mental-health evaluation (emphasis mine).

I have predicted the demise of several controversial veterinary procedures on this blog. Tail docking and ear cropping have been covered a few times. I haven’t written much about declawing cats, but I will say now that I believe the practice is not long for this world. [Note: my original post contained a typographical error and omitted the word "not". In fact, fewer and fewer vets are willing to declaw cats each year, just as fewer are willing to dock tails or crop ears.]

Until I read the article in the Herald, I had nearly forgotten that debarking surgery existed. Debarking involves removing parts of the vocal cords. It is a surgery with a relatively high rate of complications as well as a high potential for failure. Many “debarked” dogs can still vocalize. The harsh, throaty noises that such dogs produce can be much more unpleasant than a normal bark. Many among the dwindling number of vets who still crop ears, dock tails, and declaw cats balk at the notion of debarking a pet.

Vocal cord surgery is medically necessary when cancer or a syndrome called laryngeal paralysis strikes the voice box. But the practice of convenience debarking looks set to die a quiet death.

Share this entry with your pawple anywhere:

• Utah Veterinary Medical Association Takes Issue with AVMA’s Stance on Tail Docking and Ear Cropping
• Ear Cropping and Tail Docking Create Ethical Dilemmas for Vets
• The Utah VMA Won’t be Happy About This: Nation’s Largest Veterinary Chain Discontinues Tail Docking and Ear Cropping
• Does a Dog Need Cropped Ears and a Docked Tail to be a Member of a Breed?
• Ear Cropping and Tail Docking set to go the way of the Dodo Bird