Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association to ban declawing - Sensationalist Headlines

[quote] Declawing domestic cats will soon be a thing of the past in Nova Scotia, according to the Nova Scotia Veterinary Medical Association. The association issued a statement after a meeting of its council on Tuesday saying it views the practice of elective and non-therapeutic declawing as "ethically unacceptable." "A three-month education period will take effect immediately and this change in the code of ethics will come into effect on March 15, 2018," reads the statement. NSVMA registrar Dr. Frank Richardson said the decision follows years of discussion by veterinarians, surveys, public input, and a recent statement from the national association.[/quote] [url]http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-veterinary-medical-association-stops-declawing-1.4445376[/url] Even though it is less common than it used to be, it's great to see them putting a stop to it. For those unaware of why declawing is bad, it would be more comparable to removing your fingertips than fingernails. Except cats have 60% of their weight on their "fingertips". Declawing causes the cat a lot of pain over its life. [t]http://www.littlebigcat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Clawed-vs-Declawed-Toes.jpg[/t]

It's basically like having your fingertips and the bases of your toes simultaneously removed. Good to see them making this move.

Good. Declawing is mutilation, when you get right down to it.

They should ban de-tusking walruses too.

[QUOTE=TheNerdPest14;52977913]They should ban de-tusking walruses too.[/QUOTE] Do people regularly bring walruses into the veterinarian in Canada?

[QUOTE=Xion21;52977938]Do people regularly bring walruses into the veterinarian in Canada?[/QUOTE] Well it is Canada, but I don't know.

For the vets: is there not another way to declaw cats? In OPs image, couldn't you remove part of P3 to inhibit claw growth instead of removing all of it?

[QUOTE=The1Flame;52977951]For the vets: is there not another way to declaw cats? In OPs image, couldn't you remove part of P3 to inhibit claw growth instead of removing all of it?[/QUOTE] Why not just not declaw the cat? If you absolutely must, put something on your cat like those nail covers.

Or just get their nails cut every few weeks.

I think there needs to be far more strenuous screening on vets, too, to be totally honest. Any good vet should really refuse to declaw regardless of law, if possible. Our vet lied to us on how declawing worked and told us that it was "completely and utterly harmless", so my parents went through with it with our now 18-year-old cat on the front paws. This was before we ever had internet in our home and the nearest library is over an hour away because we live in the middle of nowhere, so we were clueless and trusted him, because what sort of scumbag lies about a procedure on your beloved pet? When we actually were able to find out what it [I]really[/I] entailed, we were beyond infuriated. Same fucker half-botched her spaying and is probably what's responsible for a lot of her urinating troubles she's had throughout her life. We thought about suing but just about a week after we got her back, we found out that the shithead was "let go" of his position. How someone like him even got the job is well beyond me.

[QUOTE=SuperDuperScoot;52978046]I think there needs to be far more strenuous screening on vets, too, to be totally honest. Any good vet should really refuse to declaw regardless of law, if possible. Our vet lied to us on how declawing worked and told us that it was "completely and utterly harmless", so my parents went through with it with our now 18-year-old cat on the front paws. This was before we ever had internet in our home and the nearest library is over an hour away because we live in the middle of nowhere, so we were clueless and trusted him, because what sort of scumbag lies about a procedure on your beloved pet? When we actually were able to find out what it [I]really[/I] entailed, we were beyond infuriated. Same fucker half-botched her spaying and is probably what's responsible for a lot of her urinating troubles she's had throughout her life. We thought about suing but just about a week after we got her back, we found out that the shithead was "let go" of his position. How someone like him even got the job is well beyond me.[/QUOTE] neuter+spay (spay especially) can be pretty brutal, too. while there are improved methods for spay surgeries, its not uncommon in the US for vets to just remove the entire uterus down to just above the birth canal (D: !). spaying also has long term effects in cats and dogs, generally presenting as growing incontinence and higher incidences of a few cancers. if it wasn't for the massive pet overpopulation problem, avoiding spay/neuter would be ideal but unfortunately I don't think that can ever happen in the US at least declawing isn't a "bad solution to a worse problem" situation, though. There are ways to get "caps" on your cat's nails apparently now, my cousin had it done - it gives them enough grip to work with but helps them hurt less when catto surprise attaches to your back. or so i was told, I'm not much of a cat person so idunno

[QUOTE=paindoc;52978168]neuter+spay (spay especially) can be pretty brutal, too. while there are improved methods for spay surgeries, its not uncommon in the US for vets to just remove the entire uterus down to just above the birth canal (D: !). spaying also has long term effects in cats and dogs, generally presenting as growing incontinence and higher incidences of a few cancers. if it wasn't for the massive pet overpopulation problem, avoiding spay/neuter would be ideal but unfortunately I don't think that can ever happen in the US at least declawing isn't a "bad solution to a worse problem" situation, though. There are ways to get "caps" on your cat's nails apparently now, my cousin had it done - it gives them enough grip to work with but helps them hurt less when catto surprise attaches to your back. or so i was told, I'm not much of a cat person so idunno[/QUOTE] Removing the whole uterus is because if they just removed ovaries it leaves high risk of uterine cancer, and its entirely unneeded. There's also risk of different cancers if you don't do it, so its one of those damned if you do damned if you don't kinda things, but the cancer risks post-neuter are lower if I remember right. Beyond the fact it's an invasive surgery its not that big of a deal itself. I do wish more vets did it in less invasive ways though, as they are quite possible, our local vet does one with smaller incisions etc than standard and I wish everywhere else did too. We got our cats nails trimmed when he went to the vet for a neuter a few weeks ago and that works pretty well too, although I don't even bother regularly, its not that hard to teach them to be gentle with their claws in my experience.

[QUOTE=GordonZombie;52977907]It's basically like having your fingertips and the bases of your toes simultaneously removed. Good to see them making this move.[/QUOTE] Not only does it make walking awkward and painful, it discourages natural behavior like kneading and using a scratching post Your cat would be miserable

[QUOTE=The1Flame;52977951]For the vets: is there not another way to declaw cats? In OPs image, couldn't you remove part of P3 to inhibit claw growth instead of removing all of it?[/QUOTE] No because the claw will continue to grow.

Just cut your own animal's claws yo, it isn't very hard. Just buy a special nail cutter from a pet store

[QUOTE=SuperDuperScoot;52978046]I think there needs to be far more strenuous screening on vets, too, to be totally honest. Any good vet should really refuse to declaw regardless of law, if possible. Our vet lied to us on how declawing worked and told us that it was "completely and utterly harmless", so my parents went through with it with our now 18-year-old cat on the front paws. This was before we ever had internet in our home and the nearest library is over an hour away because we live in the middle of nowhere, so we were clueless and trusted him, because what sort of scumbag lies about a procedure on your beloved pet? When we actually were able to find out what it [I]really[/I] entailed, we were beyond infuriated. Same fucker half-botched her spaying and is probably what's responsible for a lot of her urinating troubles she's had throughout her life. We thought about suing but just about a week after we got her back, we found out that the shithead was "let go" of his position. How someone like him even got the job is well beyond me.[/QUOTE] You should sue the fucker regardless of him losing his job

Can we stop tail stubbing while we're at it too.

[QUOTE=Rhenae;52978669]Removing the whole uterus is because if they just removed ovaries it leaves high risk of uterine cancer, and its entirely unneeded. There's also risk of different cancers if you don't do it, so its one of those damned if you do damned if you don't kinda things, but the cancer risks post-neuter are lower if I remember right. Beyond the fact it's an invasive surgery its not that big of a deal itself. I do wish more vets did it in less invasive ways though, as they are quite possible, our local vet does one with smaller incisions etc than standard and I wish everywhere else did too. We got our cats nails trimmed when he went to the vet for a neuter a few weeks ago and that works pretty well too, although I don't even bother regularly, its not that hard to teach them to be gentle with their claws in my experience.[/QUOTE] It really is a toss-up. If I ever get a non-rescue female doggo (which is unlikely, I feel too bad to do otherwise) I'd have a hard time deciding what to do. less so with males, but the tough part is finding a vet in the US who does the better kind of procedure. There's only recent research on this, but it came up in one of the "applied canine behavioral psychology" books I was reading before I got doggo (vol1, mostly physiology+development related): neuter increases bone cancer incidence by something like 30-40% if done before 1yr, makes heart cancer 1.6 times more likely, makes hypothyroidism 3x as likely, increases obesity risk 3x, increases small (0.6%) risk of prostate cancer by 4x and doubles chances of urinary tract cancers. It also increases the cognitive decline rate in older dogs significantly, but this is hard to precisely quantify (as are most cognitive phenomenons in another less-intelligent species). Spaying is much more complex. It removes the risk of pyometra (affects ~25% of female dogs, kills ~1% of those affected), and pretty much eliminates the risk of breast cancer. Also you don't have to deal with a female dog's heat cycle which can be a touch awkward to say the least (and this is a fair thing to consider, I guess). It has many similar effects on cancers as it does with male dogs: bone cancer significantly more likely, heart cancer 5x as likely, spleen cancer (didn't realize this was a thing) 2x as likely, triples risk of hypothyroidism, doubles risk of obesity, causes 20% of spayed dogs to experience urinary incontinence as they age, and makes recurring UTIs 3-4x as likely. There are [I]much[/I] better procedures available though, taken from what we've learned from humans. "Tying the tubes" is totally possible, and is absolutely the best approach if one chooses to spay/neuter: no more capability of breeding, but no increased risks for cancers. I think this would work well as the go-to for male dogs in the US (barring exceptional cases of poor behavior due to high testosterone levels), and as a presented option for female dogs. I'm not sure how this applies to cats - but it's fair to assume it's reasonably similar. Many of the effects parallel those seen in humans, as low sex hormone concentrations can cause cognitive decline (alzheimers especially) as well as increase hypothyroidism, obesity, and cancer risks. tl;dr - ask your vet about better surgery options when spaying/neutering your animal, or find a local vet that offers it. Consider pet insurance policies that also cover these procedures at least partially, and make sure they still offer the credit to your monthly premium you normally get for spaying/neutering a pet. [QUOTE=Citrus705;52978678]Not only does it make walking awkward and painful, it discourages natural behavior like kneading and using a scratching post Your cat would be miserable[/QUOTE] It also causes arthritis in the paw joints, as tendons realign. There's also apparently phantom limb pain, occasional paralysis, and long recovery times with the potential for infection. Pain control after the surgery can also actually complicate things: they may overuse their paws, thus worsening the quality of their long-term recovery. Some cats also will have issues using their litter box properly. Declawing is [I]really[/I] fucked up. It makes the spay/neuter debate pale in comparison: declawing is an active choice to put your pet through pain, risk, and long-term complications that [I]will[/I] occur just because 1. you might want to save furniture 2. you want to avoid pain 3. you want to reduce the risk of them scratching someone. All three of these are issues caused by owners either not providing the cat with environmental stimuli it needs, or not listening the cats body language (or having guests/children who don't respect the cat's space). [QUOTE=duckmaster;52979642]Can we stop tail stubbing while we're at it too.[/QUOTE] And ear cropping. tail clipping makes sense for a [I]very[/I] small quantity of dogs - those in duties as herding animals get it truly for their own safety, as having your tail stepped on by a much heavier animal can be pretty bad. Both of these are done mostly for cosmetic reasons otherwise, and can be considerably painful and are oft done poorly without anesthetic. The non-cosmetic arguments for ear cropping are particularly shoddy: "it reduces ear infections". Uh, what about all of the dogs with perky ears? I've got a husky and even when bathing him using a fuckin shower head its not rocket science to keep water and stuff out of his ears. It's one of those "breed standard" things that drives me mental (like "show line" GSDs): things done for aesthetic and superficial reasons to an animal that can't choose otherwise. protip - if you don't want your brain filled with somewhat useless knowledge like this, don't let your sister in vet school rant to you about all the procedures she hates and doesn't want to do when she becomes a vet (thankfully she switched to nursing school, phew) [editline]edited[/editline] somehow my brain is filled with all sorts of esoteric info like this, covering topics from aircraft to pet surgeries :V

No. It isn't a hard decision. Spay/neuter. Cancer in dogs is ultimately unlikely to be an issue. When you increase the chances of cancer by orders of magnitude, it sounds really bad, but it also fails to take into consideration the fact that many of those cancers are super rare to begin with. Not only are they ultimately rare, but many of them appear at end of life points for animals anyhow. I worked in an animal shelter. The alternative to spay/neuter is so much worse.

if your cat is an outdoor or indoor/outdoor cat, i'd recommend not even clipping their claws or capping them. if they get into a scrap with something else or need to run up a tree, they're going to need those claws as sharp as they would naturally be.