May 16-22, 2024

Decades ago, we had a cat, Willow, so named because she was born in the spring and was the color of a pussy willow. She was a member of our family for 17 years, with few issues, except for who was responsible for cleaning the litter box! When we brought our newborn daughter home, Willow immediately jumped up onto the bed and slowly circled the baby, nosing about and sniffing. Mindful of the myth about cats “stealing” a baby’s breath, I held my own, but Willow was satisfied that this interloper was OK. Indeed, Willow and our daughter became great friends, although she wasn’t wild about litter box duty.

Willow occasionally needed her nails clipped (a two-person job), but visits to the vet, fortunately, were rare. So, the idea of declawing a cat was something rarely mentioned, and anathema to animal lovers. Declawing is too simple a term for the actual process. Rather, it is more accurate to say amputation because declawing consists of cutting off not just the claws, but the whole phalanx up to the joint, including bones, ligaments, tendons and nerves. For a human, it would be similar to cutting off your finger or toe up to the first knuckle. Some cat owners consider declawing their pets to avoid scratching and damaging furniture, but the declawing procedure has no benefit to the animal. Scratching is a natural behavior of cats; removing the claws forces a cat to bite as its only defense, which is even more serious than a cat scratch.

Recent bipartisan legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly to prohibit the practice of declawing takes effect on July 1, 2024. HB 1354 passed both houses of the General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Youngkin in early April. The new law “prohibits as unlawful the practice of declawing cats for any person engaged in the practice of veterinary medicine except as necessary for a therapeutic purpose, as defined by the bill.” Penalties would be issued by the State Board of Veterinary Medicine. The bill had several Northern Virginia sponsors, including Delegates Marty Martinez, Irene Shin, and Holly Seibold, and Senators Dave Marsden and Jennifer Boysko. Virginia now joins New York and Maryland as the only jurisdictions in the United States to ban declawing by veterinary practitioners.

There are thousands of pet owners in Northern Virginia who may not be aware of the new law, but there are many humane alternatives that will not risk the health and welfare of pets. Routine nail trims every four to six weeks, scratching posts and boards, training (probably for both pet and owner), replaceable nail caps, and pheromone sprays scented with catnip will help. Some suggest taping aluminum foil to items that the cat scratches; with a little training, I suspect that the foil will not be needed for long. Mason District resident, Dr. George Cody, in testimony prepared for the Companion Animals Senate Subcommittee in Richmond, noted that “If the intent is to have a pristine home environment, then one should reconsider having a cat, a dog, or any pet. If someone still intends to have a cat, then change the environment, not the cat.” Declawing a cat is not a trip to the spa for any feline. Wise words for any pet owner.