Most veterinarians in the United States can still technically perform cat declawing, but your ability to find one willing to do it is shrinking fast. Seven states now ban the procedure outright, several major cities have their own bans, the largest corporate veterinary chain in the country refuses to offer it, and the leading feline veterinary organization strongly opposes it. If you’re looking for a vet who will declaw your cat, the answer increasingly depends on where you live and which clinic you call.
Where Declawing Is Banned
New York became the first U.S. state to ban elective cat declawing, and since then Illinois, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and California have followed. California’s ban, signed in October 2025, prohibits declawing, tendonectomy, or any type of claw removal except for genuine medical reasons.
Even in states without a statewide ban, some cities have passed their own laws. Austin, Denver, Madison, Pittsburgh, Allentown, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. all prohibit the procedure. If you live in one of these places, no vet can legally perform an elective declaw regardless of their personal stance.
Internationally, the practice has been banned far longer. The European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals explicitly prohibits declawing as a non-curative surgery. Most of Europe, the U.K., Australia, and Brazil outlawed it years ago. The U.S. is a relative latecomer to this shift.
Why Fewer Vets Will Do It
Even where declawing remains legal, many veterinarians now decline to perform it. Banfield Pet Hospital, the largest corporate veterinary chain in the U.S. with over 1,000 locations, does not support or offer elective declawing. Their policy states there are “no current surgical techniques or protocols that would create an exception for an elective declaw.” Surgical removal of toes or nails at Banfield can only happen when medically necessary to relieve pain or illness.
The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) strongly opposes declawing as an elective procedure and calls it an obligation for veterinarians to provide cat owners with alternatives instead. Their position is blunt: the procedure is an amputation of the last bone in each toe, not simply a nail removal. They also recommend against tendonectomy (a less common alternative that severs the tendon controlling the claw) because it causes nail overgrowth, requires more intensive claw maintenance from the owner, and can still lead to chronic discomfort.
The American Veterinary Medical Association takes a slightly softer stance, saying declawing “should be considered only after attempts have been made to prevent the cat from using its claws destructively” and that the decision should be made by owners in consultation with their vet. In practice, though, many individual vets have stopped offering it based on the accumulating evidence of harm.
What Declawing Actually Involves
Declawing is not a manicure. The standard procedure, called onychectomy, removes the entire last bone of each toe using a blade, a guillotine-style clipper, or a surgical laser. The surgeon must remove all of the tissue responsible for nail growth to prevent the claw from partially regrowing, which can cause serious complications. Think of it as amputating each of your fingers at the last knuckle.
The alternative procedure, tendonectomy, cuts the tendon that controls claw movement so the cat can no longer extend its claws. The claws stay in place but become non-functional. This sounds less invasive, but the AAFP specifically recommends against it. The nails keep growing unchecked and can curl into the paw pads without diligent trimming, creating new problems.
Long-Term Risks for Declawed Cats
A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery compared 274 declawed and non-declawed cats and found striking differences. Declawed cats were 7.2 times more likely to urinate or defecate outside the litter box, 4.5 times more likely to bite, and 2.9 times more likely to have back pain. They were also about 3 times more likely to over-groom to the point of hair loss.
The litter box problems likely stem from paw pain. Walking on and digging in litter can be uncomfortable after amputation surgery, so cats start avoiding the box entirely. The increase in biting makes sense too: a cat that has lost its primary defense mechanism relies more heavily on its teeth. Back pain appears to result from changes in how declawed cats distribute their weight when they walk, since they’re missing a bone that normally bears load in each step.
These aren’t rare complications. They’re statistically significant patterns across the population of declawed cats, and they can emerge months or years after surgery.
When a Vet Will Still Remove Claws
Every ban and every organizational position statement carves out an exception for medical necessity. A vet will still remove a claw or toe when a cat has a tumor affecting the toe, a severe chronic infection that hasn’t responded to other treatment, or traumatic damage to the claw bed that causes ongoing pain. In these cases, removing the affected digit is a therapeutic decision, not an elective one. The AAFP emphasizes that any medically necessary claw surgery requires thorough pain management using multiple types of medication at adequate doses and duration.
Alternatives That Work
If scratching is the problem you’re trying to solve, there are several approaches that don’t involve surgery.
- Nail caps: Small plastic covers glued over each claw. They prevent damage to furniture and skin but let the cat keep normal paw function. They need to be replaced every 4 to 6 weeks as the nails grow out.
- Regular nail trimming: Trimming your cat’s claws every 1 to 2 weeks (especially for kittens) keeps them blunt enough to minimize damage. Most cats can be trained to tolerate this with patience and treats.
- Scratching post training: Cats scratch to stretch, mark territory, and shed old claw sheaths. Providing sturdy scratching posts and luring your cat to them with catnip, treats, or toys redirects the behavior. When your cat scratches furniture, gently move them to the post and reward them there.
- Environmental deterrents: Double-sided tape or textured covers on furniture make those surfaces unappealing to scratch, pushing cats toward their designated posts instead.
These alternatives require more ongoing effort than a one-time surgery, but they preserve your cat’s normal anatomy and avoid the behavioral and pain-related fallout that declawing carries. Most veterinary organizations now consider exhausting these options a prerequisite before even discussing surgical approaches.