The American Association of Feline Practitioners has just revised its position statement on declawing to STRONGLY OPPOSE declawing (onychectomy) as an elective procedure.

The position statement stresses the need for cat caregivers to understand that scratching is a natural feline behavior, and that declawing is a surgical amputation of the third phalanx (or ‘toe bone’).

A toolkit of resources has been created to assist in educating cat caregivers about why cats have claws, why cats scratch inanimate objects, best practices for living alongside a cat with claws, ideal scratching surfaces, training cats to scratch appropriately, and troubleshooting inappropriate scratching in the home.