The Windsor-Essex County Humane Society is getting on board with a push against declawing cats.
The Ontario Veterinary Medical Association has released a statement asking veterinarians to rethink offering the procedure, which can alter normal behaviours in the animals.
The Humane Society's Executive Director, Melanie Coulter, says many cat owners don't realize what's actually being done.
"The reality is, you're amputating the final joint of the digit and that's a major invasive surgery and we had someone comment on our page that said that they saw the procedure when they were working in a vet clinic and would never do it to their cat after they'd seen it," says Coulter.
According to Coulter, many local vets are asking cat owners not to do it.
"There are some veterinarians that really discourage people from performing the procedure, especially from performing it routinely and that really talk to the owners about if they've considered other options," says Coulter. "So more and more as position statements like this come out, I think it will just spread."
She says at one time this was very common.
"Twenty years ago you had it fixed and declawed and that was the thing you would do with your new cat, but now, more and more, as people are realizing this isn't something that you have to do, this is something that, ideally, you shouldn't do and look at alternatives to keep your cat safe and happy and keep your furniture in one piece as well," says Coulter.
The practice of declawing cats has already been banned in the UK, Europe, Australia and several US cities.