Phone Counseling for Inquiries About Declawing

The practice should decide who will provide educational information to any clients requesting declawing. It is important to discuss responses with your entire team for consistency. Below are some examples on how to handle inquiries.

Initial Inquiry

Client – “How much does it cost to have my cat declawed?”

Practice – “May I first have your name and the name of your cat?”

Client – “Her name is (Meowington) and mine is (Janice).”

Practice – “Have we seen (Meowington) before, (Janice)?”

Client – “Yes/No”

Practice – “We actually don’t perform declawing procedures here at …

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Experiences from Practices that have Stopped Elective Declawing

Contained herein are real-world experiences that demonstrate how practices made the transition to no longer offer declawing as an elective procedure. They discuss various techniques and tactics that were applied in order to implement new policies and educate staff and clients, as well as share positive impacts. Below several practices provide their stories and feedback.

Banfield Pet Hospital

On January 1, 2020, more than 1,000 Banfield hospitals and the Mars Veterinary Health family of brands stopped the practice of elective declawing. Every medical procedure supported by Banfield has been put in place …

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Transmission

Courtesy of IDEXX. Copyright © 2020, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Reference: Hartmann, K., Clinical Aspects of Feline Retroviruses: A Review, Viruses 2012 Oct., 4, 2684-271

• Infected cats may begin to shed virus within 30 days of exposure
• Shed in saliva
• Less commonly shed in nasal secretions, milk, urine, or feces
• Transmitted mainly via oral nasal route and less commonly via bite wounds
• Spread horizontally among cats that live together or fight
• Spread vertically and horizontally from infected queens to their kittens
• Kittens more susceptible to becoming progressively infected than adult cats

FIV Transmission Principles

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Euthanasia in Cats in a Clinical Setting

Euthanasia is a term used to describe the ending of the life of an animal in a manner that minimizes pain, anxiety, and distress. The American Association of Feline Practitioners defines death resulting from compassionate and humane euthanasia as the unfortunate and unavoidable consequence of the need to end suffering.1 In veterinary medicine, euthanasia is the accepted solution to end pain and suffering when the cause for the suffering cannot be corrected.2…

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2019 AAFP Zoonoses Guidelines

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) has released updated Feline Zoonoses Guidelines to the veterinary community, which will appear in the November 2019 issue of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. In publishing these Guidelines, the AAFP aims to provide accurate information about feline zoonotic diseases to owners, physicians, and veterinarians to allow logical decisions to be made concerning cat ownership. There are many benefits of having pet cats; however, education is key to prevention of these common diseases, which are transmittable between animals and humans. With these Guidelines, the AAFP also aims …

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Information for Cat Owners about Cat Friendly Practices (CFP)

It can be stressful for both the cat and the cat owner to visit the veterinarian. The veterinary visit starts before you even arrive at the veterinary clinic with trying to get your cat in the carrier and the car ride to the practice.

Veterinary clinics are now becoming Cat Friendly Practices. This means that they have made changes to decrease stress and provide a more calming environment such as feline-only waiting areas and examination rooms. Their staff has also been trained in feline-friendly handling and understanding cat behavior in order …

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American Association of Feline Practitioners

Part 8 – Now You Can Begin to Make Changes in Your Practice

Now You Can Begin to Make Changes in Your Practice

Did you know that 83% of cats are taken to the veterinarian in the first year of ownership, yet over half of them don’t return? This is why it’s important for veterinary teams to educate cat owners on the importance of routine veterinary care. The AAFP has many resources to help veterinary teams, including the Cat Friendly Practice Program is an easy, comprehensive, step-by-step program to help practices create a solution to …

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2007 Feral Cats

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) strongly supports efforts to humanely control the feral cat population. These efforts include reducing the source of feral cats by encouraging owners to keep cats indoors (see statement on owned indoor cats), permanent identification methods so that lost cats can be returned to their owners (see statement on identification of cats) and education on responsible pet ownership. Pre-pubertal spaying and neutering is also encouraged to decrease the numbers of newborn cats.

Feline Practitioners recognize the need to decrease the current population of feral cats to improve their welfare and to …

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Veterinary Professionals FAQs

Confirming retrovirus status can be challenging in some situations. Understanding what to do with test results is confounded by multiple factors including patient status, lifestyle, recent exposures, and test sensitivities and specificities. The FAQ includes commonly asked questions and dilemmas as they are often encountered by clinicians.

+ Can I vaccinate for FeLV before testing? Does the FeLV vaccine interfere with test results?

Vaccination against FeLV does not interfere with testing for viral antigen using available point-of-care ELISA tests. However, there is no therapeutic value in administering FeLV vaccination to infected cats, and the vaccine would be …

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The Mission and History of the AAFP

The American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) supports its members in improving the health and wellbeing of cats through high standards of practice, continuing education, and evidence-based medicine.

Vision Statement

We are the trusted leaders in feline health and wellbeing for the veterinary community and cat caregivers.

Core Values

Mission and Member-driven: We work collaboratively and demonstrate a constant commitment to the best interests of our members.

Science-based: We lead with science, providing trusted and evidence-based information. We support veterinary teams in their education and awareness of feline health and welfare, increasing the …

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