
Veterinarians in the USA make at least $2.16 billion ($2,160,000,000) in total from cat declawing.
See Declawing Myths and Truths
It is important to recognise that declawing cats is big business. It is a important part of a veterinarian’s operation. It is the bread and butter of his work just like vaccinations, annual check ups, dental cleaning and so on. At a national level how much is it worth?
It is difficult to get a decent figure on the number of cats that are declawed in the USA. However, Wikipedia says:
It is estimated that 25% of owned cats in the United States are declawed (Patronek 2001)
This is about the only information we have. Fortunately, Patronek is a vet himself and a scientist. He has been involved in lots of studies on declawing. Accordingly, the estimate of 25% should be fairly accurate.
References:
- Number of owned (domestic) cats Humane Society. This figure is climbing. More cats to mutilate!
- Cost to declaw – see page.
- Cats declawed is one quarter of total number of domestic cats per Patronek DVM.
- Number of vets is universally agreed. As the number of vets who don’t declaw is insignificant compared to the total, I have made no deduction to the number.
- After care. Lots of cats need aftercare because of complications. This must be big business too, but it is unquantified.
The business end of cat declawing is a major reason why it exists. It is the foundation upon which it exists. For declawing to actually happen vets have to play their part. They are the key players in this macabre habit. If they all declined to stop declawing tomorrow it would entirely stop overnight. It is in their hands. I realise they will never give it up because it is their bread and butter. It puts dinner on their plate. It is irrelevant to them that it breaches their oath and is considered a criminal act over most of Europe and Israel.
For cat owners to stop requesting declawing will take decades for a culture shift to take place.
Spot on when you put it like that Michael