Feline onychectomy: Current practices and perceptions of veterinarians in Ontario, Canada

The objective of the study was to determine the proportion of practitioners from Ontario, Canada who perform onychectomy, identify the techniques utilized, and obtain practitioners views on the procedure. An anonymous survey was distributed to Ontario Veterinary Medical Association members. Mann-Whitney U-tests were used to compare responses of opinion questions related to declawing between respondents who indicated they perform declawing procedures and those who do not. Of 500 respondents, 75.8% reported performing onychectomy, with 60.1% of those reporting performing the procedure less than monthly and 73.3% only performing the procedure after recommending alternatives. Statistically significant differences were found between those who do and those who do not perform onychectomy for perception of procedural pain, concept of mutilation, perception of procedural necessity for behavior modification or prevention of euthanasia, and support of province-wide procedural bans.