Editor’s note: Dr. Lee Pickett has retired, but Creators continues to distribute columns from her archive. This one is from 2020. Q: I recently adopted a kitten named Joy from a rescue that prohibits ...

Cat declawing (also called onychectomy) is the amputation of the first digital (toe) bones in a cat’s paw, including the nail bed and claw. It’s done to stop a cat’s natural scratching behavior. While ...

Two new animal welfare laws go into effect in Massachusetts on April 8 One of the laws bans the declawing of cats Declawing causes serious pain and behavioral problems for the cats involved, according ...

Because there is a lack of rigorous long-term studies on declawing cats, the consequences of this practice have been long underestimated. Yet research we conducted in Quebec shows that declawing ...

Correction: an earlier version of this story said the law went into effect immediately when it was signed. In fact, it becomes law Jan. 1, 2026. On Oct. 9, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that ...