How much does it cost to have a kitten declawed and fixed?
The cost of any veterinary procedure varies from city to city and from vet to vet. The cost of a declaw is usually $50-$200, and a spay or neuter anywhere from $100-$250. Neutering (male) is usually less expensive than a spay (female), as they don’t have to put the cat entirely under anesthesia, it’s a quicker procedure, and the recovery time is less. There are also many low-cost spay/neuter clinics that will do it for closer to $30-$60. Check with your kitten’s vet for their pricing, or ask around at different vets near you.
Please be aware that many vets will no longer declaw cats. The procedure is considered inhumane and unnecessary except in medical emergencies and it has been proven to lead to behavioral problems. Declawing a cat involves amputating the tip of each toe, which is incredibly painful and prone to complications. A large amount of declaw surgeries are unsuccessful and after a long and painful recovery the claws will grow back, sometimes misshapen so that the only way for the cat to use their paws comfortably is to be put through the same painful surgery all over again. It is common for declawed cats to lose the ability to walk properly afterwards, and to develop aggressive behaviors. Claws are an essential part of a cat’s way of communicating; they use them to mark their territory, defend themselves, hunt, and let people know when they’re getting annoyed. While it may be nice for your cat to be unable to scratch, they will also usually resort to biting before any other warnings and become much less social around people, as they will become unable to communicate to them in a way that is natural to them. If your cat is ever let outside or lost, they will also have a very difficult time catching food or defending themselves. If you would like to keep your cat from scratching your furniture, provide them with multiple cat trees and scratching posts around the house and whenever they try to scratch on anything you don’t want them to, firmly tell them “no”, pick them up, and put them on something it’s acceptable to scratch on. When they scratch on one of these on their own, give them praise and treats, and soon enough they’ll learn.
I think it cost me about 50 dollars to get my cat fixed in Oklahoma. I wouldn’t recommend declawing your kitten, though. You should instead teach her not to claw things by getting a spray bottle and giving her a spritz everytime she does something you would rather she not do. But you have to spray her while she’s doing it, otherwise she won’t understand. When she’s older, you can get “soft paws” which are little plastic caps that go over their claws. Much more humane!
