What percentage of cats are declawed?

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Thirty-one percent (31%) of all domestic cats in the United States are declawed; it is said (source: www.paw-rescue.org - Jennifer Dougherty).

I had thought that the figure was nearer 20% but it seems that I was wrong. However, the AVMA (America Veterinary Medical Association) estimate that 25% of cats in the city of Los Angeles are declawed (source: advocatesforfacts.org). I don't know if LA is a typical city in respect of declawing. This information comes from a National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy which found that 25 percent of all cats in the United States are declawed.

Other than the above, I don't think there are any clear figures compiled from a formal nationwide survey. The AVMA estimate indicates that.

If there are about 80 million cats in the USA, 31% of that figure is 24.8 million declawed cats.

It appears that the cost of declawing varies enormously from about $60 to about $300. It is a fast operation despite the severity of it (15 minutes?). If we say the average cost is about $100 (conservative price perhaps), the declaw market to vets is worth in total: $2,480,000,000 dollars USD or about 2.5 billion dollars.

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