Coastal Cat Clinic does NOT recommend that you declaw your cat.  Declawing is NOT just a short nail trim.  It is a painful surgery which involves amputating each of the kitty's toes at the last knuckle joint.  Most cats can be trained to use scratching posts, corrugated cardboard flats, or use Soft Paws nail caps. 

However... we also understand that some cats are incorrigible and that some owners have special medical concerns or circumstances which make declawing (for them, not the cat) a necessity.  If a cat *must* be declawed, we believe that it is most humane to do it with our CO2 laser.  The laser cauterizes as it cuts, so we do not have to use tourniquets or pressure wraps (which can cause a lot of other long or short term  complications in and of themselves!) as you would with a standard procedure.  There is significantly less bleeding and painfulness after a laser declaw versus a regular declaw.  We do wrap  the feet lightly after surgery to protect the incision sites overnight, but it is NOT a pressure wrap, and the kitties are typically able to walk fairly well the day after surgery when they are discharged to their owners with a special litter to be used for about a week afterwards.  

To the best of my knowledge,  Coastal Cat Clinic is the only facility in Onslow County with laser capability.

At Coastal Cat Clinic, we encourage people to have their kitties spayed and neutered as young as about 4 months of age (4 pounds body weight).  At this age, they will not be old enough yet to be in heat, pregnant, or typically mature enough to start spraying urine in the house, and at that size/age they are typically mature/large enough to handle anesthesia well.  Despite wives tales to the contrary, cats do NOT need to be at least 6 months of age and do NOT need to have a litter before being spayed or neutered.  In fact, there are many specially equipped shelters and humane associations in the US these days that are spaying and neutering kittens at 2 months of age and younger  without any sort of long term problems.

We offer discounted prices for kitties spayed and neutered under 6 pounds since the procedure prevents many problems such as pet overpopulation and doing surgery on juvenile patients is usually a much simpler surgery with faster recovery times and fewer complications for the patients!  We can also declaw kitties at the time of their spay/neuter if that is something that is going to be done so that hopefully the cat only has to be under anesthesia once in their lives!  

You can call our office to discuss prices and the procedures in more detail during normal office hours, or drop us an e-mail.

In an effort to help curb the significant pet overpopulation in our area, Coastal Cat has instituted this special program to help surgically sterilize the wild/stray cats who most other clinics are often not willing to even try to touch. Please spay or neuter any ferals you choose to feed since one cat can turn into hundreds of cats in just a few years.

Got a stray mama kitty that keeps leaving you litters of kittens to find homes for (or to get squished on the road) once or twice every year? Or a stray tom that keeps spraying your yard and terrorizing the neighborhood? If you can get them in, either by coaxing them into a carrier or trapping them in a humane live trap, we offer special discounted rates on spaying/neutering the ferals in the community. These surgeries are NOT what we would recommend for your regular pet kitty since they will not get as much quiet recovery time and supervision or extra pain medications, but it will at least sterilize the kitties and get them at least this one rabies vaccine so that they are not reproducing and probably causing a lot less havoc in the neighborhood. No frills, but it gets the job done!

As part of the feral spay/neuter program, the left ear will also be "tipped" at the time of surgery to signal to neighbors (and animal control) that this cat has already been spayed or neutered. Ear tipping is also recognized world-wide as part of the trap-neuter-return programs. This way the same cat will not be trapped repeatedly by other well-meaning individuals for another surgery. Also, Animal Control recognizes the trimmed ear as well and will not typically trap and destroy spayed/neutered ferals unless they become a public nuisance.

Cats must arrive in a live trap or in a carrier/cage in good condition. A carrier must also be provided for the cat to recover in and return home. We may be able to rent you a live trap as our two cycle through and return to us. Animal Control also can rent you a live trap. Our trap rental fee is refunded to you entirely when you return the trap in good condition.

You may choose to add combo testing for feline leukemia and feline aids, deworming, distemper vaccination, etc at additional cost.

For more information on feral cats and what you and others can do to help out, please visit these web sites:

 www.alleycat.org (national)

 www.friendsoffelines.com (local)