JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It's the day that both the cat and the cat owner dreads, nail clipping day.
A new bill would make it, so cat owners would have to keep on clipping those cat nails.
"It used to be you got your cat spayed or neutered and declawed at the same time, and now people are thinking more about that," said Dr. Katie Greene.
Greene sees her fair share of cats in a given workday at Intracoastal West Veterinary Hospital.
But, not many of them are declawed - in fact, she says it's rare for someone to bring her a declawed cat these days.
"The school I graduated from, that wasn't something they taught us," said Greene. "We know how to do it. They really felt strongly it wasn't a procedure we should be doing."
It could get even rarer - with a bill proposed in the Florida Senate that would ban the operation altogether.
Under the bill, not only could cat owners be penalized with a $1,000 fine, but any veterinarian who declaws a cat could be hit with fines of up to $5,000, be placed on probation or get their license revoked.
"We are in a customer service industry, and I think sometimes we can feel pressure from clients if they want something done we don't want to do, so I think that'll help push people to not want to do it so much," said Greene.
Greene says she's noticed more arthritis issues in declawed cats because it changes the way they walk.
She says it may also cause cats to have issues with the litter box because digging in the litter could cause them pain after having the surgery.
This bill was just introduced in the Senate last week. It's going to have quite a bit of votes to go through, so there'll be quite a bit of squirming just like this kitty.
If it is approved, it'll go into law in July.
The bill also addresses another furry favorite - dogs.
Some dogs love doing it, and we've all seen it - a head hanging out of the window. The bill would require dogs be in crates, harnesses or the lap of a person who isn't driving.
"In the back of trucks, I've seen a lot of really unfortunate injuries," said Greene. "If you're going really fast, that can be devastating."
If it becomes law, any car with a dog's head out the window would be committing a non-criminal traffic infraction, which state law says carries a $60 fine.
The American Humane Society reports an unrestrained 10 pound dog in a 50 mile an hour crash exerts 500 pounds of force.
An 80 pound dog in a 30 mile per hour crash exerts 2400 pounds of force.
"From a safety perspective, that's probably an ideal situation, that the dogs are in some kind of seat belt just like we are."
Greene wouldn't be opposed to a little compromise on the idea, however.
"It'd be nice if they could at least be able to stick their noses out, but maybe not have enough space for their whole body to fly out," said Greene.
First Coast News reached out to Florida Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book.
She provided the following statement about the bill she proposed:
“Our family has three dogs – two of which are almost 175 pounds each and love sticking their heads out the window – so I welcome and appreciate all public comment on this issue, which is only one piece of a complete proposed overhaul of the state’s animal welfare system as brought to me by veterinarians and advocates.
We can easily amend this piece out of the bill while protecting the intent of the animal welfare community and vets who proposed the policy because of unintended injuries they’ve treated — and we will. In the meantime, let’s all invest in a good pair of “doggles” to keep our furry friends safe.”
A spokesperson for Book's office says that statement means she does intend to amend the portion about dogs hanging out of windows out of the bill before it sees a final vote.