Veterinary medicine: cat declawing.

The bill text was reformatted from a formal chaptered document (with page numbers, 'Ch. 479' headers, and 'AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' markings) into a web page layout with navigation links, search functionality, version history, and publication metadata.

Removed standalone Section 4830.9, which had created a separate misdemeanor prohibition on declawing any cat unless performed by a licensed veterinarian for therapeutic purposes. The declawing restriction is now handled entirely through the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act (Sections 4826, 4826.8, 4827, and 4883) rather than as an independent criminal statute.

Changed the coauthor from Senator Wiener to Assembly Member Caloza, while retaining Senators Arreguin, Stern, and Wiener as coauthors.

Removed the requirement that a veterinarian who determines declawing is necessary for a therapeutic purpose must prepare and file a written statement with the board (including the purpose and date of the procedure) and provide a copy to the cat's owner.

Added Section 4826.8(c), which explicitly states that the therapeutic-purpose requirement does not prohibit a veterinarian from performing nail trimming or applying nonsurgical scratching mitigation solutions, such as devices applied to the tip of a claw.

Added Sections 3.5 and 4.5 incorporating amendments proposed by AB 1502, operative only if both bills are enacted and AB 867 is enacted last. These changes add 'permit' alongside 'license or registration' throughout the disciplinary provisions of Section 4883 and authorize the board to place a license, registration, or permit on probation.

Line numbers removed throughout the bill text, converting from the numbered amendment format to clean enrolled format.

Passage dates added: 'Passed the Assembly September 9, 2025' and 'Passed the Senate September 8, 2025', along with signature lines for the Chief Clerk of the Assembly and Secretary of the Senate.

Amendment history headers removed (e.g., 'AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 3, 2025', 'AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2025') and coauthor names removed from the enrolled version header.

Legislative counsel's digest reformatted: removed 'as amended' reference and restructured to standard enrolled bill format.

The bill's scope was narrowed from prohibiting declawing on 'any cat or other animal' to cats and felines only. All references to 'animal' throughout the bill were changed to 'cat' or 'feline.'

The preemption provision was changed. The Assembly version stated the section would not preempt 'any local ordinance prohibiting the procedures.' The Senate version (new Section 5) limits this to local ordinances adopted before January 1, 2026, limiting feline declawing procedures.

The bill's legislative description was expanded from adding a single section (4830.9) to amending Sections 4826, 4827, and 4883 of, and adding Sections 4826.8 and 4830.9 to, the Business and Professions Code.

New Section 4826.8 was added, creating a standalone prohibition that feline claw removal procedures (onychectomy, tendonectomy, surgical claw removal, declaw) must be performed solely for a therapeutic purpose, with its own definition of 'therapeutic purpose.'

Section 4826 was amended to explicitly include 'performs a tendonectomy, onychectomy, or any type of claw removal on a feline' as an act constituting the practice of veterinary medicine, surgery, and dentistry (new subsection (e)).

Section 4827 was amended to explicitly exclude feline declawing procedures from the exemption that allows owners to practice veterinary medicine on their own animals. Owners can no longer perform these procedures on their own cats.

New subdivision (u) was added to Section 4883, making it grounds for the board to deny, revoke, or suspend a license or assess a fine for performing surgical claw removal, declawing, onychectomy, or tendonectomy on any feline for any reason other than therapeutic purpose.

Additional coauthors were added: Assembly Member Caloza and Senators Arreguin and Stern joined the original authors (Assembly Member Lee and Senator Wiener).

The definition of 'declawing' was narrowed from covering any animal's paw, claw, limbs, and toes to specifically a cat's paw, claw, limbs, and toes. This means the defined term no longer applies to declawing procedures performed on non-feline animals.

The exclusion for cosmetic procedures was changed from 'to make the cat animal convenient to keep or handle' to 'to make the cat convenient to keep or handle,' removing the redundant word 'animal' and reinforcing the cat-specific focus.

The definition of 'therapeutic purpose' was changed from 'jeopardizes the animal's health' to 'jeopardizes the cat's health,' further limiting the scope to cats.