Saskatchewan is the latest province to ban cat declawing and the eighth one in Canada to do so.

This procedure removes all of the cat's toes at the first knuckle, can cause the cat immense pain and affects how they bear weight for the rest of their lives. 

Many cat owners use this procedure to avoid wrecked furniture or other household items as cats need to scratch but don't always have a good outlet to do so. 

Dr. Lisa Cunningham, Veterinarian with the Moose Jaw Animal Clinic, says there are other things you can do to keep your cat from scratching at furniture.

"You can provide good scratching surfaces, often when we provide them posts, that's usually enough. If they still continue to do that there are products we can put over their nails," says Cunningham.

Cunningham also says this ban was a long time coming, as it has been a topic of discussion for years. 

"There was a lot of resistance to the switch. A lot of people have declawed cats so when they have indoor cats and they are sure they won't scratch things, it's a scare for them to get a new cat and not be able to get it declawed," says Cunningham.

Cunningham says if a cat’s nails are properly trimmed, it will reduce the desire to scratch on items you wouldn’t want them to.

Saskatchewan is behind British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., and Newfoundland and Labrador is banning cat declawing.