Dr. Craig Tebeau earned a Bachelor Degree in Zoology from the University of Washington, Seattle in 1992. He completed a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at The University of Minnesota in 1996. Dr. Tebeau and his wife, Dr. Nettie Tebeau (also a veterinarian), worked as associate veterinarians until they purchased The Cat Doctor Veterinary Center, located south of Seattle, Washington in 2006.
Troubled by the practice of declawing cats, Dr. Tebeau officially announced his hospital’s decision to change from a policy of discouragement of the procedure to an outright ban of declawing in 2014:
“As a group of cat-loving cat owners, who happen to be veterinarians, we would never consider declawing one of our own cats. We have always been very actively discouraging to clients who requested declaw procedures, and in the last 5 years, we have seen very few people get through our robust discouragement protocol and actually still insist on having it done. Even with advanced pain management protocols and every pre-caution, we still felt that the procedure was a disfigurement which ultimately was 100% problematic, despite claims to the contrary. I felt it was time that we closed the door on those last hold-outs and just say, no more. Every one of our staff veterinarians, technicians and clients are cheering our decision, and I hope I can entice other veterinarians to join this movement.”
Dr. Tebeau is a member of the American Association of Feline Practitioners, the International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management, and the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association. Drs. Craig and Nettie have many companion cats, and they also enjoy companion house rabbits (exact numbers are not listed to protect the innocent).