Because cat owners are experiencing problems with their declawed cat after the operation it is common for them to take their cats back to the veterinarian who carried out the operation 1-2 weeks later. A vet tech said that they often stop using the litter tray and “are not being themselves”.
The information comes from one vet tech whose words have been posted on Facebook. I’ve seen other vet techs saying the same thing. And her words almost certainly echo that of very many ancillary workers working in America’s veterinary clinics.
Her words are repeated verbatim below and I will pick out one or two of the sections which strike home to me. She honestly believes that declawing makes cats more aggressive. She says that she has only ever been bitten at the clinic by declawed cats.
Another point she makes is that declawing does not stop cat abandonment. This is the point I made earlier in another post. The veterinarians, in defence of their objectionable behaviour, state that declawing saves lives because they say it stops owners abandoning their cats to shelters where they are euthanized. This vet tech says that that statement is untrue. It is untrue. It is a blatant lie in defence of an operation which is completely unjustified and immoral.
Another very important point that she makes is that a lot of vet techs are forced to work at declawing veterinary clinics against their wishes because it is hard to find a job in a veterinary business where they don’t de-claw. They have to stomach a veterinary procedure which they find distressing and objectionable in order to work in the business. This simply is not right. And they can’t speak up because they fear that they would lose their job.
This particular individual works at a Fear Free and AAHA certified/accredited veterinary clinic. It is highly rated as one of the best veterinarians in the area where she lives. She can’t understand why the vets there continue to declaw cats. Comment: I can’t understand why they are highly rated when they carry out an operation which is categorically against the oath of all American veterinarians to do no harm to animals. Remember, the declawing operation does harm to cats for the convenience of their owner, NOT because it has to be carried out for cat health reasons.
Another aspect of this person’s statement is shocking to me. She says that they don’t even take the cats into a sterile surgery room but use nail clippers or a scalpel to do it in their preparation wing. It’s brutal. As I said before, veterinarians carry out this mutilation of cats in a very casual and perfunctory manner which often leads to botched operations causing interminable pain in cats until, perhaps, a good veterinarian repairs the damage by taking out shards of bone from the toes. You think I’m making this up, don’t you? Well, I’m not.
You think that because I hate declawing, I exaggerate stuff and make outrageous statements about the operation. I don’t. I simply repeat what I read on the Internet as I’m doing in this instance.
My message to all cat caregivers in the United States who are thinking about declawing their cat is DON’T DO IT! You will regret it.
The vet tech’s statement
“When I started working at the hospital, I’m at I had no idea they declawed cats. I feel horrible that I’ve been a part of it even though I am not the one doing it and only have helped with recovery. They are Fear Free and AAHA certified/accredited and are rated highly as one of the best vets in the area so I didn’t know they did this.
They do not even feel the need to take the cats into a sterile surgery room for the procedure and do it on a table in our preparation wing. They use nail clippers or a scalpel to do it. They are also one of the only vets that still will do all four paws.
The cats wake up in a lot of distress and pain. I see a lot of them come back in for appointments 1-2 weeks later because they stopped using the litter box and are not being themselves. I’d say 7/10 cats I see declawed aren’t even aggressive cats it’s usually about furniture.
I tried keeping an open mind about it but seeing it firsthand only made my beliefs against declawing stronger. Lots of veterinary technicians hate it but they don’t say anything because so many vets do it and it can be hard finding a job where none of the vets do it.
I honestly think it makes cats more aggressive. The only cats who have ever bit me didn’t have their claws.
And it doesn’t keep them out of the shelter because I’ve worked with shelter animals and plenty of them are declawed.”
SOME MORE ON DECLAWING COMPLICATIONS:
