by Michael
Stock photo - copyright Stockxpert
All Creatures Animal Hospital mislead us because their advice on when cat declawing should or could take place is contradictory and subtly encourages the declawing of cats in using what I consider to be "weasel words" (misleading language designed to subtly trick us). I analysis their paragraph entitled "When should declawing be considered?" below.
Note: The veterinarians at All Creatures Animal Hospital have apparently removed a page from their website that stated that declawing insures a satisfactory relationship with the cat and that all cats should be declawed that spend 50% or more of their life in the house. If they had that page on their website it tells us quite a lot about their thoughts on declawing cats (make lots of money out of it!). I get the strong feeling that declawing cats is one of the most profitable procedures carried out by American veterinarians.
"Declawing is a drastic..solution..declawing may be the only option if the pet is to be kept in the home. This might be the case where the cat continues to damage the furniture"
This statement first implies that declawing (in being a "drastic" step to take) should be a last resort (in line with AVMA policy - it should actually never happen but for the time being I will work within the distorted rules as set out by the AVMA). Yet contradicting that they go on to state that where furniture "continues" to be damaged it can or should be carried out. As cats are always liable to damage furniture to a degree then declawing is liable to happen a lot. The sentence also hints at attempts to train a cat to stop scratching furniture ("continues") but because the number of cats that are declawed is so high (20+ million or about 40% of all domestic cats) we know that little or no effort is put into alternatives to declawing. The sentence is heavily contradictory and misleading.
"..or where the cat causes injuries to people during play or handling. Even the slightest scratch can have serious consequences (cat scratch fever) when a member of the household suffers from a severely debilitating disease"
This is plain scare tactics to encourage declawing cats. The overall incidence of cat scratch disease (CSD) in the USA is 0.038%1 and the cause of being scratched will invariably be due to the carelessness of the human. This might be because of play that is too rough for the cat. A cat simply reacts and most cat scratches will be caused in play with us. In fact most cases of CSD involve children2 (and not people "suffering a severely debilitating disease") unsurprisingly. It is down to their parents to teach them how to play with a cat. So it is in our control to stop this happening. The answer is not declawing the cat. These veterinarians don't discuss that. I wonder why?
When you ball together these factors:
- very low incidence of CSD
- it is caused by our behavior
- low percentage of people with a severely debilating disease and who keep a cat
- most cases of CSD concerns children
- the illness often is mild
It is fair to say that All Creatures Animal Hospital mislead us in providing an unbalanced viewpoint designed to encourage us to declaw our cats by frigthening us.
"In some cases the issue comes down to whether the owner should be able to keep their cat and have it declawed, or whether it should be removed from the home."
Once again All Creatures Animal Hospital mislead us. Firstly people are more likely to relinquish declawed cats than intact cats. The decision whether to keep a cat should be made before adopting a cat having all the information presented without bias (and therefore don't ask a USA veterinarian). The question we should ask is, "Am I able to care for this cat for the rest of its life without in any way inflicting any procedure upon it that is against the cat's interests?" If the answer is, "no", we should buy a large fluffy teddy bear instead.
Veterinarians have a duty to inform us in an unbiased manner. They are in a position of trust. When they mislead they are in breach of that trust and in doing so they perpetuate the mutilation of our innocent and vulnerable companion cats in complete defiance of their solemn oath.
All Creatures Animal Hospital have two branches one at 1894 Ohio Pike, Amelia, OH 45102 and the other at 8451 Beechmont Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45255.
I could NEVER have my beloved, sweet (shorthaired Exotic-Persian cat) declawed because I couldn’t stand the thought of the physical pain involved & potential emotional trauma…Two of my formerly “nice” upholstered kitchen chairs are now close to having near BALD spots from all the looong fibers he’s shredded, & then I dutifully trim them off…Of course, I don’t like it, but it’s a small “price” to pay… I’m happy to report that after having bought a really cute, horizontal, “chaise lounge” scratching piece from Chewy.com that it’s greatly reduced his chair scratching…g r i n s
Btw, 20 years ago I adopted a GORGEOUS, longhaired female who I’d heard had been “returned” to the shelter numerous times by previous adopters…I could hardly believe it…’Mrs. Beasley’ was one of THE most affectionate, (loved EVERYBODY) sweet girls who routinely ran down the hall to greet me everytime I came home…I quickly realized why this darling loving cat had been having problems finding her “forever home” …She wouldn’t use the litter box (& I experimented w/ all the numerous box types AND the whole gamut of all the different litters) with any regularity…(She even occasionally peed on my purses & shoes???) By the time our Vet finally figured out what the problem was after all her lab work always came back normal & there were no apparent health-related reasons for avoiding her litter boxes, I was STUNNED & so saddened…The fact that this sweet girl had been declawed sometime before she landed in the shelter…& not only on front feet, but her BACK FEET as well, was determined to be related to her…or, “our” problem…She probably experienced great pain upon entering her litter box right after her dreadful surgery…Although her pain & discomfort eventually went away…her assoc. with “p a i n + l i t t e r b o x” never left her…I could never EVER abandon her (how could I???) so I spent the next approximate 14 YEARS, on my hands & knees, scrubbing carpet, but it truly worth the effort & inconvenience…
Current EMOTIONAL turmoil…My cousin & her husband adopted their cat from a local shelter, & they instantly fell head over heels in love with ‘Laura’…She is their “child”…Sadly, my cousin is now in complete kidney failure 4 years later, & in order for her to be Registered on the Nat’l. Kidney Transplant list (the final effort to try & save her life…Her Dr’s & the Transplant Team have informed her she absolutely HAS TO…no “ifs, ands, or buts,” have ‘Laura’ declawed…front AND back… since the risk of ANY infection from even a MINOR scratch to my cousin could now
have devastating consequences…Since they can’t bear the thought of declawing ‘Laura’or permanently giving her up, they’re desperately trying to find an alternative in a relatively short amount of time…
Thank God, this all too common & barbaric “act” has become such a BIG Int’l. story of such interest, that now more & more & more people won’t even CONSIDER declawing their beloved cats…
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Poppy. If course I fully agree and well done in caring for your declawed cat. She may have had continuing discomfort due to bone shards in her paws. There are some vets who do repair surgery on declawed cats because a lot of these declaw operations are botched. The vet leaves shards of bone in the paw.
As for Laura, although I don’t endorse them, claw caps are one possible solution. Although someone other than your cousin would have to put them on. It is possible to virtually eliminate the chance of a cat scratch or play bite. You have to know your cat really well and know when she or he might play bite or use her claws in a non-aggressive way. Then you avoid those moments. A lot if not almost all cat scratches and bites inflicted on cat owners are caused by the owner inadvertently provoking the cat and often for the cat it is play of some description. Or trying to grab something from the person or redirected aggression – those sorts of things.
Good luck and thanks again for sharing.