Declawing Is By Choice Not by Necessity

Declawing Is By Choice Not by Necessity

by Ruth
(England)

BETRAYED  AND DELIBERATELY CRIPPLED

BETRAYED AND DELIBERATELY CRIPPLED

How anyone can put their cat through the unnecessary and painful operation called declawing and still profess to love their pet, is beyond understanding.

My inspiration for this article was from Tracey, a friend/fellow anti declaw advocate who has given me permission to use her comments used on another article, for this article too: Declawing kittens is cruel

Tracey is devastated that if the treatment her cat is currently having for a virus which has attacked his mouth fails, he must have all his teeth removed for his own sake.

She did her homework when the vet mentioned having her cat’s teeth extracted, both in terms of his current medication and the possible conclusion, because the conclusion sounded far too awful to contemplate.

She searched hard to see if there were any alternatives, she would pay any amount of money for more treatment if there was.

Her heart is aching at the possibility of having her cat going under anesthetic for the extraction of his teeth, even though she knows his mouth will heal and he will be happier and in much better health when this healing has taken place.

Not so for cats being declawed, that operation is never for the benefit of the cat and will not make the cat happier and healthier. In fact that perfectly healthy cat will have been deliberately disabled for no reason.

How can anyone arrange for the amputation of their cat’s toe ends, without a thought for the suffering and fear that cat will face? Even those people who don’t realise the full horror of declawing and what it actually is, must surely know that if it was simply the claws being removed, a bad enough operation, how painful, frightening and distressing it must be for a cat to be handed over to strangers and have that happen to them.

Yet they do hand over their cat and pay a vet to perform ten amputations (sometimes eighteen if the back feet are declawed too) without a thought as to what their cat will be going through physically AND mentally?

Some people think a neuter/declaw package is fine because the kitten only undergoes one anaesthetic, but when that poor kitten awakes she is in more pain from the amputation of her toe ends than from being spayed, which is an internal operation.

Spaying is a kind and necessary procedure done for the sake of the cat and from which she will soon recover and be healthier and happier for life.

A declawed cat can NEVER recover, she is disabled for life. No one can tell me they love their cat yet have her declawed!

Kattaddorra signature Ruth

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Declawing Is By Choice Not by Necessity

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May 17, 2010 The pain of declawing from one who knows
by: Ruth

We have permission to quote this written by a vet tech who we will not of course identify as she is in the precarious position of working for a clinic in which one vet declaws. She hates the procedure but feels she can do more good by ensuring the welfare of her patients by being there on the spot and she can also help educate people as to the cruelty of declawing.
She says:
'Even with our supposedly superior methods of pain control, we still routinely have declawed cats tearing off their bandages and thrashing in pain upon awakening from the operation. It was the sheer amount of pain control medication that we give these cats that first clued me in to how truly odious this procedure is.
Typical pain control protocol for a declaw at the clinic where I work includes both pre- and post-operative injections, nerve-block injections in the paws, oral meloxicam to go home with, and the application of a transdermal fentanyl patch- this last of which is such a strong opiod-based painkiller that, when used in human medicine, I have heard it is typically only prescribed for the terminally ill’

This demonstrates just how much agony cats suffer from declawing and we already know that some vets not only declaw, but give clients the choice of pain medication by paying extra ! The thought of how many cats are suffering from this senseless abuse is heart breaking.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


May 07, 2010 Newsletter
by: Jane

Merrily please send it to me
janeayre24@yahoo.co.uk

If I get targeted with giving my email address that's too bad,I've nothing important to lose on there.
This is very important.


May 07, 2010 Helpless to do anything
by: Ruth

Unfortunately I haven't received the link to the newsletter and despite an extensive search I can't find it, so there's nothing we can do.
That untrue information will possibly cost many cats their toe ends as ignorant people wanting their cats declawed will choose to believe it.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


May 07, 2010 Newsleter
by: Carol

What happened about the newsletter?Did anyone contact them to tell them to put their information right?


May 02, 2010 I don't understand
by: Angel

I'm like Finn and can't get that picture out of my mind.
How can people have this done to innocent creatures?
I don't understand why they have cats and then put them through this torture.


May 02, 2010 To Merrily
by: Ruth

The web-med newsletter hasn't reached me,please can you send it again.Sorry to be a pest but it's very important we put them right.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


May 01, 2010 Poor little cat
by: Finn Frode, Denmark

I just can't get that picture of the cat with the bandaged paws off my mind.
Declawing does not solve anything - it only creates new problems. Poor little cat that has to go through this for no reason at all. Poor little cat...


Apr 30, 2010 Ozzie
by: Tracey

Ruth your article was so passionate. I love my Maine Coon Ozzie dearly so you can imagine my anguish when my vet told me he may have to have his teeth extracted at only a year old.

You are right though; people do not love their pets if they happily opt for totally unnecessary surgery.

For me that poor cat in that picture says it all; how can anyone do that? The look on that cats face is not just the after effects of the anaesthetic; it is sheer horror at what has been done to its paws.

Thank you to the Ozzie well wishers; I'll let you know how he gets on.


Apr 30, 2010 To Merrily
by: Ruth

Thanks Merrily, could you please send me it at
kattaddorra(at)googlemail.com
(Hoping not to get innudated with spam by putting at instead of @)

Countless more cats will probably be declawed if people read that wrong information !
We need to get on to Web-Med asap
I and the USA key fighters against declawing are very grateful to you for telling us about this.

Kattaddorra signature Ruth


Apr 30, 2010 To Ruth
by: Merrily

Ruth,
I saved the e mail and would be happy to forward it to any one who is interested.
As long as this type of information is made public, people will believe it, especially those who want to declaw their cat in the first place.
I watched a film the other day on how animals that are raised for meat consumption are treated in the USA. I couldn't hold back the tears after seeing the film.
Is it any wonder why so many cats are declawed in the USA. The attitude of many people in this country toward animals is shameful.


Apr 30, 2010 Sure enough
by: Babz

Bad enough that vets are unethical enough to actually perform declaws but to spread misinformation like this online to get themselves more business is as low as it gets!Boycott vets who declaw.

Barbara avatar


Apr 30, 2010 Web-Med are wrong
by: Ruth

Hi again Merrily,there is definately no way of declawing a cat by removing 'only' the claw.
To quote one expert reply:
There is NO way to just remove the claw - the claw and bone are one digit - the claw is deeply imbedded into the bone. If you don't remove bone, the claw will just grow back - it would be like a nail trim at the base of the paw. You have to remove the entire nail bed along with it - which is BONE - the 3rd phalanx bone. Declawing is separating the 3rd phalanx bone/claw from the 2nd phalanx bone.
And to quote a Veterinarian's reply too:
I've heard that "non-declaw declaw" nonsense before. Not anatomically possible.

Merrily,please can you give us the link to Web-Med, we need to contact them to stop spreading this misleading rubbish.


Apr 29, 2010 ONLY the claw removed ?
by: Carol

Is that not bad enough?
It doesn't matter how much of the cat's essential parts are removed,ONLY the claw or part of the toe also,it's WRONG.
It's unneccessary surgery under unneccessary anaesthetic no matter what anyone says to try to justify it.


Apr 29, 2010 Fat chance
by: Ted

Merrily there's fat chance of educating the educators when they look upon cats as second class to dogs.
If declawing was illegal there wouldn't be as many cats abandoned.The scumbags who only want them if they can be declawed wouldn't have cats in the first place.


Apr 29, 2010 To Merrily
by: Ruth

Thank you for telling us about Web-Med.
As far as I know there is NO method of declawing which removes 'only' the claws,because the claws would grow back.
There are some vets pushing laser declawing to pay for the expensive machines they've invested in and some people think that 'only' removes the claws.
However I've emailed our expert contacts in the USA to check on this and will come back to you when I hear from them.


Apr 29, 2010 Bad enough when it is necessary
by: Babz

I totally agree Ruth, as my comment title says, it's bad enough subjecting a cat to an anaesthetic and the trauma of surgery when it is necessary for their health or to neuter tham, which of course also benefits their health. But to willingly subject them to the unnecessary and severely painful procedure of declawing where their healthy toe ends are amputated leaving them disfigured for life is so cruel as to rate, in my mind, as criminally insane and should carry a stiff penalty!

Barbara avatar


Apr 29, 2010 Boycott cruel vets
by: Anonymous

It fills me with rage too that people without a single intelligent brain cell have power over innocent animals that rely on them.
It goes back to the same old thing,why get a cat knowing full well it has claws and think it's OK to have it changed to suit them.
To cause any animal unwarranted pain and distress is the lowest of the low.
USA people PLEASE BOYCOTT those cruel vets who declaw and tell everyone you know to do that too.


Apr 29, 2010 Truth???
by: Merrily

Yesterday I recieved an Email from Web-Med, they now have a newsletter for your pets, as well as your own health.
In this newsletter de clawing was discussed, and the Vet said there are two kinds of de clawing cats, the traditional method which removed half of the toes along with the claw. And the more expensive method where only the claw is removed, and no portion of the toes. The Vet did say most Vets do not do this procedure because of it's high cost.
Herein lies the problem in the USA, Web-Med is highly thought of, and the web site where many people go to first when they themselves are having medical issues. It stands to reason that many people see them as the experts, and if THEY say declawing is OK then it must be.
Their newsletter that I recieved a month ago was pro declawing........this month less so, however they did say if a person is going to take the cat to a shelter, or turn it loose, because of clawing or scratching then declawing is advised.
Can you see the reason that you hear from so many people in the USA defending de clawing? The experts are telling them that you are wrong!!!
Please understand, I DO Not believe in de clawing for any reason, but I understand why this is such an up hill battle. We have to educate the educators!!!


Apr 29, 2010 No No No
by: Sue

No no no-one loves their cats if they declaw them.
No one in their right minds would hand over their cat without finding out what will happen to them.I'm so sick of the'I didn't know it was more than the claws'whiners.Wouldn't the claws be enough anyway?Why should a cat be put under aneasthetic for anything other than essential surgery to make their life better like Tracey's cat my have to be.
Those vets who do it and those people who have it done to their cats should be forced to have surgery on themselves first,to see how it feels.
It's nothing short of criminal.


Apr 29, 2010 declawing is "elective mutilation"
by: Susan

I agree Ruth, no one that truly loves their animal would EVER, EVER de-claw, de-bone, de-knuckle, de-phalanx them - absolutely NEVER! NO EXCUSES!!!


Apr 29, 2010 Same here
by: Kathryn

That picture says it all,it's a REAL cat with bandaged paws concealing purposefully mutilated toes.This is happeing EVERY day in the USA and Canada to millions of cats.
The cruelty of people having this done is untold.
Tracey I read about your cat on the other page and I'm so sorry,I hope he gets better with the treatment.
Compared with people choosing to put their cats through surgery,you who may have no choice but to do it to yours must be feeling wretched at the very idea of it.
Take care.


Apr 29, 2010 Rage
by: Rose

Whenever I see that photo or similar ones of cats after declawing surgery,I feel a helpless rage bubbling up in me.I want to shout STOP THIS NOW.
I honestly don't know how anyone can put their cat through this totally needless operation.
Tracey I hope the treatment your cat is on does stop him having to have his teeth extracted.I'd be devastated too if it was one of mine.
But if it comes to it,you will do it for love not for your own selfish ends and yes your cat will recover.
As Ruth says,cats NEVER recover after the cruel amputations some people think are an acceptable price to pay to live with them.
Well if I was a cat I'd rather be dead because living with a person who would do that to me would be hell on earth.
They shouldn't ever have cats,they don't love cats,they are selfish morons.


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