Dr Glenn Mayer of the DisAbell Animal Hospital

It would be much easier to ‘bitch’ about declawing but we don’t do that,we ‘put our money where our mouth is’ instead.
We have done a lot of research to know what we are talking about and we know damn well that declawing costs cats homes.
We also know that according to the AVMA declawing should be only a last resort,the vet should give advice on the necessity of the cat scratching and on the alternatives instead of maiming the cat.
They should not advertise the major surgery as if it’s merely routine.
We give up our free time to try to stop this cruelty because we love cats and standing by watching them suffer is not an option to us.

UK cat lovers have been helping USA cat lovers to educate about declawing for over 3 years now.
The number of Americans and Canadians who now know it is not ‘just’ removing the claw (bad enough) it is amputation of the cats last toe joints, is growing daily.
A person who will only have an adapted cat is not a fit person to have a cat in their home.
They are the people who call them bad cats and don’t want them anyway when the physical or behavioural problems arise from the declawing.

Having done 2 years of data on declawed cats in Shelters I can tell you that there are countless numbers of cats relinquished to Shelters, many more are just thown out to fend for themselves, which is impossible with no self defence or claws to catch prey.
Look on Petfinder.com the declawed cats you see there are the ones that may be adoptable, many more are caged for life at no kill Shelters as unadoptable because of their problems, or killed at kill shelters.
Declawing does NOT save cats homes and it does NOT guarantee the cat a lifelong home, it does just the opposite.
Scratching is NOT bad behaviour in a cat, it is necessary behaviour and anyone who had trained in veterinary medicine knows that full well.
In the UK our vets never declawed even when it was legal here, declawing vets break their oath to cause no animal to suffer.
Yes there are actually American vets who refuse to declaw, they educate instead, just as we do with our articles and comments and posters.

Some of you do not want to accept the fact that other cat owners decide on the declawing, not the vet. Do you know any vets that refuse to do this?The sad fact is that some owners will not adopt a cat into their lives if it is not declawed. So are you so self-righteous as to say that the cat would be better off euthanized (i.e. murdered) or living its entire life in a shelter! And yes, it is a cheap shot to call a man that had surgery on his neck as “stiff necked!” Do you enjoy picking on the disabilities that some people have?

Other than this cheap shot at Dr. Mayer, what have you people done to educate other people about the pain associated with declawing? A moral person acts on their beliefs, but it’s much easier to just bitch about it, like this.

First and foremost, condolences to the family of Late Dr Gle.Mayer.We all have to die some day and ultimately our human legacy in deeds, words or in cyberspace is what keeps us alive.Dr Glenn owned and managed one of the best veterinarian clinics, something unbelievable in a developing World like India. The fact that Dr Glen encouraged “CAT DE-CLAWING” was his human failing towards the greed for monetary riches, partly encouraged by cat owners who consider cats as toys rather than natural living species.Dr Glenn definitely must have been a good veterinarian to have made a living and become wealthy from Veterinary services, but, he should have discouraged his cat owner clients fronm “De-CLAWING” their cats.He could have preached about cat owners switching over to “Dog Ownership” rather than encouraging them to convert their cats into artificial living pet toys.Genuine cat owners love their cats for their independent aloof identity, unlike dogs which always lap up to humans, hence controllable and ideal popular pets.I personally owned both cats and dogs and hence realize the unique behavioural differences in the two species which are the most common pets of humans.Cat owners, before owning a cat know the damage that a cat can cause with its claws on some of your furniture and de-clawing is not the solution to the problem but acceptance of this unique wild instinct behaviour of this small domestic “Big Cat”.

33 years of performing surgery on cats yet he had only recently realised cats feel pain and need pain medication for major surgery such as ten amputations of their toe ends.
Sorry as I am too for Dr Mayer’s loved ones it doesn’t change the fact that he made a video extolling the virtues of laser declawing which caused many cats pain and shock and left them crippled.
It’s no good being a caring compassionate vet if they don’t care and feel compassion for ALL their clients pets.
A caring compassionate vet wouldn’t promote the crippling of cats.
Dr Mayer was living and making money from this cruel surgery when this article was written so the ‘cheap shot’ remark is out of line.
Yes ‘owners’ are to blame for leaving their cat to be mutilated and they shouldn’t have ever had a cat to begin with as they obviously didn’t know claws are essential to a cat.
It was Dr Mayer’s job to tell them that but he didn’t,he chose to cash in on their stupidity while knowing their cats would pay the price.

While I am obviously sorry that Dr Mayer has passed away and my condolences go to his family I still stand by the article I wrote some time ago the contents of which cannot be disputed, Dr Mayer did promote declawing and he did cause pain and trauma to countless cats, yes most of the blame lies with the “owner” of the cat but people in Dr Mayer’s postition have an ideal opportunity to educate such “owners” and help them to find an alternative. That veterinary surgeons make themselves available to amputate vital and healthy parts of cat’s paws makes me angry and sickened. So RIP Dr Mayer but he did, and other vets who do declaw cats do them a great and cruel dis-service

R.I.P Doctor Mayer, but wonderful caring compassionate vets do NOT mutilate cats and especially do NOT advertise, encouraging ignorant people to have this cruel surgery done on them.
As he was ill and had physical problems himself you’d think he would have spared a thought for the cats he deliberately mutilated thus causing them pain and a lifetime of disablement.
Dying does not turn someone into a Saint.
Yes the cats caretakers must share the blame but declawing vets, like the late Doctor Mayer, must take the largest part of that blame.
They break their oath to cause no animal to suffer, there is no getting away from that fact.

Dr. Glenn Mayer passed away on December 9, 2011 after several health issues, one of which left him “stiff-necked” for his last few years. What a cheap shot! He was a wonderful, caring, compassionate vet that we used for 25 years. If you don’t like the idea of de-clawing a cat, your gripe should be with the owner, not the vet. Let’s put the blame where it really belongs.

It looks as if Kobe has skulked off,he must have seen that poor cat in the steel cage someone put the link to.
There is certainly no arguing once you’ve seen that picture because there is no denying that cat was in pain and misery.
I hope you expose some more of those vets who do this despicable thing Barbara.Michael is right, you write so well and if our comments help then let’s keep ’em coming guys….

Finn (several comments down) made a very good point. Searches for Dr. Mayer and Dr. Forsythe two vets who declaw come out top in a Google search above the vet’s own website.

This should have a real impact in educating clients who wish to go to these surgeries – I hope so anyway.

The important thing is this – the high search ranking of this page is down to Barbara for writing it so well and the great visitors who make comments. The more comments, the bigger the page and Google sees the comments as interest. It notices that people come here and stay and so ranks it higher.

You guys did this collectively. This is power. This is effective and I am truly impressed and pleased that we all did this together.

There is no reason why this process cannot be repeated for many more vets. That would be interesting.

‘Like I said before you are better off focusing your efforts on people who truly do abuse animals and not attacking vets or clinics that save animals day in day out’

But Kobe focusing our efforts on people who abuse animals is EXACTLY what we are doing.
Just because some abusers wear green scrubs to do it doesn’t make them exempt from our attention.
Why should we commend them for saving animals.After all that’s what they trained for and what they are paid for.
Saving some animals yet mutilating others earns them no respect at all.

Don’t waste any more time on Kobe,he/she is not worth it.
He/she picks the bits out to chew over and ignores perfectly sensible questions.But hey the good thing is the thousands reading these pages will see the desperate lengths pro-declaws are going to to back this extremely cruel and crippling operation for their own convenience.
Thousands will read about these unfeeling inhumane people and that makes more anti-declaws than ever before.
Keep it up Kobe and anonymous posters,you are digging yourselves deeper and deeper.
Then again like the cowards you are you can skulk off when declawing is stopped and pretend you were against it all along.

Why not?
Here they are again incase you missed them….

Why are vets like Mayer advertising supposedly LAST RESORT major surgery?Why give discount on it?How can someone book in a kitten for declawing before even taking it home?
Why are comments disabled on blogs by declawing vets or if not disabled the anti truths removed?

You reckon you know all about declawing so come on we are waiting…….

It doesn’t matter how much word-weaving and scientific pontificating is done in the effort to justify declawing, when it comes right down to the bottom line where is the moral justification of taking a perfectly healthy cat to a veterinary surgery, paying an amount of money, leaving the cat to suffer this sort of deliberate injury
https://pictures-of-cats.org/declawed-cat-suffering-in-small-steel-cage.html
and then going back when all the blood is cleaned away and the e-collar removed and the cat is resigned to being toe-end-less and taking him home disabled? But hey,as long as your furniture looks pretty what does it matter if your cats feet are mangled?
All would-be declawers should be forced to see the (above link) picture and several others that really show what is involved in declawing.

You say ‘This vet has done no specializing research on cats or declawing in particular’

Just hang in there Kobe and one day you’ll see just how much this lady has done/is doing.
She isn’t the only one either, it’s only a matter of time until you will have all the proof you need as to how cruel it is declawing cats.

Those are my final words to you because no matter what anyone says or how they say it, you twist their comments.
I’ll just look forward to the day when the whole world knows the truth and the premeditated abuse of cats is finally stopped.

Dr Glen.Mayer has raised a topic of intense debate amongst cat owners and fanciers worldwide also endorsing the power of the Internet.My two cats have damaged some of my house furniture due to the scratching habit, part of the normal negative habits of felines.I personally feel that pet owners unable to tolerate some derogative habits of their pets should’t own one or either switch over to a more suitable human companion animal, bird or fish pet.”De-Clawing” alters the entire personality of a cat although critics would say that castration and neutering also alters the behaviours of pets.The difference between “NEUTERING” and “De-CLAWING” is that neutering is harmless to the animal, in fact benificial to pets that owners don’t intend breeding as it prevents cancers and tumours in most cases. “De-Clawing” is amputation of the claws, permenantly altering the characteristic behaviour of the cat and having no benificial aftereffects on the animals health as doeas “Neutering”.Ultimately, the “Pet Industry” is a multi-billion dollar business in most “First World Country’s” and hence Veterinarians would canvass for the benifit of their own economic welfare and profession. Its upto us “PET-OWNERS’ to realise the difference between good and bad for our pets and hence make decisions for their life-time welfare.

Oh and another thing if you’re so friendly with Mr Mayer please please share with him Finn’s information about the Google search; I love the thought of having that self satisfied smile wiped off his smug face.

For Kobe. Take a look at this you uncompassionate moron. This is what your precious vet does every day to earn his blood money. Enjoy; I hope you’re happy. Look at that cats face and then come back on here and tell us all its just ‘a little pain’.

Please also read the comment from the person who had her cat declawed 20 years ago.

https://pictures-of-cats.org/declawed-cat-suffering-in-small-steel-cage.html

Funny, but when I do a Google search on “Dr Glenn Mayer”, the PoC article get listed first.

The same with another declawer, who has achieved notoriety on PoC, “Dr. Patricia Forsythe”.

I don’t know whether this kind of bad PR will ever stop a vet from declawing, but quite likely it will cause some of his or her clients to take their pets elsewhere. So keep the article coming.

I guess I’ll aim this one at Ruth since her post was trying to be less idiotic than everyone elses. Thank you for the link which refutes all of the AVMA’s guidelines on declawing. I found it hilarious that the source against the case is JAVMA. You do realize that the AVMA and JAVMA are the same thing right? So once again you have a conflicting argument. Let me put it more clearly, are you accepting the AVMA claims or are you accepting the AVMA claims? It’s the same thing. As for the actual website where all of these “facts” are, again they have been cherry picked once again and not very well at that. You do realize that the standard deviation between the figures is around 10% right? That number can indicated any number of variables. No scientist would call that a causative effect. One of the “facts” doesn’t even make sense “Inappropriate elimination was twice as common in declawed (52.4%) as intact cats (29.1%)”, that’s like comparing apples and the Thriller album, it makes no sense. These “facts” are all coming from 1 “eminent” vet, not a collection of vets like the AVMA. Your eminent vet also is not a diplomat of feline medicine (that means specialist / expert). The Dr. may really like cats, works very well with cats, even has alot of cat knowledge, but has done no specializing research on cats or declawing in particular. I also don’t see any conclusion statements on the JAVMA studies. You are simply taking 1 piece of the study and molding it to suit your needs. The littlebigcat seemed like such a reputable source too.

“Back to neutering, as I already said, that’s over with and the parts not missed. It does seem wrong that we have the power to deprive animals of their sex/reproductive lives but since we took over the caretaking of animals from Mother Nature we have to do her job”. The parts are not missed? You do realize that there is a direct correlation between testosterone and a fight or flight response and significantly more than just 10%. Fight or flight is much more critical than claws in terms of survival and behavior. Again I would like to state that neutering IS very important, but I am using this as an example of how you are talking out of both sides of your mouth on the issues.

I am not trying to change your mind on declawing. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it. You do not have condemn the people who perform or have declawing done. You call the vets who perform declaws monsters, butchers, ect. and it is totally unnecessary. Like I said before you are better off focusing your efforts on people who truly do abuse animals and not attacking vets or clinics that save animals day in day out.

LESS bleeding
LESS pain
Mayer mentions over and over again.

Realised AT LAST that cats can feel pain and may need medication

NEED to be declawed
Destroying the house
Hurting people

Who is this man trying to convince?I’ve heard of brainwashing,say something enough times and people will start believing it.
Not this time though because our brains are too advanced to accept and condone needless surgery to render cats defenceless.
You be brainwashed if you want to anonymous and Kobe but don’t try to tell us you are right.

That link Ruth gave you is all the education and much evidence of the evil of declawing.
Go on I dare you to read it and see what a compassionate and decent vet who does much research into this cruelty has to say.
Make sure you read about the cats and kittens experimented on and the mothers who ate their new born kittens after some monster declawed them.
Better still show it to your buddy Mayer so he knows why this doctor is much respected and he is not.

The anonymous and condoning declawing idiots here are not worth our time or trouble.
If they think the mutilation of cats and kittens is in any way justified then they are sub human.
After all we are talking about causing pain,fear and disablement for no reason at all other than for vets to make their fortune.
So come on clever clogs why are vets like Mayer advertising supposedly LAST RESORT major surgery?Why give discount on it?How can someone book in a kitten for declawing before even taking it home?
Why are comments disabled on blogs by declawing vets or if not disabled the anti truths removed?
We want your answers as you profess to know so much but keep them short please as our time is very valuable,we’ve more cats toes to save you know.

Your beliefs are embedded as firmly as those claws are embedded into bone. Just because its always happened doesn’t make it right much like rape within marriage (which has been against the law in England since 1991) and beating your wife for example. Lots of things have become against the law over the years because after common sense, research and/or education prevailed it was realised these things were wrong. In victorian times it was within the law to hit your wife with a stick provided that stick was no wider than your thumb, today we think what a stupid and barbaric law as today its unlawful to hit your wife with anything!

I’m saying that sometimes it takes years to realise that something is wrong. Declawing is wrong and someday soon it will be punishable by law and the sooner the better!

As for scientific evidence it seems that Americans are so pro declawing no one has ever researched this in earnest because they know if the vile disgusting truth came out it would be banned sooner rather than later.

Lets forget science for a minute though; whatever happened to commonsense and compassion? You wouldn’t know because clearly you haven’t a shred of either in your narrow little mind. Cats do not just use their claws for hunting and protection as I said before (but you just couldn’t be bothered to read)they use them to play, scratch themselves, groom, stretch, climb, jump as well as to pull things towards them to hold onto. All these things they miss!

Oh and by the way your comment about getting a cat declawing because of a child disgusts me to the core. Why have a cat to render it a breathing stuffed toy? Personally I can’t think of anything worse than a defenceless kitten left to be mauled by a child that knows no better, its totally sick and so are you!!

Just for the record I have phoned numerous animal hospitals and they all stated that they would declaw my cat! Whats more they would declaw kittens and they never once advised me to try other alternatives! Hows about that for research Mr know it all?!

One final point; are you religious? If you are then even worse; a cat is one of Gods creatures designed the way it is for so many reasons. All of Gods creatures are seperate little miracles and to agree with disfiguring them the way you do is a total disgrace.

You are right, I just skimmed your comments as you are obviously totally biased and only see what you want to see and will never admit you are wrong.
I just want to say that no one said declawed cats can’t stretch their legs, the point is that they have no claws to dig in when they do. Think about a work out with your hands, cats dig in their claws and stretch their muscles like we do when we grab with our hands. Have you not seen a cat enjoying a good work out on a scratching post or pad, as is their right ? Some declawed cats try to do the same, some do it until the bone they walk on protrudes through the flesh. The instinct to scratch to stay healthy is so strong.
No there is not a lot of scientific evidence YET of the suffering declawing causes and that’s because up until now no one has seriously collected any.
But anyone with even a grain of common sense realises removing healthy parts for no reason other than convenience for selfish owners, abusive children or dogs, or for furnitures sake can’t be right.
Back to neutering, as I already said, that’s over with and the parts not missed. It does seem wrong that we have the power to deprive animals of their sex/reproductive lives but since we took over the caretaking of animals from Mother Nature we have to do her job.
Declawing is different, those toe ends are missed for the rest of the poor animals life. Cats adjust as they have no choice, just like a disabled person has to adjust. That doesn’t make it less sad or wrong.
I think you should read this by a very eminent vet, then you don’t have to take the word of people who are not vets:

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/declawing-and-science/

Expensive and precise surgery? What a laugh! I’ve watched them over and over to learn about declawing, they’re not precise, they simply butcher off each toe. And expensive? No way! They’re only expensive to the client, when they have to keep coming back to pay for the behavioural problems and the disabilities their cat has.

You need some education, in regard to declawing, grammar, spelling, and punctuation. And I know for a fact that vets in my country do not HAVE to do the declaw procedure in vet school, because it’s illegal here, so they would be braking the law. And it’s unnecessary here too. Sorry, but sooner or later you’ll have to wake up to the truth…

How is having claws essential to a fulfilled life? There is absolutely no scientific evidence which backs your statement. Only because you read it on the Internet, it doesn’t mean its true. Living inside of a house negates the reason for having claws. The only reason a cat will need claws is to hunt and protection. I for one keep a clean home so I don’t have mice and birds all over the place.Someone mentioned that a cat can’t stretch without claws. Obviously you have never been around a declawed cat because they can stretch their paws and legs out just fine.

The reason Americans began strictly keeping their cats indoors is because Americans figured out that the #1 and 2 killers of cats which go outdoors is FeLV and FIV. By keeping cats indoors and away from other cats you are reducing the risk of transmission by 100%. I can’t judge if you tried to make an idiotic point or just an anti-American one, possibly both.

So now we come back to “LESS pain isn’t good enough,there is no necessity to cause cats ANY pain at all”. I again will bring up my spay / castration point. Which thank you Ruth, yes neutering does mean spay and castration. You really showed me up by correcting the semantics, bravo. What you didn’t do is make any sort of valid point. Yes, intact females have a potential to develop a pyometra, but it does not mean they will. The part of your argument which states that females should be spay because of possibly a pyometra is the same reasoning as declawing a cat because it may possibly hurt a child in the house. It may never happen, but just in case, do it. Male cats have lived thousands of years without being castrated. Now all of a sudden because cats in a clowder don’t want to be friends you want to neuter them. Sounds like they may need counseling more than anything. If you really want to get into this, do you know what really causes behavioral change? Nuetering. You are literally depriving hormones secreted by these parts that will give the cat a “normal” life. That is a true behavioral change. Claws have no hormones, You are not causing any sort of change in its brain chemistry. Since this is the case, neutering should only be performed when a pyometra or testicular cancer occurs, not as a preventative. You speculate that pain medication is used for neutering but not for declaws. How do you know? Have you called an American clinic and asked or are you just going by what someone on the Internet said? Neutering an animal is the correct choice, but the argument you are using to defend neutering, is the same one you are using to shun declawing.

Its funny that because my post was too long no one wanted to read it. Do you not have the capacity to hold a thought for more than 5 seconds. I made very valid points which were all dismissed because you can’t read. I’m sure you will call this post long winded also. Some of you may even go on the Internet again and cherry pick facts. That fact is, you are the true hypocrites.

Advertising an according to the AVMA policy,LAST RESORT procedure like Mayer does is hardly adhering to that policy.
LESS pain isn’t good enough,there is no neccessity to cause cats ANY pain at all.
De-fingering,de-toeing cats is purely for the sake of selfish owners and vets should be educating their clients as to the reasons cats need claws.
They should not be encouraging in any way this cat abuse which without doubt causes cats pain and distress.
Every cat has the right to live a cats life with the claws it was born with because they are essential to a healthy fulfilled life for that cat.
It’s hardly rocket science to know that.

First of all Shouting and Ignorant Anonymous, how dare you speak to Barbara (note the spelling)like that. You shout at her for the way you feel she does not respect Mayer, and yet you address her in a totally unreprehensible manner. You assume that she shows little or no regard for disabled people, well let me tell you junior, this lady has today been and done shopping for a lady who is disabled and has cats so that the cats will not run out of food, nor will the lady. She has devoted along with her sister immeasurable amounts of time, to help this lady, and has spent a very long time taking care of them whilst she was in hospital having numerous spinal operations, after her butcher of a neuro-surgeon nearly killed her. At one time she came out in a wheelchair after having 2 major ops in 6 days, yet all the time she knew the one thing she could be sure of was that her cats were being cared for whilst she was away.Barbara would NEVER make fun of a disabled person. It is just not her way, and if you knew her you would know that, or if you had even bothered to read any of her previous posts or articles you would know that her motives come from the purest of places and she has only the best interest of the animals at heart. So in the spirit of the season, and because at Christmas you should be nice to people (even people like you) and so instead of telling you to get YOUR facts right and go and boil your head, I will tell you to go crawl back under the stone you crawled out from.

Declawing wasn’t invented, it was brought about by experiments on many cats and kittens which all suffered greatly for the sake of selfish people who shouldn’t ever be allowed to have a cat in their homes.
It was started because Americans began keeping cats strictly indoors, not only did the cats lose their freedom, they had to lose their toe ends too for the sake of inanimate furniture, because cats NEED to scratch. If a scratching post or pad aren’t provided, what can a cat exercise on ? Naturally he will use any furniture he can dig his claws into and that is because scratching is ESSENTIAL to a cat, it’s NOT bad behaviour, it’s neccessary behaviour to stay healthy. Anyone who can’t teach a cat to use a scratching post or pad isn’t fit to have a cat.
You shout at Barbara, note how her name is spelled !!! NOT Barbera, but what she says is mild in comparison to other articles on the internet. Are you going to go round them all and shout and insult every anti declaw person ?
So Mayer has had health problems himself, should that not make him compassionate to other beings suffering ? He must know how pain feels so why does he inflict it on innocent creatures ?
You can shout all you like but even if you shout loud and long you’ll never alter the fact that the major surgery of amputating cats toe ends for convenience sake by whichever means used, is cruel and unecessary.

Ha ha, you’re the ass you are barely literate and totally ignorant of Internet etiquette, you’ve totally shown yourself up with your ranting. Go and take one of your sedatives and crawl back under your stone dumbell.

Anonymous, shy are you shouting? On the net writing in Caps Only means SHOUTING and is considered a bit rude.
And being both anonymous and rude is the sure way to be ignored…

OK LISTEN TO ALL YOU IDIOTS WHO KEEP WRITING STUFF. IT IS THE CLIENTS CHOICE TO GET A DECLAW NOT THE DOCTORS. ALL THE DOCTORS DO IS SUGGEST IT IF THE CLIENT COMPLAINS OF SCRATCHES OR A REACTION TO ONE. NO DOCTOR WILL JUST PERFORM THIS SURGERY WITH OUT THE CLIENTS KNOWLEDGE. AND A DOCTOR NO MATTER THE STATE OR COUNTRY MUST PERFORM THIS SURGERY TO GRADUATE VET SCHOOL. YOU PEOPLE SERIOUSLY NEED YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT. YOUR CALLING DR MAYER AN EVIL MAN FOR WHAT DOING WHAT A CLIENT PAYS HIM TO DO. THIS HOSPITAL HAS BEEN AROUND FOR YEARS AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE DESPITE ALL YOU DUMB MIS INFORMED PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN BASH THIS MAN. OH N BARBERA YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF FOR MAKING FUN OF A MANS DISABILITY HE HAD SURGERY ON HIS NECK AND BACK MULTIPLE TIMES SO YEA ITS STIFF YOUR AN ASS AND SHOULD BE SERIOUSLY DEALT WITH FOR BASHING THIS MAN. AND YOUR NOT EVEN IN THIS COUNTRY SO WHOS BUSINESS IS IT OF YOURS. IF I HAD A CAT AND I WANTED HIM OR HER TO GET DECLAWED GUESS WHERE PEOPLE GO TO GET AN OPINION IS A VET. NO VET WILL JUST DO THIS EXPENSIVE SURGERY BECAUSE IT IS A VERY PRECISE SURGERY. I HOPE THAT IF YOU EVER GET AN ILLNESS AND YOU END UP WITH A DISABILITY PEOPLE MAKE FUN OF YOU AND POINT AND LAUGH CAUSE YOU DESERVE IT. I WILL ALWAYS GO TO ABELL ANIMAL HOSPITAL AND NO PROCEDURE THAT IS DONE ALL OVER THE WORLD IS GOING TO STOP ME FROM DOING IT. IF IT WAS DANGEROUS AND INHUMAN THEY WOULDN’T OF INVENTED IT.GO CRAWL UNDER A ROCK YOU SELFISH ASSHOLES.

The position of the Humane Society of the United States is quite clear. This respected organization oppose declawing too and describe it as “an unnecessary surgery which provides no medical benefit to the cat”. See: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/declawing.html
As these people condem declawing for the very same reasons as we do here on PoC, I reckon Kobe sees HSUS as a bunch of Cuckoos too…

Anonymous you call Barbara cruel.
HAH she has never caused cat a lifetime of pain by severing or burning its toe ends off.
If you think telling the truth about a vet breaking his oath and boasting of that fact is cruel then you must talk a different language to the rest of us.
You call her immature
HAH again that’s you because you point out she doesn’t spell CORECTLY,oh dear have you no dictionary?
Kobe I have no time for you either so your long comments are wasted here,I’m sure we’ll have heard it all before
Y A W N
Oh well,back to the business of educating those with the intelligence to be educated and to saving cats from the painful uneccessary removal of their 10 or even 18 much needed toe ends.
You’d better go back to cuckoo land as it’s you who belongs there.

So how come if those vets like Mayer only declaw when neccessary,they advertise neuter/declaw packages and discounts on declawing?
To me that’s encouraging declawing,they’re not waiting until someone comes along and asks about it,they are in fact pushing it.
How come a supposedly last resort operation is done on tiny kittens?That’s not necessary is it?
No it’s for bone idle selfish morons who can’t be bothered to buy a scratching post and show that baby animal how to use it.They’d rather pay someone like Mayer to amputate tiny healthy toe joints and damn the conseqeuences to the kitten.
Anonymous and Kobe you come here insulting people with more brains in their big toes than you have in your entire heads.You bring up the tired old arguments of neutering being as cruel and of declawing being for the safety of children.So tell me,are your dogs declawed? If not why not?They can do a lot more damage than a cat you know! Oh I forgot,limping dogs with part of their paws missing can’t be hidden away like cats are.

Firstly Kobe, I couldn’t be bothered to wade through your three comments, they are far too long winded to hold my attention and the topic seems to be to take on each of us individually and criticise us. Ok you are entitled to your opinion, just know that your opinions are stupid and wrong ok?
Anonymous (or maybe Mrs Mayer?)no I don’t have too much time on my hands and if you are going to coRRect me on spelling then it’s a good idea to spell coRRectly yourself (Quote:”if you are going to try and make a point you should at least spell corectly”)I stand by everything I wrote 100%, Mayer is an animal abuser, he is in a position of trust and he is using it to get rich at the expense of cats. What more is there to be said other than boycott the Dis-Abell clinic because they promote animal abuse.

Kobe. It’s not about politics it’s about what’s right and wrong. As it happens no vet in the UK would de-claw even before it became illegal because it was deemed inhumane (do you know what that means?) Are all the vets in the UK wrong?

You also state that Cats use their claws to scratch, climb, and bring things closer to them and that these are all actions that the ‘average house cat will not miss’. Why would they not miss doing all the things that come naturally to them? You also forgot conveniently forgot to mention that they also dig their claws in for resistance so they can stretch which is essential to exercise their muscles; how would you like it if you could never stretch or exercise? You also conveniently ignored someone’s comment about cats walking on their toes and by removing these toes you are forcing them to walk in an unnatural manner which causes painful arthritis.

Anonymous. In relation to your statement ‘
for safety purposes or if children are involved’ it’s a bit woolly isn’t it? Can’t you be a bit more specific? I suppose it’s the old Chestnut ‘I don’t want my kid to get scratched’ Well here’s what I say; get off you lazy backsides and teach your kids to respect animals and they won’t get flaming well scratched will they!!! We have children here too you know!! I just don’t get it! You don’t have to disable (yes disable!!)cats to protect children! Dogs are far more of a danger!! why don’t you de-tooth them too eh? just to be on the safe side?
And what are these safety reasons? Immunocompromised people I suppose? We have them in the UK as well and we manage just fine!

You and Kobe are hypocritical beyond belief and as for making the patients as comfortable as possible we all know what a load of crap that is because we also know that pain medication is optional. Now what sort of ‘vet’ would conduct a surgical procedure without pain medication?

Also we aren’t talking about laser declawing ‘only when necessary’ we are talking about declawing kittens ‘just in case’ and cats to give them a better chance of a home when in reality they are more likely to be abandoned.

You’re right about one thing and one thing only though Kobe; you won’t change our mind. Slag us off as much as you want, its like water off a ducks back. We will continue to single out whoever we wish purely because they conduct procedures which are cruel and unnecessary.

So don’t come on here slagging off people like Barbara who do actually know what they are talking about because unlike you they have taken time to do the research to support their argument.

I haven’t much time to spend answering your ramblings as I have far more important things to do. However I do want to point out to you that there is a huge difference between neccessary and uneccessary surgery.
A little lesson for you first, you say spay and neutering, well both mean the same, which is de-sexing, that covers spaying a female and castrating a male.
Neutering is very important because there are already too many homeless cats and allowing cats to breed more unwanted kittens is just plain irresponsible.
An unspayed female often develops problems with her uterus,look up pyometra. An uncastrated tom is shunned because of the smmell of his spraying and he lives a life of frustration if kept in or at risk of fights with other entire toms or of being killed on the roads if he is allowed out. Toms travel miles to find a mate.
Yes neutering is painful but the cat is given pain medication (not always the case with declaw surgery) and is up and about next day, their troubles over. After being declawed a cat wakes up in shock and pain and has to adjust to living life as a disabled cat.
So you see neutering is GOOD surgery, declawing is BAD surgery!
I’m afraid it’s you living in cuckoo land so I suggest you stay there. It’s pointless trying to convince the thousands of people who know declawing is very cruel that we are all wrong.
We are not at all impressed with your lack of research and knowledge.
Michele and Maggie have more intelligence and compassion than you will ever have and your ‘sarcasm’ is totally wasted here as sarcasm is beneath contempt.

Kobe, you are under the misconception that declawing is illegal in other countries because of public campaigns. Your’re wrong. It was actually the refusal of vets in those countries to declaw that brought about legal bans. The majority of European and Australian citizens have never even heard of declawing, and that is purely down to vets choosing to put patient welfare ahead of financial gain. If literally millions of people worldwide can live happily with cats and their claws, why can’t everyone? We also have babies, children, people with compromised immune systems, elderly folk – all the excuses people trot out to justify their lack of compassion or patience to teach a cat claw manners.

I stand by my comment about slavery. It was common practise in many countries at one time, but thankfully over time people realised it was cruel and inhumane and banned it. The comparison I made was in refernce to attitudes and how they can be changed by raising awareness. Am I bothered that you consider me disgusting? No. I’m actually laughing because you pick holes in my comparison, but at least it wasn’t as ludicrous as the one you made between declawing and vasectomy. In case you didn’t know, vets can actually peform vasectomies on cats, but it doesn’t involve amputating the cat’s toes.

You’re the one living in cuckoo land if you honestly think that declawing is either necessary or painless. If you think that the amputation of toes’s is a sign of a loving home, then I hope that’s what your loved ones decide to surprise you with for Christmas.

Seriously, educate yourself on feline anatomy and behaviour and then perhaps you will understand why so many people feel passionately about stopping this form of animal abuse. Take a look on Petfinder at the number of declawed cats available for adoption – what happened to their “loving” owners who promised them forever homes?

Ask yourself why vet use the euphemism “declawing” instead of calling it what it really is – de-toeing. If that’s not trying to mislead the public, then why aren’t they more upfront about the procedure?

Something tells me that this could well have been a post either by Dr Mayer using a pseudonym or a colleague or “friend”, whoever it is, the post smacks of “cliqueism”. Barbara is a lady who works tirelessly in all aspects of animal welfare as well as holding down a stressful and demanding job.In what is the worst spell of weather this country has experienced in 25 years she has walked and collected food blankets and other necessities for animals that are in sanctuaries and are experiencing hardship through not only the weather but the tough economic situation that out country is in. Unfortunately, though most things from the USA which are detrimental seem to land on our shores eventually, and we usually cop the fallout, but where declawing is concerned we definitely lead the way. Declawing is cruel because it is an unecessary proceedure. Cats do not all scratch and destroy things, I have 15 who have been rescued for various reasons and only one of them is a destructive scratcher, and that is because she came from a warehouse as a feral and had survived climbing on wooden pallets furraging for food.
Where children are concerned the responsibility is with the parent to teach a child to respect a cat or kitten. If the cat does not feel threatened then they do not scratch a child – its not rocket science.You attack individual people from the safety of your keyboard, which obviously gives you a huge feeling of superiority, but you have the gall to say that members of this community disrespect your opinions, well take a look in the mirror buddy – that is just what you are doing! There are people on this site who have had over 40 years of experience in the veterinary world, experience which we have all learned from but then I forget you Americans always know best dont you, (tell that to the widows and families of British Army Personnel who have been lost in the war in Afghanistan which your ex-president led us into because, Daddy had a war and he wanted one to) Choose your battles very carefully whoever you may or may not be. If it is Dr. Mayer then he should be ashamed of himself for not being able to say so, after all a medical professional should be able to take criticism and if they feel necessary answer it in a manner which is not unprofessional, ie like a school yard bully, and if it is one of his friends or cronies, then you just confirm what most of the people on this site have always thought – you are not humans – you are dancers.
Animals are equally as important if not more so than humans, they feel pain, they have souls, and they love their families unconditionally, what a pity they have to rely on us to make decisions for them, pray god not all people are like you.

The other person I would like to call out is Maggie with her genius quote of “People like you who have no compassion for animals, and always put humans first, are disgusting and don’t deserve to be here”. Humans must always come first, that is what makes up HUMANITY. The safety and security of humans is always the first priority. With that being said, with humanity comes the ability to show compassion and kindness. You are making an ignorant speculation on someone. Even if Anonymous does place him/herself first, there is no reason to believe they have no compassion for animals. The only thing we can surmise is that you have no tolerance for other opinions or ideas other than your own ill-informed, ignorant, and hateful views.

I am under no delusion that I am going to change any ones mind with this post. If you are already a fanatic, you probably will stay a fanatic in Cuckoo Cuckooville. If you want to make up your websites about how declawing is terrible and illegal, that’s fine, but do not single out one person or one clinic. Your issue is with declawing, not the actual people.

Any surgical procedure you perform is going to come with some level of pain. Over the years different techniques and tools have been developed to make declaws less painful. Initially there might be some level of pain, but I have never seen a declawed cat which has been “crippled” or had a behavioral change as many of you have stated. There is no mutilation or torture as you master of hyperbole have declared. Declawed cats live perfectly normal lives, sleeping 18 hours a day, running around the house at 3 AM, and knocking things off your shelves, just like a cat with claws. What you people are doing is psychologically inflicting a declaw on yourself, “what if someone cut off my fingers at the first joint? Gee, I probably wouldn’t like that too much so therefore it is wrong and immoral”. Humans and cats use their “fingers” differently. Cats use their claws to scratch, climb, and bring things closer to them while minimizing the chance of escape. These are all actions that the average house cat will not miss. Humans use their fingers to grasp and be able to use simple and complex tools. That, in conjunction with higher brain function gives us the ability to have a civilization and gives you the ability to peck away at the keyboard with asinine and absurd comments.

If you truly wanted to stop animal cruelty, why don’t you write about the people who actually hurt animals? There is always something in the newspaper about a person who beats, maimes, starves or kills an animal. That is true cruelty. What you are arguing over is a medical procedure which to you is morally ambiguous at best. The people who perform declaws do their best to make their patients as comfortable as possible before, during, and after the surgery. There is no malice or ill-intent involved as you imply. The people who have their cats declawed have it done for different reasons, which obviously you don’t agree with, still this does not mean it’s a wrong reason. The owners of these cats are not being tricked or bamboozled. They know what happens during the procedures and have every opportunity in the world to ask even if they don’t. They care for their cats just like you care for yours. If they did not care they would not be going to a veterinarian in the first place.

This next segment I would like to call out Michele S. Did you really just bring up slavery to prove your point about changing laws? I can’t believe that you are actually trivializing slavery to make your point about declawing. You should be ashamed of yourself. You might as well trivialize the Holocaust, Kosovo, and Darfur. Slavery and declawing are two totally different issues and should be kept that way. Millions of Africans were subjected to forced labor, rape and murder. Declawed cats live normal lives, in loving homes and are cared for. Don’t you ever forget that fact. You are a disgusting person for bringing up the subject.

Wow I think I just found the most ridiculous website / blog of all time. You are lashing out at a vet for performing a procedure which is widely accepted in the US and legal. The only reason you are so up in arms is because you don’t like it, not because it’s wrong. There’s always some small group of zealots out there who think that because they’re upset everyone else is wrong.

Please do not sight that X amount of countries have made it illegal to declaw because that proves nothing. If enough constituents went to their elected officials and said “we want declaws now or we won’t vote for you”, you would find every politico in their little powder wigs declaring declaws for all. That’s just how politics works. It doesn’t mean you are the moral majority because that is the law of your land. If you still want to pursue this point even further, some counties and regions of the Middle East ban women from getting an education, brandishing any part of their body, or even walking in front of their husband. If I made up a website stating that these are laws of my land and everyone else is wrong for not following them, you would be outraged and judging my the blog call me all sorts of names.

What gives you the right to decide which people are allowed to declaw their cat and under what conditions? You can’t train a cat to not scratch things or people. It is hardwired in them to do it, some are worse than others. Are you so against it because there is some pain involved? If that is the case then maybe you should be against spay and neutering. Aren’t they unnecessary also? I can’t believe that someone would actually rip out the uterus or testicles of an animal. That’s so barbaric! Sure people say that it’s done to keep the animal population down, but what gives us the right to do that? We are defying the order of evolution and natural selection. If you can’t tell, I’m being sarcastic, but the reasoning holds true.

Mr or Ms Ignorance, if you pick on Barbara you pick on a lot more of us.
I’m afraid it’s YOU who has too much time on their hands because but you haven’t used it researching declawing, that’s for sure. If you had you would know it’s NEVER necessary to declaw a cat, ESPECIALLY if children are involved.
A warning scratch from a clawed cat to stop a child mishandling him is nothing in comparison to a bite from a declawed cat. Children should be taught to respect animals, they are NOT to be adapted to soft toys for them !
It’s YOU who is closed minded, you can’t see that cats come with claws because they need claws and you can’t see that declawing makes millions of dollars for the vets who still do it.
If declawing is SO VERY necessary then how come it’s only necessary in the USA and Canada and not in the countries where it’s illegal because it’s animal abuse ?
YOU obviously can’t spell CORECTLY.Barbara spells the English way, she is a very educated hard working lady who endlessly campaigns against cruelty and also raises funds for many charities, both people and animals.
Now, do YOU do that ? No, you come here talking a load of rubbish instead, defending a painful uneccessary amputation of cats healthy toe ends.
Sorry to break it to you but it’s YOU who is the immature one!
Retired VET NURSE UK, are YOU in the profession ?????

Actually, Anonymous, I was the one who found this video and out of my own disgust I shared it with Barbara. I was going to write the page myself but I had no time to do it, and she’s much better at writing than I am.

“you should at least spell corectly” That’s actually spelt ‘correctly’. Hypocrite…

Declawing does not need to be done. In my country, in Barbara’s country, and in a further 36 countries it is banned. Not a single declawed cat is here and NEVER do you hear of cats damaging people like they say in the USA. You’re full of sh*t and your poor excuses can’t carry on. Because they’re nothing but lies and you’re nothing but a cat abuser and waste of space. People like you who have no compassion for animals, and always put humans first, are disgusting and don’t deserve to be here.

Seriously, Barbara you have too much time on your hands and you are extremely closed minded. First of all, no veterinarian chooses to do declaws but in some situations it is necessary, such as for safety purposes and if children are involved. The purpose for the video on declawing was so that cat owners know there is a safer and less painful procedure if it is absolutely necessary to have done. Your comments about Dr. Mayer’s personal appearance are very cruel and if you are going to try and make a point you should at least spell corectly. And really, declaw pimp…how immature!

Anonymous – Please spare us the tired and fallacious argument comparing declawing with circumcision. Cats are digitgrade which means they walk on their toes – the same toes that Dr. Mayer has persuaded clients that cats’ can live happily without. I’ve never heard of a single man walking on his penis! You’re obviously unware that routine circumcision like declawing, is mainly practised in the USA.

There seems to be an obsession in the USA with body modifiation through cosmetic surgery. Humans can choose for themselves whether or not to have purely elective surgery – our pets cannot. This is why those of us devoted to animal welfare are prepared to stand up and be the voice of animals. If you’re too lazy to teach a cat claw manners – then don’t get one.

Slavery used to be common practise but that didn’t make that right either. I pray for the day that both the USA and Canada join the rest of the civilised world by banning this cruel and totally unecessary mutilation of healthy cats. Let’s just hope you don’t drag your heels on that issue in the same way you did with slavery.

You are wrong to say we are not upset with Mayer, that we are upset with declawing.
Of course we are upset with Mayer,he’s one of the vets making money by crippling cats.He’s even advertising how much less painful it is to burn joints off rather than cut them off.Note LESS painful,so he admits it IS painful.
So proud of his machine which cost him a lot of money he needs to make back and a profit too but he has to convince idiots like you that declawing is minor surgery and good for cats.
Patronise him if you want to but myself I wouldn’t trust a vet who breaks his sworn oath to harm no animal,anywhere near any of my precious pets.

Get your pets a decent vet,they deserve one who cares enough about animals not to fill his coffers and pay his staff with blood money.

We’re sprinkling food grade diatomaceous earth on our kittens food to kill the worms. It cuts them up. Read about it on the internet.

So you take your pets to Mayer, who you say is a good vet. I don’t know many good vets who mutilate animals for money… Regardless of other things he may do, nothing can justify the torture he does to animals day in day out.

I would tell you to get a life, but I’d rather you didn’t. Especially while Mayer denies cats everyday from getting a life, because people like you support him through taking your animals there. Declawed cats don’t have lifes, they have existence. They’re very different. These cats exist but the don’t live; pain, misery, disabilty, from Mayer mutilating them is not a life…

So you take your pets to a vet who breaks his oath to harm no animal every time he amputates a healthy toe joint. You should be ashamed of yourself putting more money into the bank of a clinic wwhich makes millions from mutilating cats routinely.
Yes declawing is COMMON practice but only by vets like yours, not by compassionate caring vets who trained to help animals, not to cause them pain and a lifetime of disablement.
Our UK vets would never declaw cats even when it was legal here, they are the wonderful vets, not your Mayer who knows full well the damage he causes with his laser machine burning through the healthy flesh and bone of necessary parts of cats.
We have heard the circumcision chestnut many times before, it’s totally different removing a part of the body for health reasons.
No matter how many critically sick patients Mayer has treated, all the good he has done is wiped out by his evil practice of disabling cats.
Do you know the problems declawing causes ?
I suggest you read up on it instead of wasting your time coming here thinking anyone will be impressed by your misguided comments.
YOU are the one who needs to get a life and to know that your cowardly hiding behind anonymous only makes you look even more foolish and ignorant than you obviously are.

If you have the right to an opinion, you lose it the moment you hide behind the cloak of anonymity. How can you sleep at night, condoning the “good works” done by this man, which include the unnecessary mutilation of cats, and no doubt other animals. Lasers are not the best thing since sliced bread, even with pain relief the sensation is still felt, and the smell oh my god the smell, burning flesh how “good” is that? Too many veterinarians dont have the best interest of any animals they treat at the forefront the most important thing is “how many dollars can I bank from it” never a name always a collective term such as pets or nondescript such as it. Until people start realising that cats have paws which come with claws this disgusting practice will continue. If you cant give a cat or dog or any animal a home that offers unconditional love then dont have one, get an ipod instead or a new piece of bling, but NOT a living breathing creature that has a right to be treated with respect and dignity not only from his owners but also from the people that are “supposed” to care for them when they need medical intervention. If you dare to reply then at least put your name to it, in the UK its a quaint little custom we have called having the courage of your convictions, but then we also believe that declawing cats is an act of cruelty, and that is why it is banned.

Well here we have another clever-dick with an opinion who hasn’t even got enough courage in their own convictions to put a name to their comment!So the impact of this comment is zero as far as I’m concerned!
Yes I am upset with declawing but I am also upset with the people who offer this disgusting procedure to ignorant people who hold cats in such contempt that they think it’s fine to cripple them for their own convenience.
It would be so simple for people in Mayer’s position to offer education rather than surgery and to offer advice instead of selling their services to people who shouldn’t have a cat if they aren’t prepared to accept the cat as it comes.

The silly old argument about male circumcision is tired out, don’t try to insult us with such irrelevant rubbish. The fact is that Mayer sells declawing, he makes a profit from mutilating cats, therefore he is an animal abuser. End of!

Get a life people! I have been taking my pets to Dr. Mayer for YEARS!! You are not upset with him you are upset with Declawing. This IS COMMON practice! Just like how many men are circumcised? He is a wonderful vet and has taken care of critcally sick pets.

Another nasty slimy toad preaching the virtues of laser declawing to line his pockets.
Trained to care for animals he knows full well what declawing a cat does to it,it renders it a lifelong invalid,that’s what.
Keep your cats well away from people like him.

For ages medical doctors all over the World have taken the “Hippocratic Oath” to practice medicine ethically. America’s declawing vets seem to have taken a “Hypocritical Oath” instead…

Declawing is plain stupid as it creates more problems than it solves. In my county declawing is not allowed. It never was and never will be, because people don’t see any need for it.
What makes American cats so different from the cats over here that they have to undergo this cruel mutilation?

Im ashamed to be the same sex as that man.
I dont know how he can stand there saying about less pain and less blood and all and smugly knowing no one can contradict him when they
see his video and think declawing is humane.
I hope a lot of people in America see this and stay away from his clinic.
Good job exposing him Babz man.
Ed

Ruth, I owe you a decent reply to your very kind note that you e-mailed a couple of days ago.

As for your own comments, Barbara – the best ones go first. But it sounds as if he had a wife as special as he was.

Right now am up to the eyeballs in horse foofie & compost. Am transplanting 700 pole bean seedlings – for all the good it’s going to do. Our neck of the woods has had about 4 1/2 days of sunlight since February. To add to the joybells, vandals will proably bust into my yard – yet again – in another few days. But will try nonetheless, and see what happens.
________________
By the way, would either of you be able to recommend a feline vermifuge? My outdoor stray is a bag of bones despite platters of meat twice a day. The poor soul is wormy (grains of what look like white rice near tail). Our local cash cow vet clinic charges $15.00 for one topical application of worming med – but our local feed store sells oral liquid for $7.00 a bottle. This cat isn’t going to like to have his jaws pried open, but am wondering if the less expensive stuff would work. Hate to give him something that’s going to make him queasy. He needs deworming, though.

Thank you again for your kindly notes, and will get back in a day or so.

Yes it’s moderated so our comments won’t see light of day !
But at least someone will have to read them to know to delete them.

Sylvia Ann, Barbara(Babz) is my sister and although I know I’ll be in trouble from her for saying this, she’s a little Earth Angel.
Widowed on her 49th birthday she now works in Funeralcare and raises lots of money for charities from there too. In her spare time she is always helping people and animals, in real life and on-line too.
Our own late dad said he hated cats, but I think it was really that it was thought unmanly in those days to admit they loved cats.There are still some men like that even now, although it’s mostly the ‘I don’t like them but I wouldn’t hurt them’ attitude.

Thank you to everyone who has commented here. Thanks to Michael for finding the place to comment on Mayer’s channel, I have done so but it’s awaiting moderation, which means it’s hovering on the brink of the great black hole in space into which anti-declaw comments disappear.
Sylvia Ann, you have a point. It’s true a lot of men think it’s not macho to care about animals and cats in particular, thank goodness for Michael who doesn’t feel that showing compassion to cats robs him of his manhood. In fact in my opinion a man showing an empathetic side makes him more attractive to women, certainly my own late husband was smitten by all cats and didn’t care who knew it and that was one of the first things that made me realise he was special. So, yes, come on you blokes get in touch with the comassion within and and show us your softer side by signing the petition against this atrocity.

Have read your fabulous essay four times. If that vet stubbed his toe, chances are he’d screech so loud the sunbeams would bounce off his uvula.

Am a visitor to this website, and therefore don’t know its contributors, but have the (maybe mistaken?) impression that you and Ruth are kinfolk. Whether or not, I wanted to comment on the petition attached to your essay. When @ half the human race are men, why are most of the signers women? Millions of men are capable of heroic devotion to their family – and no less to their animals. I refer to depth of sentiment: not to sentimentality.

•I’ve seen a reciprocal Light o’ Love in the eyes of sheepdogs and their dads.

•I once knew a hulking stevedore who stalked bugs with a net on summer nights to feed an injured bat he’d rescued. He named her Tammy, which I thought he should change to Batilda. (He did.) That man was the Swoon City love of her life. Though she woke at night, she lay in his bosom – snuggled amidst his pectoral ringlets – day in and day out, squeakingly insisting he take her with him wherever he went.

•I also knew a grizzled bachelor who was the incarnation of tenderness towards his little dog. Because she nipped, she was deemed unadoptable. But never mind. Whenever she snapped at him in a tizzy, he cuddled and coddled her all the more.

•When we lived on a farm, my father had to slaughter our livestock. In later life, though, he was extremely kind to animals. Minna, his teacup chihuahua (she was small as a squirrel), looked like a miniature wolf with feathered tail and hindquarters. When she messed herself on rare occasions – and no one else could stand to go near her – her dad would carry her downstairs, fill the laundry room sink with warm water, gently lower her into the suds and untangle the mess around her rear with his bare fingers, consoling her all the while. She was crushed with chagrin, and clung to him in mortification while he crooned and whispered sweet words to her. Afterwards, when he dried her off, she crept into his arms and gazed at him adoringly.

‘De-knuckling’ isn’t a bagatelle. It’s as vile as the 18th century aristocracy’s fondness for touring Bedlam. Signing that petition doesn’t mean a man is unmasculine. ‘What do women want?’ [Freud] Is the answer that obscure? No sane woman sees manhood as something exclusively lurking below the belt. What women treasure, beyond all other male attributes, is a fit above the eyebrows. To any halfway intelligent woman, heart-throbs are chaff compared to a thinking, compassionate man.

Where are you, guys? Please sign the petition.

You can leave a comment on the DisAbell Animal Hospital YouTube Channel here:

Channel

They will most likely delete it within minutes! But we must try.

Yes Micheal,he struck me as very smug too.
I’d love to be part of the team amputating his finger tips by laser.
After all he mentions he declaws cats which are “hurting people” so to me that means that because he is “hurting cats” it’s reasonable enough to definger end him for doing that.
Should I be the one to administer the pain medication as even though I’m not trained in medicine I have realised men can feel pain.
Or maybe I could be the one scraping out the burned flesh or bone.
No I’ve got a better idea,I’ll video the procedure and put it on You Tube and not being a coward I won’t disable the comments when someone protests how cruel defingering is.

Thank you for exposing Dr Mayer. He’s one of many selfish greedy vets, who are ignorant and blind to the fact that their greed causes suffering to so many cats.

I intend to contact Dr Mayer regardless of the fact that he blocked the comment area on that video. I will contact the selfish money hungry fool via message on his YouTube page, or maybe I’ll comment on his channel and see if that gets deleted too!

I don’t know if I am more irritated than angry. Dr. Mayer is so horribly smug isn’t he? He is so sure of himself in his cosy little ordered world of cat abuse.

How off track can vets get? He genuinely sees what he does as acceptable. He thinks declawing is the same as curing an illness!

Dr Mayer needs re-educating, from scratch. And one way to do it is to amputate, with a laser, the tips of his fingers. It’s OK doctor, don’t worry, it’s painless…

Just another cruel way for the vets to make easy money. It’s quite a simple operation and they probaly could do it in assembly line fashion. Good vets are so hard to find. I’m still shopping for one after my last expierence with my beloved Lia. Who by the way still labors a little bit when he breathes so we keep the air conditioner on at all times for him. Some of them are money hungry mongers who just are out for the almighty buck. The indifference some of them have toward the animals is amazing. I thought vets were supposed to love animals?

Yes proof that this coward is afraid the comments would show him up for what he is…..a vet breaking his oath to hurt no animal.
Cats that NEED declawing…NEED???
No cat NEEDS to be declawed but some cat owners NEED to learn a bit about cats and then they would know not to fall for the propoganda of vets like this one.
What cats NEED are their claws and what is NEEDED most of all is declawing to be made ILLEGAL worldwide.

The title says it all.This man disables cats and boasts about it on video!
As if that wasn’t enough,he disables comments so no one can make sure anyone who sees that video reads the real truth about what he makes his money doing.
If that isn’t cowardly and proof that he knows what he does is cruel I don’t know what is.
Shame on that man encouraging the abuse of cats to fill up his bank account.

Brilliant article Babz however I couldn’t watch his video just seeing his smug lying face is enough to make me want to slap him.

So obvious that he knows the cruelty of what he does by disabling comments just like he disables cats.

By the way his smug face is on Facebook. Don’t suppose he’ll accept any of us as a friend which is a shame but one or two emails wouldn’t go amiss. If he won’t let us comment on his pathetic video perhaps he would like to see what we think of him on PoC?

Just watch your privacy settings though you know how defence these de-clawers can get.

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100001261661773&ref=ts

Yet another vet spouting declawing propaganda, and censoring truthful comments by blocking them.

Mr Mayer should be ashamed of himself. Vets have an intimate knowledge of feline anatomy and yet some are still happy to lie to customers about the pain and suffering declawing causes. He’s a disgrace to his profession and in most countries he’d be serving jail time for animal abuse.

Hmmm Dr Mayer certainly enjoys airing his knowledge on that video and yes laser machines are a great advance for NECESSARY surgery.
But declawing is NOT necessary,it is the CRUEL amputation of the cats very important toe ends and claws.
33 years of experience and he realises cats feel pain,I should think so too.
Those of us compassionate about animals have known that all our lives and we have not trained as vets.
Pain medication,fluids and so forth,don’t make up for the fact that declawing cats is going against the oath he took when he qualified,to care for all animals,NOT to harm them.
No wonder he disabled comments,he and those cowardly vets like him want to carry on making money from abusing cats without any interference from us.
How do they sleep at night?????????????

This Dr Mayer gets comments on his video telling the truth so what does he do,he removes them and disables comments.
This proves beyond any doubt that he and the others like him prefer to keep as many people in the dark as they can.
Well tough on Dr Mayer as we who already know the truth are not going to go away and eventually EVERYONE will know the truth.
Hasn’t he noticed yet the number of people finding out about this abuse of cats are becoming more every day?
Doesn’t he know other countries are watching this abuse of cats with shock and horror?

I suppose next he will remove his video too!

A brilliant article Babz !
No doubt the one or two people who think Dr Mayer is a wonderful person and good vet will come on and defend him as they did Dr Forsthye (the declawing multi tasker who killed the wrong cat by mistake)
But the majority of USA people will be glad another clinic has been exposed so they can avoid it.
More and more people are finding out the truth that declawing is the cruel unnecessary amputation of the last joint of the cats toes, by whichever means the vet does it.
The declawing vets and lazy selfish people who take this easy way out by paying to have their cats disabled rather than provide them with the scratching post/pad they need, don’t want the truth known.
Just lately on every pro declaw article written and which I know for a fact many have commented on,all the comments have been deleted.
Now Dr Mayer disables comments on his pro laser declaw video,doesn’t that say it all ???
If there is nothing to hide why do that ?
Could it be because they know we are right ? That all the countries where declawing is banned or considered extremely inhumane are right ?
That the Cities in California where declawing is banned are right ?
It’s known now too that many declawed cats dumped in shelters never reach the cats to adopt statistics because they are killed or caged for life as unrehomeable. That squashes the excuse that cats would lose their homes unless declawed.
According to the AVMA declawing should be a last resort for serious scratching behaviour, so how come little kittens are put through this ‘just incase’ they scratch ? That people can go out and get a kitten and have it declawed rather than buy a scratching post ?
These people should NOT have cats !
We know cats need claws so experienced vets like Dr Mayer must surely know that cats need claws.
So why promote this disgraceful procedure and why hide the truth about the seriousness of it unless it is to make money from it ?
Vets need to remember that the cat is the patient and the one that matters and which they took an oath not to harm, NOT the selfish ‘owner’ of that cat.

Dr Glenn.Mayer with 33 years of being a Veterinary doctor is definitely a man to be heard and respected. Sadly, his advertisement on “Cat-declawing” encourages the surgery by falsely advertising that its a “painless Surgery” done in a “High-Tech surgical ward” under some of the best veterinarian doctors. He should have also mentioned that people intent on being “Cat Owners” should think of owning some other pet if they desired to “DE-CLAW” their pet cat, as “De-Clawing” handicaps a cats normal feline behaviour.
Hope Veterinarians in India haven’t started the practise of “De-clawing” cats, a detrimental concept imported from the developed economies if conducted in Indian Veterinary hospitals. The Veterinary hospital of Dr Glenn.Mayer is something to be marveled,unaffordable in most of the developing World, but, tragically also encouraging animal abuse amongst so called “Pet owners”.

Thank you for bringing this con to our attention. I hope he loses some clients. I know I would never use him.

Hi Barbara, thanks for a brilliant post. I hope you don’t mind me changing the title to a cheeky one that I think is apt for this horrible place.

Any clinic that delaws, no matter how good they might otherwise be are a right off, they are hopeless and they are cat abusers. They are committing a crime that is even recognised as a crime on the USA statute books but no one prosecutes.

In my opinion his failing is that he is blind and malicious. As you say he banned comments. That displays a consciousness about the badness of declawing.

The post about Dr Forsythe All Paws Clinic (that I called Nearly All Paws Clinic) hovers close to the clinics website in a Google search so when the name of the clinic is in the title it gets seen more because people search for this place.