Lilly had her paws fixed and she is a different cat now!

Lilly was in a bit of a state. Now she’s much happier.

Judy is Lilly’s caretaker. She found Lilly at the PetSmart store when there were having an adoption day. Julie wasn’t looking for a cat but she said that Lilly looked so sad and scared. This attracted her.

Lilly had been in several foster homes and obviously hadn’t settled because of her behaviour. She had been declawed. She had been adopted more than once before but had been sent back to foster care because she had had accidents outside of the litter box.

At the time Julie saw Lily she was about 5 years-of-age and had been in foster homes for about 4 of those 5 years.

Judy decided to adopt. She discovered that Lily was nervous and was over-grooming as a consequence (grooming is reassuring). She had lice and crystals in her urine. She also had arthritis. She would not sit on Julie’s lap. She did not like being held, indicating that she had been mistreated.

Seven years elapsed and Julie discovered Kirsten of The Poor Project-Utah (PP-U). Up until then, Judy had no idea that so many problems could be caused by the declawing operation.

Lilly underwent declaw repair surgery. She had big P3 (distal phalanx) fragments in her paws leftover from a botched declaw (see photo above). She also had a claw growing through her paw pad. In addition she had calluses on her back hocks due to an altered stance which in turn was due to arthritis which in turn was due to a poor posture which in turn was due to the declawing operation…..

You can see how declawing a cat can have such profound effects in so many areas of a cat’s health and welfare.

Now, after the repair surgery, Lilly is like a different cat, Judy says. Lilly wants to be close to Judy and lets Judy hold her close when she sleeps. She is happy at last. It took a long time. Just think about it; all that pain, trouble, unhappiness and disruption just because somebody wanted to remove the claws of this sweet little cat. Isn’t it crazy?

My thanks to The Paw Project-Utah.

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Comments

Lilly had her paws fixed and she is a different cat now! — 16 Comments

Irish on February 19, 2015 at 1:41 am said:
BTW this is my Enis,she was tramatized as a wee piseag (kitten),she has either been stomped on or slammed against something because her eye had been popped out of her head,she was a wee bit on the loony side,here is her story after she passed away….
This is a tribute to my wee moggie “Enis” I wrote on the 3rd annversary of her death.
3 yrs ago 1~29~08 I was PTS due to I was a victim of the Pet Food Recall,back in November of 07 is when I started to act out of character,my mummy had just been laid off work and could not afford to take me to my vet and then in Jan 08 she was employed again and took me to my vet straight away,she used to work for him cleaning the kennels and feeding the boarders and cleaning out the cremations,he told her he needed to keep me over night for observation and she reminded him she used to work there,no one is there during the night but he went to say I needed blood work etc because he suspected I had kidney and liver failure so she told him she just got employed and could he allow her a payment plan and he looked her dead in the eye with no emotion on his face and told her NO so she asked about pain medication and he said with my visit that day it would cost another $38.00 for my meds and again she asked if she could pay him the following week and he again said NO, So mummy walked out of there holding me close to her heart sobbing her eyes out,went home and mummy called her best friend and she promised to come by the next day,when she saw me she told mummy she was no way no how going to allow me to suffer any longer and that we were going to her vet and we did,before we went inside she grabbed mummy and hugged her and told her she was not to ever try and pay her back,she was doing this for me,not for my mummy,we went inside and her vet knew just by looking at me that I was too far gone and had my mummy brought me at least the day before I might have had a chance,my mummy started to cry because mummy knew wot his next question was going to be,as he shaved my back leg I was weak and just laid there,I knew wot was going to happen and I was ready,mummy was not,just as he was getting ready to put the needle in my leg mummy stopped him,she told him she would be the last person I saw as I took my last breath,once I passed she grabbed me up in her arms and held me to her chest and fell to her knees,the vet pulled her back up and hugged us tight,mummy never had a vet do that for her and out of all the animal hospitals mummy has worked at she never seen a vet do that to a client after loosing their pet,tonight as my mummy writes this my cremains are in a little wooden box with the fur that was shaved from my leg and 2 whiskers I lost sitting in a special white cabinate made just for me,mummy had commissioned a woman in England to paint a photo of me and it too is on the wall right in front of mummy so she can look at me every day,tomorrrow will be really hard for my mummy,I had hoped with time it would get easier not having me around anymore but it hasn’t gotten bettter,my mummy misses me so much and I wish she would know that I’m still here with her,she still has all my bottle caps I used to play with and my toys,sometimes I see her let my other siblings play with them,my sister Molly now wears my collar and that makes mummy happy,I love ye too mummy “Taim I` ngra leat” Enis
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Irish on February 19, 2015 at 1:30 am said:
For me my home has several cat trees with scratching post attached but now my Molly started scratching the furniture and not sure why,it always stayed within the dining room where My Enis started it but I would not declaw my Molly because she is doing this,the best I can do is trim her claws but that is as far as I will go,I stand by wot I say,if ye materialistic items are more important DO NOT GET A CAT!
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Irish Cornaire on November 23, 2014 at 2:20 pm said:
I’ve had cats most of my life and if ye were to walk into my home ye would see it is clean and my cats are content but then if ye walk into my dining room ye will see my wallpaper and wood frame around the door is scratched up,my beloved moggie (Enis)who passed away due to the 2007 Pet Food recall started scratching and tearing my wallpaper and I yelled at her when I caught her in the act,when I had a now former friend come over to visit she was horrified when she saw my dining room walls and she was adamant that I get Enis declawed and I told her she was out of her ever loving mind and I reminded her that she knew ever since she met me that I was against declawing and she then informed me she had just adopted a kitten from the SPCA here and that it was going to the vet to be declawed and I asked her why and she said because she just bought new furniture so I said ye go out and buy furniture then ye go and adopt a kitten,why would ye do that and she said I had no right to put her on the spot and I told her we were done as friends because I will never condone declawing and that is why I said in my first post here that if ye dont want ye furniture destroyed then do not get a cat!
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- Sandra Murphey on February 18, 2015 at 9:32 pm said:
  I’ve had many cats and 2 children. I’ve never had any of them destroy anything. I realize that every being is different, and being a pet guardian is a lot like being a parent. Parents need to find solutions to problems. If a cat is presenting a problem for the guardian, there are solutions which may involve modification in the home to make it cat friendly. There are ways to protect precious furniture, without amputating a cat’s precious claws.
  A cat is not doing this intentionally to ruin your furniture; it’s natural for them to scratch. Nail clipping can help, along with providing scratchers made for cats. If you value your stuff more than a
  living animal, don’t get a cat or even a dog. Dogs can ruin things too, so think it through, and be honest about what’s most important to you. If it’s your furniture then go cuddle your chair!
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Leah on November 22, 2014 at 11:28 pm said:
My God all those years of pain and discomfort must have felt like centuries for that poor cat. I bet if she could she would have ended her life but cats cant do that can they? They have to carry on, they have no choice same as they have no choice being de-clawed to satisfy some selfish, lazy, uneducated idiots whim!!
That’s what in some circumstances happens to people after years of abuse or a POW that has been brutally tortured and is still suffering or a woman who has been raped they just can bear it any more they end their lives yet these cats suffer all their lives in some cases.
I am so happy that Lilly can have a few comfortable years thanks to the wonderful work of the paw project and to her mom Julie for having the intelligence to seek help.
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Irish Cornaire on November 22, 2014 at 1:52 pm said:
This is wot happens when ye declaw ye cat,if ye dont want scratched up furniture or walls then DO NOT GET A CAT!
Lilly has been passed from one foster home to the next and adopted then returned,she should never have been declawed and the original owner who had her declawed is a POS!
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- Michael Broad on November 22, 2014 at 2:24 pm said:
  Yes. What is a POS 😉 ?
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- Leah on November 22, 2014 at 11:22 pm said:
  You know what Irish this is the thing! You say ‘if you don’t want scratched up furniture or walls don’t get a cat’ I have had cats all my life I grew up with them, had numerous cats over the years; I have 4 now and I have never had my furniture or walls ‘scratched up’ Odd isn’t it that so many have what appears to be these destructive cats where the only solution is de-clawing.
  My cats have scratching posts and even if they did have the odd scratch at the furniture well it wouldn’t bother me because its much more preferable to having cats that defecate outside the litter box which is what happens when a cat is de-clawed.
  People who de-claw are insensitive and stupid.
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  - Ruth aka Kattaddorra on November 23, 2014 at 8:17 am said:
    I agree Leah! When people say cats scratch the house to bits and ruin the furniture they make it sound like it’s some sort of wild giant kind of cat with huge lethal claws.
    We’ve had cats for over 40 years and never had our home or furniture torn to shreds, nor ourselves and I’ve never known any babies or dogs with their eyes scratched out by cats either, which is another excuse pro declaws use.
    Cats need to scratch to stay healthy and that’s why scratching posts and pads exist!
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Ruth aka Kattaddorra on November 22, 2014 at 7:17 am said:
Poor Lily, most of her life living with pain and abuse because of being blamed for the consequences of declawing! She is only one of the many declawed cats suffering as she has and who maybe will never be helped to live a few pain free years.
What is so awful about this is that the vets who declaw are deliberately mutilating cats paws and then the Paw Project vets are repairing the damage as best they can for as many cats as they can.
Yes I agree Michael, it’s just CRAZY!
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- Michael Broad on November 22, 2014 at 7:37 am said:
  When you look at the bits of bone removed from her paws, it is nothing less than shocking as a highly qualified professional did it who is meant to be concerned with promoting health and welfare! The world is upside down with declawing.
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Geri on November 22, 2014 at 12:29 am said:
This is so sad. Glad it turned out in her favor. Poor cat.
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NANCY SCHWOPE on November 22, 2014 at 12:26 am said:
THANK YOU JUDY- LILLY FOUND HER ANGEL
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Eva D.R.Force on November 22, 2014 at 12:08 am said:
I feel so sorry for her past suffering, and so happy she is out of pain now. everytime I hear about another declawing procedure; I want to hurt the one allowing it and the others directly involved in the procedure itself…which is horrific.
God Bless You Judy !!!
Eva say’s
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- Michael Broad on November 23, 2014 at 8:44 am said:
  I think of the pain suffered right now by millions of declawed cats in the USA based on the number suffering in Utah….
  https://pictures-of-cats.org/urgent-cat-owners-in-utah-usa-must-read-this.html
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Dee (Florida) on November 21, 2014 at 10:23 pm said:
Can only imagine what kind of pain this sweet girl endured for years. Look at the size of those fragments.
She’s old now but, finally, is free and can focus on her love for Judy.
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