OUR FRIEND IS BEING GRADUALLY ‘DECLAWED’
by Ruth
(England)
Declawing comparison
Our friend Pam has given me permission to tell her story and post a picture of her foot after her latest 'declawing'. Last year she was told she had to have her toenails removed due to a medical problem.
The surgeon told her this would mean a series of operations because removing all her toe nails together would cause her too much pain, shock and disablement. Babz wrote about this at the time:
Declawing - a human experience
The other day Pam had two more toenails removed, she had to rest with her feet up and make sure she was feeling well enough to go home. Her toes were padded and bandaged to protect them from any harm. She was given pain medication and is resting at home now with her feet up as much as possible and will have a nurse to change her dressings and keep an eye on her feet until those toes are fully healed.
Her feet are no different in shape because only the nails were removed and she has no pain or troubles from the toes previously operated on.
How different for a cat! A cat has ten amputations in one operation! He wakes up in pain and shock with bloody bandages on his paws, he doesn't know what has been done to him. He tries to stand up, well you can't tell a cat to rest with his paws up, can you!
He either throws himself around the hospital cage or hunches miserably in the corner for the night. The next day he has those bloody bandages removed before his 'doting' owner comes to collect him, then he goes home and is expected to walk straight away on those painful stumps and also dig in litter with them.
His feet are now deformed because the last joints of his toes have been amputated, NOT just the nail, like Pam's operation! He has to learn to walk differently. Pam has crutches at first to help keep the weight off her feet when she stands up.
Pam's feet will heal and she won't miss those toe nails at all. The cats feet will heal too (if the operation wasn't botched) but he will certainly miss his toe ends, he will be crippled for life! Pam's nails were not necessary, apart from protecting her toes of course, but the cats nails (and toe ends) were essential to live his life as a healthy whole cat!
He faces many problems in the future whereas Pam's foot troubles will be long over. I'm sure someone will come on and say 'But there is not all that blood with laser declawing'.
Maybe not BUT the cat is no less crippled for life whichever way the vet decides to mutilate him.
