by Ruth (UK)
Introduction: Firstly, there are a huge number comments on this page. The comments are very much part of the page. Please read some of them. This page including the comments is almost 18,000 words! Secondly, both the poster and image below are on separate pages where there are no adverts because they are quite uncomfortable to see and advertisers can’t advertise on these sorts of pages.. The page was first published around 12 years ago. It remains very relevant today as declawing is sadly still rooted in American culture. There has been some major success such as the New York State ban. Please don’t declaw your cat. Find another way.
Thank you to the person who is allowing us to use these photos. This once happy healthy 6-month-old kitten’s life changed forever in just one day and he is now disabled because the person who he trusted the most betrayed his trust.
His human handed him over to be anesthetised and ‘declawed’ by one of the very people who having trained to care for animals and therefore must know the anatomy of a cat and how much a cat needs his claws, instead betray their patients and break their oath to cause no animal to suffer.
Declawing is not the right word for this surgery. The third phalanx, ungual process, ungual crest, flexor tendon, dorsal ligaments, blood vessels, nerves, flesh and fur of each toe are all severed and amputated leaving only stumps of bone covered by wounded flesh for the cat to walk on.
RELATED: Epidemic of Botched Cat Declaw Operations
To put it simply, in reality it is the amputation of the cats last toe joints, which are the equivalent of our last finger joints. Here is the photo used in the poster, in large format showing the ten bloody, amputated third phalanxes:
The declawed claws of a cat showing the last phalanx of each joint of all ten front paws.
Here is a poster by Ruth on declawing (please click on the link to see it – thanks):
Poster by Ruth on declawing
The photographer’s identity has been deliberately kept confidential. The photo is copyright protected. Don’t breach copyright, please.
Vet staff said the kitten in the poster above was already scared to death before surgery and was completely freaked out when he woke up. They tried to soothe him but he growled at them and didn’t want to be touched. Who could blame him?
This pre-meditated abuse of cats happens every day in many vet offices in the USA and Canada because the doctors there would rather mutilate a cat and add more dollars to their bank accounts than stand up for what is right on behalf of their animal clients.
They justify declawing by the excuse that it saves cats homes and cats lives. This is untrue as is proved by the thousands of declawed cats regularly abandoned or relinquished to Rescue Shelters.
This needless cruelty has become accepted as ‘routine cat care’ because most people trust their vet and are not told that declawing is major surgery which can cause many mental and/or physical problems to the cat.
I think anyone looking at the close up of the amputated joint and seeing for themselves the extent of the healthy parts removed from cats for convenience sake, will agree that this cruel surgery must be stopped.
Before this photo was taken this cat was using these very claws to exercise, stretch, groom, grab toys, & rake litter. Then his human shoved him in his carrier and left him at his doctor’s office. It is interesting to note that the claws are trimmed.
Just hours later he woke up with his paws throbbing, bloody beneath bandages. Vet staff said this kitty was already scared to death before surgery, and was completely freaked out when he woke up. They tried to soothe him, but he growled at them and didn’t want to be touched. Then he spent last night all alone in his cage – just him and his newly mutilated fingers.
Had a cat been found on the streets with his body parts severed off, the person who did the crime would be convicted for animal cruelty. But because this needless cruelty is done by veterinarians, it’s become accepted as “routine cat care” in our society.
This is a true story and one that happens every day in many of our countries vet offices because these vets would rather mutilate a cat than stand up for what is right on behalf of their animal clients.
So it is up to us to EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE everyone we know about declawing and the many easy and effective ways to care for claws!
Ruth
The Shocking Images Of A Declawed Cat to Declawing Cats
Thank you so much for giving me the details regarding this topic. This is exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks Tif for commenting.
Some people still keep arguing that helping people is more mporzant as helping animals. What those people do not understand is that cruelty against people always starts with cruelty against animals. A perso who does not respect and feels empathy for live in general can not feel empathy against anybody. If someone says he or she would be willing to torture thousand animals to safe one child it is clear he or she is a sadist! There is no true care in such a person for the said child, it is just the comfortable excuse to disregard the needs of other living beings. Usually those people don’t help anyone at all. They even use other people, who in their eyes do help the wrong cause, as an excuse to do nothing at all. I’ve known many people who really cared for existing children and dedicated their time to make the world a better place for them to live in. I myself care more for children and volunteer coaching them and prepare them to get a job after school than do insert myselve in rescuing animals. But still, no one of those people who really care for the well being of others would ever tell anyone to stop caring for anything that has feelings. Be it a cild or even a chicken, passion for helping does not exclude and people who help are to be respected! Also I’m glad around here such despicable things as declawing are banned!
Well said. I agree with you and thanks for sharing your thoughts.
One thing this doesn’t take into consideration is a cat being declawed for the sake of their health. For example, my cat had a nasty nail bed infection. We tried antibiotics, a cone, everything, but my cat’s nails were getting more and more worn and infected. Because this was causing him so much discomfort, we had the vet declaw him. Was he sore at first? Absolutely! But in the end he felt much better, and hasn’t had problems since. So sometimes, declawing is necessary, as awful as it may seem.
I agree that when declawing is done for therapeutic reasons it is acceptable but this happens about 0.00001% of the time. Almost all (99.999%) declaws are for non-therapeutic reasons.
I do realize this is quite an old article but I still felt the need to express myself. I never have approved of declawing because I felt it interfered with the cats natural ability to defend himself(or even run up a tree to escape). However I never realized how truly barbaric the procedure was. I didn’t understand a knuckle of this poor animals “hand” was removed,hell 10 knuckles with both paws. So now I am even more against this procedure. I don’t care if it a medical procedure or not (so is circumcision and I think thats mean and unnecessary)theres no need for it outside of saving your precious furniture. I say, if you don’t want your furniture clawed…don’t get a cat. I have 4. I buy cat scratching posts. Do they always use them? Nope. I just shoo them off my furniture and thats enough. Animals have feelings to. You wouldn’t consider removing your childs fingertips during an out break of chicken pox would you? Well in my opinion animals should be treated with the same regard. Thanks for allowing my vent!
Well said Dawn. What you have stated is exactly what we have stated over and over again. It is interesting that you were not aware of how barbaric it is. I am sure a lot of cat owners are the same right now and the vets don’t want to enlighten them. I hate the vets for this.
WOW, i wonder how this even came about. I mean if someone was worried about their furniture be torn up and consulted with a Vet about the cats nails, how could declawing a cat become so popular. Its obvious that this effects the cat physically and psychologically. By looking at the pictures its not a nail being clipped, its a natural body part that makes up the cat that is being eliminated. Unbelievable.
Yep…it’s a whole chunk of the toe, times 10. It is wicked. When you look at the bloody mess and pain you wonder what the heck people are doing to their cats that they supposedly love.
It came about when American people started keeping their cats strictly indoors and some cold hearted vet invented declawing, causing thousands of cats and kittens to be experimented on to ‘perfect’ it and causing pain, disablement and suffering to millions of cats since then and it STILL goes on!
Yes it’s unbelievable.