WARNING – don’t look at these photos or visit this page if you think the sight of an injured cat will injure you especially when the injury was caused legally and by an expert at the behest of the cat’s owner.
Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles:- Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats
The image comes from K Bressler’s Twitter feed. Thanks Country Girl for fighting against cat declawing just like me and many others. It is hard to look but we must not flinch. We must know how bad it is and how bad and insensitive to cat welfare some veterinarians are.
If you can stomach it have a look at this page too – click here and here. Now if you are thinking of declawing your cat think again and read this – click here.
Then read this as well – click here.
Now if you declaw your cat you are mad and bad.
Every cat owner needs to see this pictures, though I’d imagine that people who read this page are probably all against declawing already. But… sharing it is a good idea.
I agree. Most visitors to PoC are here for information and not news stories (and they don’t comment) so I believe these images may save some cats from being mutilated.
I’m so glad you are still educating about declawing! I will share this page. Every cat lover needs to share it, let’s get the truth out there! Our mission is growing in numbers and strength, our facebook group ‘The International Coalition Against Declawing’ has many dedicated and passionate members worldwide and we have saved countless claws over the years since Barbara and I co-founded it. We also have some success in that some veterinarians are stopping declawing. But we have a way to go yet because many vets will never stop declawing unless it is made illegal. Some even advertise neuter/declaw packages, despite the AVMA policy that it should be a last resort procedure and only done after the client fully understands what the surgery entails and that they have tried all alternatives! Little kittens are being declawed before they have had a chance to learn what their claws are for. They are declawed for human convenience! It breaks my heart as much today as it did 10 years ago when I came across it happening in the USA and Canada. I have over 150 educational posters now on our group, thanks to the days when I started out designing them for PoC and I’m glad to say they save claws.
Thanks a lot Ruth for commenting. Most welcome. I have always felt like you about declawing. I hate it with a vengeance. I detest it. It is the worst kind of cat abuse: legal and authorised -almost supported by the AVMA because they are so weak in enforcing professional standards. I will always fight against it. Whenever an opportunity arises in the way of a picture or words I will use them to try and save the claws on one cat or more.
You have done great work in educating and getting the message across: to stop it, to ban it and to accept cats’ claws and find nice ways to deal with scratching.
I really think you’re preaching to the wrong crowd here. However my vet did explain it along with solutions to scratching issues. And that was simply because I mentioned that Mercy’s only issue at 4 months was inappropriate scratching. I never mentioned declawing but my vet was quick to point out how to correct the behavior. So I think it’s important to not lump every veterinarian in the same boat. At the same time there is a vet in Tijeras Canyon that offers a S/N declaw package on her web site. If the vet advertises it we can assume they are trying to attract the clientele that are fine with mutilating their pets and avoid them like the plague. Oddly she has partnered several times with my personal BAD VET. Birds of a feather.
Perhaps you are correct, ME, about preaching to the wrong people but the site does get visitors who declaw and the site gets lots of people seeking cat information. Also i hate declawing so I am driven to try and stop it.
Michael, I am VERY against this procedure!!! When anyone asks me what I think about declawing, the first thing I say to them is, “Hey, let’s make an appointment first for you to get the first joints of all your fingers amputated, and then we’ll discuss declawing a cat”. Needless to say, I get some wild eyes — to which I reply — “Hey, that’s what will be done to the cat(s)”, and they are like — “Wow, I never knew that”. It TOTALLY disgusts me that most North American vets DO NOT FULLY explain this! Hopefully, this has deterred any of these folks from declawing ANY cat. Seeing the pics makes me very angry, but sad for the kitties. I am not easily offended, and I fully understand what this is all about. We need to get this BANNED — PERMANENTLY — WORLDWIDE!!!!!!!
Thanks Diane for your comment. I think declawing makes you angry and if it does you’ll be like me. It makes me mad. I detest it with a vengeance. The vets don’t explain it and therefore shame on them. May there be karma in another life for all the vets who mutilate cats for profit.