I left the vets office crying!

[KittyCrazy]

Well, I took Misty (MIL's new kitty) in today to be spayed. There was a gal in front of me checking in her cat, as well. She had a 6 month old that she was bring in to be declawed. :( With the declaw surgery, the vet clinic does not require but does strongly recommend that you opt for it to be done via laser surgery (extra $50) and that you have them give pain meds before, during, and after the surgery (another $26) and then you can also opt for them to do a nerve block (like novacaine to numb the feet) for $30. The gal checking in her beautiful little kitty WAIVED ALL of those options! This girl looked to be about early 20's and I suspected she may not be able to afford it. hen they took her kitty back, I asked her if she knew everything about what excatly is involved with a declaw in hopes of changing her mind. That didn't work. I also told her I URGED her to at LEAST do 1-2 of the 3 options for her poor little guy and she said she'd love to but she just doesn't have the money. Sorry, but, then why did she freaking get a kitty!?!!!! :mad: So, I asked her if she'd consent to all 3 of those things if I paid for them and she said "oh, you don't have to do that". I said, "Ummm, yes I DO....if I don't I'll have nightmares". :( So, she finally agreed. So, I left $200+ poorer (including Misty's spaying & rabies shot) and crying that I couldn't save poor Bosco from losing his toes.

[pitc9]

OMG... how horrible!!!
I'm sorry your words fell on deaf ears and she still went ahead with the declawing. :(

BLESS YOU for insisting on paying for the pain meds, etc. If Bosco could thank you for it, I'm sure he would.

[Taz_Zoee]

My question would have been, if you can't afford any of these options for his comfort, why are you declawing him in the first place? Save some money AND the kitties toesies. *rollseyes* Oh well, we can't change the world, but we can sure try!!
Good for you for helping that poor kitty. At least he'll be comfortable.

[Laura's Babies]

I do hope you explained to her that now he MUST always be a inside kitty, she took away his only defense system! I am betting she is one of those that won't think twice about tossing him out of the house if there is a problem.

[moosmom]

You were much too kind. I would've let my opinion be known whether they wanted it or not. SOMEONE has to speak for these poor animals.

[VTJess03]

I know I felt terrible about doing it to my kitty (please don't blast me)...The only apartment I could find when I left my ex that would even allow pets at all insisted that she be front-declawed, since it was a furnished place. I refused to leave him all the pets, knowing how he would (not) care for them properly...This was my only option at the time, and I will never, ever, ever, let her out of the house...I hope this girl's situation wasn't as bad as mine, but I can empathize with her. I did get the pain meds for Sasha, though (I actually charged it all to my credit card, even though I couldn't really afford it - over 2 years later, I'm still paying for bills incurred during my separation).

[Randi]

At least you tried the best you could to persuade her not to do it - good for you! :) And now, thanks to you, the cat won't be in pain after the operation. It's sad that it's still allowed to declaw cats in USA. Let's hope enough protests and education will help change that.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

...was adviced to never bring this up, so bye bye original post ;]

[Anikaca77]

http://www.declawing.com/htmls/declawing.htm

Here is a website that might be able to answer your questions as to why many of us on here feel that declawing should be outlawed in the States.

Also, I was doing some research before because my sister wanted to get this cat that was 2-3 years old done and I found a video of it being done. It was the most horrible thing I've ever watched in my life.


whats so horrible about declawing?

Our cats have always gotten declawed...

[catmandu]

I Had The Found Cats Declawed At First, But I Will Never Have Them Declawed Gain. Poor Mr Scrappy When He Got Older Had A Hard Time Scratching The Itcht Dry Spots On His Back That He Could If He Had His Front Claws.
Then Again I Dont Have Expensive Scratchable Furniture, But Even So I Would Never Have A Cat Declawed.
Bless You For Helping Bosco Wuth The Pain, I Hope That Lady Truly Couldnt Afford Those Options And Wasnt Being Cheap About Her Companion.
:( :(

[Freedom]

Bless you for helping that sweet innocent kitty!

[orangemm]

Yes, bless you for caring for that sweet kitty. Thank you for trying to educate someone, even tho' they don't seem to worry about it too much.

Years ago when I had my first cat, I had him declawed and regretted it the moment I saw him after the surgery. I've felt horrible and guilty about it ever since and no other cat in my home has ever gone through that.

[Medusa]

Chances are if you had been rough on her, she wouldn't have allowed you to pay for the pain meds. Then you really would've had nightmares. I know that some people just do not understand all that is involved in declawing. They think that cats just can't feel those little claws because we can't feel our fingernails. When I first got into cat rescue, I asked my vet if declawing is painful and he said "Let me ask you, Mary: if I pulled off all of your fingernails, do you think it would hurt?" That's all he had to say. Some rescue organizations here in Ohio insist that people not declaw their rescues and, as a result, some people decline taking a cat. I'm still undecided about that. Rescue and declaw but at least the cat has a permanent home. Or no declawing but no home either. Perfect world: give a cat a permanent home w/no declawing but it isn't a perfect world, as we all know. You did your best for this cat and that's all we can do. We cannot save the world but we sure can try to help.

[KittyCrazy]

Just wanted to add.....I tried my best with the little bit of time I had to educate this girl and hopefully make her reconsider long enough for me to fully educate her but she wasn't going to listen and things were moving along quickly. On top of that, I didn't want to make a huge scene and tick off the vet's office by causing them to lose business and then have them tell me to go find a different clinic because of interfering with their business! This is the only clinic in a fairly large town that offers laser surgery and nerve blocks so if they had gotten mad at me and told me to take a flying leap, it would have kept me from getting the best care and surgery for MIL's kitty. I also LOVE my vet at this clinic and would not have to find a new one.....I trust her and she genuinely cares about her patients.

As far as mentioning to this girl that she'll have to make sure this kitty always stays indoors now....I didn't even think of that. I guess I just assumed that people declawing a pet would KNOW this but that was a poor assumption to make. I am going to write her a note and ask the vet clinic to give it to her and let her know that if she is ever in a position where she cannot financially afford to care for her kitty and needs to get him a new home to call me and I'll take him. I probably wouldn't keep him but I'd re-home him myself to make sure he gets a really good one!

[Catlady711]

Apparently either where I work is unique or else other vets are NUTS!

Where I work at you don't have the option of NOT getting pain meds. All prices already include pain medications/injections regardless of what type of surgery it is! We've had people even call asking if they could forgo some pain meds to cheapen it up and we absolutely REFUSE. I tell them, would you want surgery done on you without pain meds or anesthesia?? So maybe we lose a few clients due to price now and again, but the clients we do have know we won't let their animal be in pain even if it does cost a bit more.

If they are so cheap as to want to forgo on purpose pain medications then they are in no way going to take proper care of the animal in other ways either. If they are so financially strapped that they can't afford a few extra dollars that the pain meds cost then they don't need to be getting a pet of ANY kind!!!! IMHO

I really highly dislike vets who's pricing makes pain meds seem optional or more expensive than needs to be! Why not just include it in the price and be done with it, then pets don't have to suffer because people are cheap and heartless! I don't know how a vet can sleep at night knowing that he's doing surgeries and letting animals be in pain because he lets his clients dictate whether or not they want pain meds for their pets! It's his company and he makes the rules, not the clients!

KittyCrazy - I think what you did by paying for the pain meds for someone else's pet is wonderful. You shouldn't have had to do that, but I'm sure the cat will be much happier.

[Medusa]

Kittycrazy, personally, I think you went above and beyond! And, you're right about not talking to her about keeping the cat indoors, etc. You only had so much time and given the circumstances, you had to be careful. I think you did great and I would release it now. :)

[CultureJunky]

What an experience to have to go through. And certainly what a saint you are for paying for that poor cats medications.
What a horrid, shallow woman that girl must be to do that to her cat and not even care about the pain she could be putting him through.
Thankfully declawing is illegal here in Britain, and so it bloody should be in the US.
Something good came out of this situation, in that you were able to help that poor cat, may his pain forever be on her head.

If you have posh furninture then don't get a get a cat , simple as :mad:
If you don't want things scratched, fur everywhere, and a smelly house sometimes, don't get cats! :mad:
Grrr people make me mad they really do :mad:

[KittyCrazy]

Thankfully declawing is illegal here in Britain, and so it bloody should be in the US.


AMEN to that!

[Tora Oni]

Yeah I totally see why someone would have mixed feelings because if you can't de-claw then they homeless and if you can then their mutilated. It honestly sound like a no-win situation. I think people need to be more educated, it should be illeagal. Most people who de-claw their pets are either uneucated or just inhumane. I think they should pass a law that anyone who wants the surgery should watch a live video of how its done and have more advertisment of alternet ways of providing protection. Might I ask how harmful are cats claws anyways, most cats aren't just going to randomly attack someone, inless their being playful they don't know what their doing. If de-clawing prosedure goes wrong you could physically scar and deform your cat for life, even though de-clawing is a type of deforming a cat.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

Yeah I totally see why someone would have mixed feelings because if you can't de-claw then they homeless and if you can then their mutilated. It honestly sound like a no-win situation. I think people need to be more educated, it should be illeagal. Most people who de-claw their pets are either uneucated or just inhumane. I think they should pass a law that anyone who wants the surgery should watch a live video of how its done and have more advertisment of alternet ways of providing protection. Might I ask how harmful are cats claws anyways, most cats aren't just going to randomly attack someone, inless their being playful they don't know what their doing. If de-clawing prosedure goes wrong you could physically scar and deform your cat for life, even though de-clawing is a type of deforming a cat.

yes i realize that I'll probably get flamed for this, but I don't really care.


The first bolded part REALLY offended me. We've always gotten our cats declawed, so does that mean I'm inhumane? My mom's always made the call and yes she did know how it was done. 6 of our 7 cats have been declawed, and not ONE of them have had any problems from it. Are we just amazingly lucky, or is it less dangerous then you guys have been making it seem?

Thats all for now :]

I don't want to hi-jack this thread (a little late, eh?) so and I don't want it to turn into a fight of whether declawing is right or wrong..so please, if you have problems with my post, pm me.

[KittyCrazy]

not ONE of them have had any problems from it. Are we just amazingly lucky, or is it less dangerous then you guys have been making it seem?


I'm not going to flame you over this but I do want to explain my viewpoint...since you asked! ;) It's not just a matter of them having problems with it afterwards.....I'm sure many don't. In fact, my current 4 yr. old cat is declawed because up until about 3 yrs. ago, no one had taken the time to explain to me how terrible and barbaric of a procedure this really is. When I paid for the pain medication for the girl's cat that she wasn't even going to provide for him, I noticed it said right in the info. about the pain meds that the cat would receive pain meds "before, DURING, and after" the procedure. That right there should tell you something. Putting a cat under anesthesia is NOT like putting a human under anesthesia for surgery. They still feel the pain of the first joint of their toes being cut off. Many cats, even though they are too paralyzed to be able to move will still let out a horrendous growl/moan/cry sound as each toe joint is being removed because of the excruciating, unbearable pain they are feeling. :( Because of this, some cats have endured such incredible agony that they will end up being mean, scared, and many other character traits they would not have had if it hadn't been for the torture they were subjected to. The pain they have after the surgery is no cake walk either and most declawed cats eventually suffer from very painful arthritis in their declawed feet when they are at or above 10 years.

I'd highly recommend you get further information from www.declawing.com and also do some YouTube searches for cat declawing and SEE first hand what is involved. I know once I did, I swore I'd NEVER do that to another poor kitty again and I feel so awful every time I look at my poor Molly and know that I let that happen to her.

Here is another site that will answer your questions about why so many of us are emphatic about NOT declawing.
http://community-2.webtv.net/zuzu22/stopdeclawtemporary/

[moosmom]

In fact, my current 4 yr. old cat is declawed because up until about 3 yrs. ago, no one had taken the time to explain to me how terrible and barbaric of a procedure this really is.

I'm also guilty of stupdity. This was WAY before anyone explained the entire procedure to me. I had my oldest cat, Mollie Rose (15) declawed and have regretted it ever since. I'm lucky in that she's okay. No problems that usually come with declawing such as arthritis, litterbox problems, biting issues, etc. Would I ever do it again??? Heck no. I apologize to Mollie Rose all the time. She just looks at me like, "Whatever".

The United States is the ONLY country that still allows this barbaric procedure.