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!?!!!! 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.