Disturbing pic of cat on forums website

A few days ago My young niece let me know about a disturbing photo showing a kid,a tied down cat & a dustbuster.It seems to be a real photo.My niece did ask the girl whose profile its on about the photo but she says the girl was rude & nasty to her.I did write the website admin asking him to remove the pic but i have received no answer & the pic is still on her profile.

Maybe someone else can write the admin or am i over reacting ? (i dont think so).Click the link & click images (rt.side of profile above actions).See the pic for yourself & make your own assesment. http://anthem.showmember.com

All you can do is contact the site administrator, anything else will just call more attention and get them more traffic.

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Originally Posted by Karen

All you can do is contact the site administrator, anything else will just call more attention and get them more traffic.

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Have you seen the photo ? Im not sure if the cat is even alive.I want to find out where the pic originated from.The kid in the photo is a minor.Theirs alot of sick creeps in this world.

a. Let the cops or animal authorities know. They can trace the source of the pic.

b. Notify the news media! (That'll get action from the forum).

c. Let PETA know.

A few options.

That is very WRONG and upsetting. I agree with Catty1. Where are the parents of this kid?!?:mad:

REST EASY.....a friend did some research.The kitty was being prepped for surgery...

http://www.chipsquinn.org/news/photo/photo_catvac.htm

As odd as it looks that is normal procedure... the loose hairs need to be removed so they don't contaminate the surgical site. And the ties are necessary to keep the cat from moving during the procedure. (and they DO move even under full anesthetic!)

What's weird though is the cat should have a breathing tube and be hooked up to oxygen and the actual anesthetic. Also, you wouldn't tie down until the cat was actually ready in the surgical suite, and using a dustbuster at that point is completely unsterile.. because even if they clean the cat at that point, I don't think you would take a dustbuster into the surgery suite. When I worked at a clinic we also used a vacuum to clean up the excess hair, but we did it outside the OR and once the area was prepped the animal was brought into the OR and then treated from that point on only by those who had scrubbed in.

But yes, it's normal that the cat would be tied down like that for a surgery.

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Originally Posted by james

REST EASY.....a friend did some research.The kitty was being prepped for surgery...

http://www.chipsquinn.org/news/photo/photo_catvac.htm

As odd as it looks that is normal procedure... the loose hairs need to be removed so they don't contaminate the surgical site. And the ties are necessary to keep the cat from moving during the procedure. (and they DO move even under full anesthetic!)

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Even if cats are tied for surgery, which I have no doubt is true ... nothing else makes sense.

I have a really hard time believing a vet uses a dustbuster in the operating room. I'm obviously not a vet, so I could be wrong, but I really don't see a surgeon using a dustbuster!

The setting of this photo is not a sterile operating room, a veterinarian's clinic. I see nothing that makes me think this cat is anywhere NEAR a vet's office. And, going out on a limb again here, but I don't think vet techs are suddenly twelve year old boys in street clothes with dustbusters.

Come on!

"La Shinda Clark, photographer at The Philadelphia Inquirer and 1995 Scholar, won third place for feature photos in the National Press Photographers Association 2003 Best of Photojournalism contest. In the photo, volunteer Cameron Tarzwell, 13, cleans loose hair that has been shaved from an anesthetized cat, Princess, in preparation for an operation. Tarzwell has been assisting a veterinarian for four years. The photo was one in a picture story on a spaying and neutering program in Chester County in Pennsylvania."

is the text linked with the photo.

surely we have Pet Talkers there who could verify? Though it was taken 6 years ago ...

It is still upsetting to me. I do not think I want a 13 year old assisting with my cat's preparation for surgery! I agree with the others about being sterile. I don't think anyone should have won an award for this photo. :mad::(

It's not sterile because it doesn't need to be yet. The shaved area is cleaned with antiseptic after the hair is removed. The cat does not seem distressed so I would agree that it is anesthetized and being prepped for surgery, albeit without the breathing tube yet (not sure why). You can see the light is brighter on the cat's abdomen as if from a surgical light. I don't know why a kid would be in there, but I don't see anything particularly wrong with the pic. Obviously someone (probably older) was taking the picture so it wasn't like he just wandered in there all alone.

I worked at a small town vet clinic and the surgery suite was just a small white room with a table and looks much like the background in that pic. Occasionally vet techs would bring their kids to work. If they were bored and restless, we'd let them sweep the surgery suite or do other small tasks. Vaccuuming a cat would not be a huge issue as long as there was an adult supervision.

Surgery preps can be alarming to look at, whether for animals or us humans.

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The shaved area is cleaned with antiseptic after the hair is removed

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Yep, can't sanitize the area when it is full of fur. As for the boy vacuuming the cat and his age, I am sure he was well supervised and who knows, he could be in the next generation of vets.

As inexperienced as I am at stuff like that, shaving, cleaning and sanitizing to prep for surgery was MY job when I helped SBR on spay day. He taught us all how to wrap and sanitize the tools and how to give shots and prep. I never did the shots but I did the rest including assisting him in surgery. While we were pressed for space, we did prep in a different area while he was sewing up the one he was finishing up.

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Originally Posted by happylabs

It is still upsetting to me. I do not think I want a 13 year old assisting with my cat's preparation for surgery! :mad::

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I did find the picture disturbing until Karen gave the explanation. It's a weird picture and I don't understand how that is at a vet's office. Certainly doesn't look it to me, but I don't agree with this statement much either. A teenager, being supervised by a professional vet is perfectly capable of cleaning up the area of a cat. NOT the surgical part, but the perparation part, yes. I have a friend, whom for his SAE project for our FFA program volunteers at a Vet's office and cleans cages, walks dogs, etc. But he has helped prepare animals for surgery, doing easy things like this boy is doing, the vet was not only supervising but helping him in the process. I myself don't see how age matters here, being a Vet(or to get in vet school) you need experience and this is perfect experience for that.

I don't think the dustbuster is the most disturbing part. It doesn't make sense to me that they would tie the cat down to do this particular part of the prep, but maybe certain places would. However, you would NOT allow the cat, the dustbuster, or a kid into the sterlie surgical suite. That would be done OUTSIDE the suite on a different area because the surgery area would be completely contaminated.

The disturbing part is the fact that the anethetized cat does not have a breathing tube, nor is it hooked to oxygen or the gas. Once the pre-anesthetic is in, it needs to be tubed because the pre-anesthetic doesn't last very long.. and you put the breathing tube in while the animal is on their stomach. If you decided to clean the area before the breathing tube, the surgery site would be contaminated because you would have to flip the animal over.

It still does not make sense to me.

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Originally Posted by Alysser

I did find the picture disturbing until Karen gave the explanation. It's a weird picture and I don't understand how that is at a vet's office. Certainly doesn't look it to me, but I don't agree with this statement much either. A teenager, being supervised by a professional vet is perfectly capable of cleaning up the area of a cat. NOT the surgical part, but the perparation part, yes. I have a friend, whom for his SAE project for our FFA program volunteers at a Vet's office and cleans cages, walks dogs, etc. But he has helped prepare animals for surgery, doing easy things like this boy is doing, the vet was not only supervising but helping him in the process. I myself don't see how age matters here, being a Vet(or to get in vet school) you need experience and this is perfect experience for that.

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Sorry but I regard the medical/surgical care of my pets as important as if it were a human relative. I am checking with my vet to see if minors are allowed to assist in surgical prep.

You all are totally overreacting. It's a cat tied down for surgery prep. The vet I used to work at used the exact same setup. A small room with a surgical table, anesthesia machine and surgery lights. The animal was tied down at 4 corners to keep it from rolling around as the doctor performed surgery. So don't say it can't be a vet, because I saw it every day. The whole room got sterilized every morning and the table cleaned before each surgery. Cats were given an injection in their holding cage, intubated (this place may be using a mask instead), tied to the table, shaved, vaccummed, scrubbed, covered in a sterile drape, operated on, and placed in an adjoining room to recover.

Please keep in mind that not every town has a huge million-dollar surgery suite with rows and rows of tables. Small-town, independant vet clinics look just like that pic more often than not.

As far as the kid goes.... geez it's a Dustbuster. It's not like they turned him loose with a scalpel and a bottle of Ketamine :rolleyes: Somebody stop him before he gets the gauze and Nolvasan scrub!

I don't understand the purpose of the picture being taken and I also don't understand why the person got an award. I just don't get it... :confused:

I fail to see the issue with having a minor help with surgical prep.

It's a good way to learn.

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Originally Posted by smokey the elder

Surgery preps can be alarming to look at, whether for animals or us humans.

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LOL, after years of working in human ORs I saw plenty of Wardrobe Malfunctions. They are alarming-especially when you see a rather large area of skin that has been 'denuded'.

My only concern about the DustBuester is the exhaust and what stuff gets blown up into the air-The HVAC systems in ORs have heavy duty air scrubbers to take out any gunk in the air!

I didn't see the pic and won't......:eek:

Well, I stand corrected ... I had no idea that some vets let NINE YEAR OLD children assist with surgery, not wear sterile operating room scrubs, etc. Sure am glad MY vet does not operate like this one!

I agree with happylabs ... when my pets go to the vet for surgery, I expect the same professional, sterile, careful treatment as I would for a human relative.

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Originally Posted by Twisterdog

Well, I stand corrected ... I had no idea that some vets let NINE YEAR OLD children assist with surgery, not wear sterile operating room scrubs, etc. Sure am glad MY vet does not operate like this one!

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are you sure? Have you ever sat in on a surgery?;)

He's not assisting with surgery. It's just prep. If your teenage kid puts gas in your car while you remain in the driver's seat, would you consider that as "assisting" your drive home?:p

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I am checking with my vet to see if minors are allowed to assist in surgical prep.

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Why wouldn't they be? :rolleyes: If they are being supervised I don't understand the harm in it. No one said anything about immaturity, I know but it all goes back to that. This is like saying I, A 16 year old, shouldn't be allowed to volunteer at my local shelter. I have gotten this from so many adults who don't trust me. I've been a volunteer there for 6 months now and this lady who thinks she knows it all, and who has been a volunteer a grand total of 2 months, always comes up to me and asks me if I'm a volunteer. She asked me the last time I was there why I was walking a large dog? BECAUSE I CAN HANDLE IT. I can handle animals perfectly fine, I'm not going to drop one, hurt one, or do something stupid and immature with it. This may come as a surprise to some of you but being an adult doesn't make you an automatic professional in Veterinary Science. If this is something I am interested in doing, why shouldn't I be allowed to gain experience along with my college degree in it? Why not start young? I'm sorry I just don't understand the mentality of not trusting younger people to be able to do things like this.

You can call me rude or whatever you like and you can say you only feel this way because you are a minor. No, that's not true either. Things like this just annoy me. The only two people who have EVER trusted me full on 100% with animals/pets is my Agriscience Teacher and my parents. They have never worried about animals in my hands. I'm not going to deliberatly hurt an animal, never ever ever ever would I ever do that.

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Originally Posted by aTailOf2Kitties

are you sure? Have you ever sat in on a surgery?;)

He's not assisting with surgery. It's just prep. If your teenage kid puts gas in your car while you remain in the driver's seat, would you consider that as "assisting" your drive home?:p

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Actually, yes, I have, several times. Well, not the entire surgery, my queasy stomach couldn't stand it all. My vet is a good friend of mine, and one of his vet techs is one of my oldest and dearest friends. So, yes, I am absolutely sure.

And can YOU be sure it's "just prep". The article said the kid has been assisting for four years - you SURE he's been content to do nothing but run the dust buster for four years? :p

He is thirteen NOW, so he started this when he was NINE, not a teenager. If my nine year old accidently put diesel in my car instead of gasoline, because he is a NINE year old CHILD ... I'd consider that my stupidity in trusting a child to do an adult's job, frankly.

Alysser, there is a BIG difference in a sixteen year old volunteering to walk dogs at a shelter and a nine year old prepping an animal for surgery, IMO. Completely apples and oranges. Should that not go without saying?

I'm just saying I wouldn't want a nine year old child prepping my mother or son for surgery. Would any of you? But it's ok for our pets?