I left the vets office crying!

[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
If you don't want things scratched, fur everywhere, and a smelly house sometimes, don't get cats!
Grrr people make me mad they really do

[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.