What do YOU think happens when a cat is declawed?

[PoohnPglet]

This is something very near to my heart and I am extremely bothered by those that treat it so casually. Then I thought maybe they aren't being casual at all - maybe they really do not know exactly what it means when a cat is declawed. (Even though they say they do.)

So here is an account from a Vet Tech of a declaw surgery.

So you're thinking of getting your cat declawed?

Maybe you think this will make Fluffy a more agreeable cat. Maybe you have decided that you have no other viable alternative left. Maybe you have convinced yourself that really the operation is no big deal; sure it's tough, but Fluffy will be back to his old self in a few days. Or maybe you are picking out a new kitten and have already resigned yourself to the idea that soon you will have to make that fateful trip with Fluffy Jr. to the vet. Before you make an irreversible decision, let me talk to you a little first. "Who is this person?" you are probably asking yourself. I'm the person who will greet you and Fluffy when you step in the door on the day of Fluffy's surgery. I'm the veterinary technician. If you really want to know how things truly are back in the OR, I'm the one who's got the skinny. I'll be taking care of Fluffy before, during, and after his mutilation (or surgery as we like to call it). Let me tell you my story....

I get to work around 8:00 and check on all our patients. I have to get the clinic in working order so we can begin checking in the surgery patients at 8:30. You are the first client here. We fill out the paperwork and you hand me Fluffy and say "I'll be back tomorrow Fluf. Don't worry!" Then you head out the door, get in your car and go wherever it is you are going. I weigh Fluffy and make him comfortable in his cage. Around 2:00 or so, Fluffy's time has come. He gets some anesthesia and some pain medicine and he's out like a light. I shave between all of his toes and scrub them clean. I have everything ready: the nail clippers, hemostats, glue, tape, bandage.

It's show time. I hold up one of Fluffy's feet and the doc begins: The procedure is sort of a half pull, half cut kinda thing. The nail clippers are doing their best to saw through the joint while the hemostats are ripping it away. And please make no mistake here, this isn't a nail trim. A cat's first joint, just like on your finger, is being ripped out. Fluffy utters a half growl/meow of pain as the joint tears away, even after all this medicine. The pain must be excruciating; it is certainly a gruesome spectacle to watch. Doc fills the gaping socket where Fluffy's toe used to be with some special glue and squeezes it together for a few seconds. We move on to the next toe until we're done. Now we bandage and when we're done Fluffy looks as though he's wearing little mittens...aww.

I come in the next morning and reach for the doorknob to the recovery room. "Crap!" I think, because the smell hits my brain before I even open the door to see. Blood has a very specific odor, you see, and after a while you have the ability to recognize many things: parvo, cancer, bloody declaw cats that don't seem to like their mittens- all by their respective smells.

Sure enough, Fluffy got a head start on removing his bandages so I begin my day scrubbing his blood off the walls, the door, the floor, and his cage. I clean the blood off Fluffy's fur the best I can and begin to take off his bandages. I try so hard to be gentle but I know I still hurt. I have to cut down the bandage until I'm right beside Fluffy's purple swollen toes and he cries. I examine each hole where Fluffy used to have claws and make sure they are all still sealed. They never are, of course. There is invariably at least one or two that must be reglued, so I sigh and get my glue. Then I drop some goo into Fluffy's socket and squeeze his tender and bruised deformed little toes together for several seconds. This hurts. A lot. And I feel like the scum of the earth. I clean the last bit of blood from Fluffy's feet as best I can without hurting too bad and hope that Fluffy will finish the job himself before you come.

You rush in on your lunch hour and I bring out Fluffy and remind you that Fluffy's feet are going to be very sore for a while. You already knew that.....bye Fluffy.

Three months later you bring Fluffy in to update his shots. You ask me why Fluffy doesn't seem like the cat he used to be anymore. He never wants to play or do much of anything. And he has turned into a biter! You don't understand, you tell me. Why isn't Fluffy the same? I don't know why.

But I do know that when I watch my cats play (who all have their claws) they love to scratch on trees, climb up trees, hunt moths... (you know, cat stuff). And I know that cats who don't have claws would find it very difficult to climb a tree, and scratching is definitely out. Scratching is something domestic cats really enjoy- I know this because my cats used to have contests around the scratching post. They would fling themselves around it and see who could scratch the fastest and the hardest. I had 8 cats all with claws intact in my house. I also had a brand new couch; the two co-existed peacefully.

It wasn't easy, I admit. Training a cat requires patience, much like children. I used waterguns and scratching posts. Please remember if you have a kitten that some materials may be too rough on your kitten's claws. It takes a while to break these things in- give it a little time! Try a carpeted scratching post that also has the heavy duty stuff. I kept my cats' nails trimmed regularly, starting as kittens. Try SoftPaws. Provide fun distractions: my cats had a 6 foot tall cat tree and they loved it!

As far as biting goes, this is a common "side effect". Cats with no claws have no other means of expressing dissatisfaction with their lot in life and resort to biting. Or maybe they are just mad at the world now. I don't know.

And finally, for those have attempted to rationalize a declaw by comparing it to a spay/neuter- you aren't even in the same ballpark. A spay/neuter cat comes in just like Fluffy, but he doesn't cry during his surgery. He gets to go home that very day while Fluffy must wait behind. He bounces and runs around the house that very night because he is so glad to be home. He doesn't even seem to notice that he will never be a dad. Meanwhile Fluffy is getting a pain injection.

Our doc stopped doing ear crops. I hope declaws are the next to go. Mutilation in the name of aesthetics or convenience is still mutilation.

Here are photos of a declaw. These are VERY graphic so do not click on the link if you do not want to see.

Declaw photos

I just do not know what to say to those that will read/look at these links and then still think it is no big thing to declaw their cat.

 

[DawnCt1]

I started to look but changed my mind. This should only be for cat owners who would kill their cats because of the claws. Cats placed at the SPCA are doomed to death and if that is the "choice", then declawing is preferable but only then.

 

[DizBelle]

I'm not sure I understand how anyone who claims that they love their pet would even consider doing such a thing.

 

[Virgo10]

You'll probably have some on here that will flame you but it won't be me. I have 15 cats and none are declawed. It takes time and effort to keep their claws clipped but I do it. I could never and would never mutilate an animal to make my life "easier".

Declawing is barbaric and, despite the rationalization some will come up with, I truly believe it should be illegal.

 

[LadyShiva]

DH made the mistake of assuming we would declaw a cat if we got one. THAT was a fun conversation! I asked him why we didn't declaw the dog, because she's gotten us a couple of times. He didn't think it was logical, then realized what he had said!

I said the only declaw procedure he might be able to convince me of (and there's a snowball's chance in the toasty place of that) was where they sever the ligaments and seal the small cuts with superglue. Then he would need to trim the kitty's nails on a weekly basis! He quickly begged off, saying he didn't know it was that involved.

I then pointed out our Shiba Inu (which might have a tendency to chase cats, we don't know yet) and said I'm perfectly happy with a cat taking a swipe at Chiana's nose if she gets too nosy or aggressive.

Yeah, so no declawed cats in my house, unless they were rescued after being declawed. Actually, there are no cats IN my house, but my cat at my mother's house is not declawed.

Brandie

 

[Miss Jasmine]

I'm not sure I understand how anyone who claims that they love their pet would even consider doing such a thing.

I do and I have. And yes I know all about what it really is. Personal choice. Kitty is now 16 years old and I think he has just finally gotten over the trauma. Honestly, he was fine the day after surgery. It saved his happy home because my mom was ready to kick his butt to the curb because he destroyed the carpeting in my room.

Would I do it again? I would try to avoid it, but if circumstances made it necessary I would.

 

[helenabear]

I've done it willingly once. We weren't going to, but believe it or not the vet couldn't even clip her claws and they were beginning to split and bleed. So we had the choice of dealing with constant infections of declawing. Have I done it again? No and I have no intention of it.

But I also wouldn't sit there and lecture anyone who has done it. It's not my place to. If they ask my thoughts, I'll tell them.

I never thought I'd do it myself, so I can't judge others w/o knowing their story. FWIW, there are three different ways to do it now, some are a lot less inhumane than others. We did the middle road one, where no stitches were required nor did the whole knuckle (so to speak) gets removed, since we couldn't afford laser surgery.

 

[DMRick]

They didn't have the laser surgery when I was working, so the above is how it was done. I have talked to a couple vets who do the laser, and feel it's a much, much better way to go, if you have to have it done. Bleeding is minimal to none, and healing goes much faster, and the cat is up and about very quickly. But it's still not pretty.

We have had patients that were at their wits end. They loved their cats, but just could not put up with the tearing up for their furniture (and I think this is one of the reasons I work so hard with my rescue kittens to use scratching posts and boards), curtains, etc. They have tried clipping the nails and keeping them short, the "covers" (which aren't so good, since you have to push out the claws to glue them on, and they don't retract right while they are wearing them), double tape on their furniture, aluminum foil, and just about everything else. For some cats it just won't work, and the choice becomes a visit to the animal shelter, which often means death. As painful as the declawing is (and I got to see them right afterwards..it's painful), it's better than death. We'd never had a "bad" one in the years I was in private practice as animal heath lab tech, and no one has come back to say the cat wasn't the same once it healed, but I'm sure it happens, as they can have feet/toe problems, according to a couple articles I have read.
But it happens, and since the owners won't look to see just what will happen, or some owners feel they have no choice, it will continue.

I've owned three declawed cats, that came to me that way, and all were very loving, sweet cats, with no problems, thank God.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I do and I have. And yes I know all about what it really is. Personal choice. Kitty is now 16 years old and I think he has just finally gotten over the trauma. Honestly, he was fine the day after surgery. It saved his happy home because my mom was ready to kick his butt to the curb because he destroyed the carpeting in my room.

I'll join you. All of my kitties are de-clawed and all future kitties will be declawed. They were just fine after the surgery. If someone doesn't want their cats declawed, don't declaw them but don't think you are a better pet owner, you aren't.

Neutering is "mutilating" an animal too..... Also, my cats came home a few hours after being declawed and there were NO bandages or blood AT ALL.

 

[6TimeMomma]

I do and I have. And yes I know all about what it really is. Personal choice. Kitty is now 16 years old and I think he has just finally gotten over the trauma. Honestly, he was fine the day after surgery. It saved his happy home because my mom was ready to kick his butt to the curb because he destroyed the carpeting in my room.

Would I do it again? I would try to avoid it, but if circumstances made it necessary I would.

Me too. And, IMO, that piece is just a TAD overdramatized. The vet in the article, IMO, didn't do a very good job if the cat was still feeling pain under anesthesia and the cat was able to remove it's dressings enough to have so much blood the tech could "smell" it when she walked in.

And, my cats are the same happy, playful cats that they were before the declaw.

 

[MAKmom]

Its like circumsing a baby boy some think it is horrible others think it is fine.

 

[Snow_White]

Barbaric doesn't even begin to describe the procedure. All I can do is shake my head and sigh.

 

[Hannathy]

That is a very sensationalized account by one very biased person. Don't act like it is scientific proven fact.

If the cat is feeling pain during surgery blame the anesthesiologist not the procedure. People and animals have a lot worse things done during surgery and they don't gasp in pain. A good vet also gives pain meds after surgery.

Declawed cats most certainly claw and with some force! They don't all become biters. They can and do all cat things like hunt. I have an excellent de-clawed one eyed hunter! ( who can also climb trees!)

This is like the PETA and fur people, if you don't like de clawing fine give your reasons and facts don't try to sensationalize and go for the over emotional route with sappy stories.

 

[DMRick]

If the cat is feeling pain during surgery blame the anesthesiologist not the procedure. People and animals have a lot worse things done during surgery and they don't gasp in pain. A good vet also gives pain meds after surgery. .

I didn't get past the first section, so I didn't catch that. We have never had an animal gasp in pain during surgery. I agree with the above.

 

[tiggersmom2]

I just wanted to add, the OP posted this to start a fight. If this was done by a poster with a lower post count, we would all scream troll.

 

[DVCLiz]

Gosh, I don't think I've ever inspired a thread before!!! But I'm the person this thread was meant for, so I'll jump in.

First - the "vet tech" story you quoted is exactly the kind of writing that makes me cringe - written to be inflammatory and yet to have some sort of credibility because it supposedly is from a "medical" point of view. I think if the vet who performed my cat's declawing had written about the procedure, he would have included the full sedation, the stitches, and the pain medication he used to make sure the cat was completely pain-free during the procedure. Also the boarding for a week on paid meds after the procedure (which also included recovery from being spayed at the same time.)

I'm perfectly content to let you feel strongly about declawing, but you won't change my mind, and you won't convince me that it is barbaric or a mutilation, because I don't belive that the excellent medical care all of my pets receive is anything but well done and as pain free as it can be.

At one point in my life I was willing to live with old, shredded furniture, but now I'm not. And I'm not willing to be without a cat, either. So I'll have a declawed cat and nice furniture, and I'll be very happy with both of them. I'm not going to let animals ruin my posessions, and I'm not willing to live with tacky furniture that's been torn to pieces by them.

 

[LadyShiva]

Sorry, DVCLiz, didn't realize you were being fussed at. I call myself reading all the titles on this Board--I must have missed the thread you two were previously involved in.

Sorry about that!
Brandie

 

[crazyme5kids]

I always have my cats front claws done. They all have lived very good lives with me.

 

[JimB.]

Quite frankly, that article is total BS.

My DW is a veterinarian. She has declawed many cats over the years. NEVER had a cat .........

utters a half growl/meow of pain as the joint tears away, even after all this medicine.

And she does NOT "half pull, half cut" anything. She makes quality incisions and gently cuts the tendons and tissue.

And to the best of her knowledge, she's not had a cat spewing blood everywhere afterwards as the article implies.


We have had cats that have claws and some that don't. The ones that try to destroy furniture are the ones that don't. The ones that don't, do. They are all well adjusted and do not exhibit "feet & toe" problems.

Methinks this "Vet Tech" need to go back to school and learn a bit more about her job or find another line of work.


BTW, we have gotten every one of our cats from the local shelter. Mostly put there because they.............. scratched. People or stuff. If we had not gotten them, they probably all would have gotten the needle. Live w/out some claws (front only) or dead. Which is better?


Sensationalistic crap written by a moron.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I've owned three cats in my adult life and they were all declawed.
I loved them dearly, but after thousands and thousands of destroyed furniture and carpet, I declawed.

We tried clipping, we tried the covers, we bought scratching posts, we squirted with water, we clapped our hands loudly, we put them in kitty time-out -- my husband even built a 6 foot climbing tower and covered it with carpeting.

I'm sure the procedure was messy, but all three of them were up the very next day, running around and with normal appetites. They all lived extremely long (18 to 20 years) happy lives in our home.

Out of all the regrets in my life, that isn't even in the list of the top 50.

We've agreed as a family no more cats so anybody in too much angst over my couldn't-give-a-crap attitude about this can rest easy.

By the way, one subject "Near to my heart" is the thousands and thousands of cats that are euthanized every year because they can't find a home. If declawing makes a cat adoptable to a nice family, I think it is a crying shame that somebody would rather see a cat dead over being declawed.