November 12, 2018
Quote from a declawing veterinarian who is interviewed in a story in the Victoria Advocate newspaper in Texas.
“”Declawing is not the same as ear-cropping, which is done for cosmetic purposes said Dr. Shana Bohac of Lakeway Veterinary Clinic in Edna.
“That to me is worse than declawing a cat. There are a lot of other cosmetic procedures that should be banned before declawing,” she said. ”
Quotes are from a story about the pros of declawing cats that’s in the Victoria Advocate, a newspaper in Texas. Victoria Advocate Story
More comments from another declawing vet in this story,
““We do them because it makes them a nondestructive member of the household,” said Dr. Lee Zeplin, who has practiced in Victoria for almost 14 years at Lone Star Animal Hospital.
She said she’d rather the pet undergo the surgery and stay safe with the family rather than be thrown out on the street.
“I don’t think it’s inhumane,” she said. “It can be done with minimal discomfort.” Part of the process includes a nerve-blocker, two pain medications and a one- to two-day hospital stay.”
Here’s another story about declawing in the Victoria Advocate Victoria Advocate Declawing Story
———————————————————————————————-My researchers wanted to find out how declawing is addressed at these two veterinary hospitals and with these two veterinarians, so they called as a first time cat owner who wanted a price for a spay or neuter and a declaw procedure.
Here’s what they found.
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Long Star Animal Hospital, Victoria, Texas. Dr Lee Zeplin.
Researcher asked for the price of a neuter and declaw. The employee said it is $215 for both. Researcher asked for the vet who is the most skilled at the declaw and the employee said, “We do a lot of declaw so both of our vets are pretty good at it.” Employee said the two vets are Dr Lee Zeplin and Dr Haley Daniel.
They said you need a $48 exam to see if the cat is healthy enough for the procedure and they check the lungs, heart, and see if their mobility is good.
They put a vet tech on the phone after the researcher asked about their method of declawing. The vet tech said that they, numb the paws, take a hemostat and attach it to the tip of the cat’s nail and extract the nail. She said that they cut just behind where the nail meets the skin, they cut the first tip of the digit off with a scalpel.
Researcher asked if they take the bone off. The vet tech said, “It’s just a tiny piece of bone, so yes we do take a little bit of bone off, that keeps the nail from growing back.”
Researcher asked if the cat will be ok long-term and if it’s ok to have done. The vet tech said, “Oh yea.” They said that they “suture the little toes closed” and the cat will stay overnight, sometimes 2 nights depending on the age or if the cat is overweight. They said in 2 or 3 days they are walking normally, playing , and acting like any ordinary cat.
They said that in two weeks they take the stitches out and said “they typically fight us like “hey leave my toes alone” but within a week they are back to normal.” They send home pain meds for the cat.
The vet tech said, “we prefer to do them as kittens” and said, “we do them often enough” after the researcher asked if the vet is skilled at the declaw and do they do them regularly. They said Dr Daniel is the one that typically does the declaws and Dr Zeplin does them as well and they do 1-2 a month and that not that many people are asking for a declaw anymore.
The researcher asked if long term the cat would be fine from a declaw and the vet tech said, “yes your cat will be fine.” The researcher said that they aren’t going to read the internet because there are concerning stories about declawing and the vet tech said, “Yea, don’t do that.”
The researcher, posing as a first time cat owner, said that they thought if vets are declawing cats then there must not be anything wrong with it and the vet tech said, “Absolutely.”
———————————————————————————————-Lakeway Veterinary Clinic. Edna, Texas. Dr Shana Bohac
Researcher asked for the price of a spay and then asked if they can do a declaw. The employee said they can do a neuter and a declaw at the same time but they can’t do a spay and declaw at the same time. Neuter is $72.
The employee said that they do declaws every two or three weeks and said, “We’ve done a ton of them already” and said all 3 of their vets do declaws and they all use a scalpel.
The researcher asked if the cat would be ok and the employee said that usually the cat is good the next day and they give them pain meds because you are actually cutting an entire toe off when you declaw them, it’s not just the nail it’s the first digit to the knuckle.
The researcher asked if the cat needed their toes and would the cat be ok long-term and the employee said, “Yea, there’s lots of kitty cats that run around without their front claws, we don’t recommend all four feet and we don’t recommend they go outside.”
The employee talked about what you get with the declaw, you get Yesterday’s News litter, pain injection and antibiotic injection that lasts for 10 days. Total for the declaw is $250.
Researcher asked if long-term the cat would be ok. The employee said usually they see very few complications especially if it’s done earlier. They said later in life, especially if it’s overweight, the cat can have complications like limping but even with the bigger cats, they don’t see that there.
———————————————————————————————-Please remember to take the high road and just educate. When you are mean or threatening it hurts the cause and it’s wrong. Always educate.
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Also please read my Strategic Plan that’s on the home page of my website and if you have any other ideas on how we can educate the public about the awful truth about declawing and about the EASY, humane options, let me know!
The first campaigns will start in West Michigan since it’s the worst area in the country for declawing.