I received this sad note from a supporter. In honor of this little kitty named Magic, please go to my website, www.citythekitty.com and sign up on my mailing list so you can be a City the Kitty Crusader and help me end declawing once and for all. Around 5000 cat a day have their toe bones and claws amputated by very unethical and inhumane declawing vets. It is shocking that around 80% of vets in America mutilate cats and kittens by doing this barbaric and unnecessary procedure.
I worked as a manager at a shelter and while I was there we had a special kitten come in. We named him Magic.
He was an orange and white splotched kitty with a huge personality matched only by his massive purr. A love bug to everyone who came in and playful. He tolerated having ears and tail tugged by special needs children that came to visit and would purr and snuggle despite it all. He understood they just didn’t understand and that they just wanted love the same as he did. He was the heart of the shelter and the staff and we all had a special place for Magic.
He was to be adopted for a little boy who was having a birthday and we were thrilled that Magic would get to grow up with this child.
Until the mother declared that she wanted him declawed.
We tried in vain to talk to her about Kitty Soft Paws and similar products, advise of the problems of declawing, and give her all the details. She wouldn’t hear it.
We tried to get her to go with the vet we used and she wouldn’t hear it. So we told her that the shelter would pay for the neuter but she would carry the financial obligation of the declawing. She said that was fine.
The day he was to be neutered I took him in with an extra thick blanket in the carrier and dropped him off. When I picked him up, he didn’t have the blanket and he was trying to sit up in the carrier with his front legs curled in tight against his chest. He was crying and the bandages around his paws were soaked in blood.
It broke my heart as they handed me the carrier and his paperwork. I asked for his pain pills, standard with our vet when they are spayed/neutered and especially with a declaw.
I was informed he didn’t have any. Asked if they had given him a pain patch and, again, no.
My heart broke.
They hadn’t given him anything for pain at all and he was crying wanting me, his caretaker, to make it stop.
Sobbing, I drove straight to our vet, and before I could even finish explaining they whisked him into a room and gave him a shot, shaved a part of his side and gave him a patch. When we got back to the shelter we layered his entire kennel with knitted yarn blankets, soft and spongy to help with the hard bottom of the cage, and sat there holding him.
There wasn’t a single staff member that wasn’t outraged and heart broken. Not only for his treatment but this was our Magic. It took him two full days before he would try to walk with his front feet down.
After that we informed the public that we would no longer schedule their declaws and we would not hold them while they healed from the treatment.
It was cruel and to watch our baby have no idea why he hurt and cry tore our hearts to shreds. I don’t know what became of him, I hope he’s doing well. But anyone who thinks declawing is as simple as clipping your nails needs to watch a baby who has only known cuddles and playtime suffer through it.
There were a lot of cats that had this happen to them after adoption, but Magic stood out because of his personality and his young age.
He was barely old enough to be neutered but to have his claws taken out as well (all 4 paws). And then to see him trying to stand on his back legs (basically sitting back to take pressure off his back toes) and hugging his front legs to him.
And then to try to walk that way to crawl into a lap of a human to make him feel better. It was like watching a toddler who’s been abused by humans turn around and then beg for love and for them to make it all better.
It still haunts me.
Please sign these important petitions to inspire these companies to help us end declawing- http://bit.ly/MyPetitions