NYSVMS DECLAWING PROPAGANDA

As most of you know, the NYSVMS,  Long Island Veterinary Association, and other veterinary associations in New York,  stopped our Cat Protection bill in NY that would have banned declawing if it would have passed.

This is the declawing information they gave to all the NY legislators.

Here is more about how they are trying to stop the declawing bill.    [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/unethical-vets/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] Unethical Vets Ask Other Vets to Be Unethical[/button]

Here is the propaganda the NYSVMS sent out to all the legislators to try to make them believe these comments about declawing. Declawing is an elective, non-therapeutic mutilation procedure.

In a nutshell, the NYSVMS says that vets don’t make much money declawing kittens and cats (LIE),  they always educate their clients on alternatives and tell them it is serious amputations and that it isn’t good for a cat’s health and well being (LIE) ,  if cat owners can’t declaw their cats then 50% of them wouldn’t get a cat and then those cats will be in shelters and euthanized (LIE) , the reason the cats in shelters significantly decreased in the 8 cities in California that banned declawing had nothing to do with the ban (LIE),  human doctors know what they are doing when they recommend declawing for humans with health problems (LIE), declawed cats never have pain because they give them great pain meds (LIE) , declawed cats don’t have litter box avoidance or biting issues from the declaws (LIE), owners who had their cats declawed say that amputating their cat’s toes and claws met or exceeded their expectations, improved their relationship with their cats and their cats had a high quality of life with no pain or negative consequences (CATS THAT ARE DECLAWED DO NOT HAVE A HIGHER QUALITY OF LIFE AFTER HAVING THEIR TOE BONES AMPUTATED), the majority of veterinarians never experience a cat losing their toes and paws or complications as a result of a declaw (LIE-CATS ARE NOTORIOUS FOR HIDING THEIR PAIN AND SUFFERING)

THIS MISINFORMATION THAT THEY ARE CIRCULATING SHOWS YOU HOW DESPERATE THEY ARE TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN KEEP DECLAWING LEGAL SO THEY CAN PERFORM IT FOR THEIR CAT CLIENTS AND MAKE MONEY FROM THIS EVIL PROCEDURE.

Here is a look at how the President of the NYSVMS and most of her executive “officers” address declawing at their own veterinary practices. [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/does-the-nysvms-president-walk-the-talk/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] NYSVMS officers and Presidents and declawing[/button]

Also, in regards to their Number 2 “Facts”. Here is a story that might interest you about it  [button href=”https://citythekitty.org/nysvms-veterinarian-tells-50-truth/” color=”red” newwindow=”yes”] President of the NYSVMS Tells 50% of The Truth?[/button]

Here is a study from the Canadian Veterinary Journal in 2014 that clearly shows declawed cats suffer long term pain from being declawed. Here is the full link to the study and this chart is from Table 2. [button href=”http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3923482/” color=”green” newwindow=”yes”] Canadian Veterinary Journal Declawing Study[/button]

Here are some facts from many of my veterinarian friends who don’t declaw cats.

From a veterinarian

1. FACT: Of course veterinarians make a great deal of money doing declaws. They certainly don’t do it for free. If they were not making a lot of money on declaws then why are they fighting tooth and claw for the right to keep doing them? If declawing is not a money making procedure, then there should be minimal economic impact when the procedure is banned.
2. FACT: Just take one look at the veterinary ads, coupons and websites to see that a vast majority of veterinarians do, in fact, promote declawing. All it takes is a phone call to the majority of veterinary clinics and ask how much a declaw is and you will be asked two or four. Then you will be given a quote on the surgery. Rarely is there any mention of counseling or any attempt to discourage an owner from pursuing it. One veterinary practice in Buffalo is hardly representative of the veterinary profession as a whole.
3. FACT: Cats are relinquished to shelters every day. Declawed cats as well as clawed cats end up in shelters at alarming rates. Common reasons are moving, new baby, new partner, allergies and behavioral issues. Banning declaws will have little impact on cats being relinquished to shelters.
4. FACT: There are no studies to support the claim that clients went elsewhere to have their pet declawed.
5. FACT: Individual human physicians are making recommendations to their individual patients because they have not kept up to date on CDC or other reliable recommendations.
6. FACT: How can amputating ten or twenty bones not cause considerable pain? Lameness is not a necessary criterion to report whether a cat is painful or not. Every veterinarian should know that cats hide pain. It is extremely difficult to assess pain in a cat and that is a widely known fact in veterinary medicine. Cats with severe stomatitis still eat and their owners rarely observe their pain yet we know that the condition can be excruciating. It is preposterous to suggest that the removal of ten or twenty toes does not cause chronic pain.
7. FACT: Cats exhibit unwanted behaviors for many reasons. Stress, pain and lack of environmental enrichment are the most common ones. Declawing absolutely contributes to all of these underlying reasons.
8. FACT:   If owners who chose to declaw their cats report that the procedure met their expectations it is only because it was not THEIR FINGERS being cut off.   Why wouldn’t the procedure have met their expectations. Where is the evidence to suggest that a large majority of cats who are declawed have a very high quality of life without pain or negative consequences? There is none.
9. FACT: Surgical complications happen all the time and it is not extremely rare. Every veterinarian who declaws cats has had complications associated with the surgery.   It is statistically impossible to say that the majority of veterinarians never experience that in a declaw post surgery.
   

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From another veterinarian-

The NYSVMS is circulating a pro-declaw Fact vs Myth paper in their attempts to discredit the thousands of testimonials from anti declaw veterinarians that consider this procedure unethical and medically unnecessary. I am a 22 year seasoned veterinarian and I used to declaw 10-15 cats a year because I bought into the same propaganda that NYSVMS is spreading.

I changed when I realized that this painful procedure failed to prevent owners from relinquishing pets to the shelters.

I do not have a formal clinical study of behavior effects of declawing, but I can tell you experientially that a big percentage of declawed cats will become biters and will suffer earlier onset of polyarthritis. There are many formal studies concluding there is chronic pain associated with declawing.

The AVMA has a page discussing declawing and cites that complications from the procedure range from 2-50%. In my opinion it is unethical to put an innocent animal through a medically unnecessary, painful procedure that could have chronic consequences.

From another veterinarian-

Here is a 2014 Study in the Canadian Veterinary Journal

HERE ARE MORE STUDIES THAT THE NYSVMS DOESN’T WANT YOU TO SEE.