For The First Time, All The Vet Heroes Are ALL Cat Heroes!

I’m happy to do this story about the American Humane Hero Vet Awards 2017 Contest!
For the first time, all the vet heroes are all cat heroes and none of them perform the inhumane, cruel, and unnecessary procedure of declawing.
They are true animal advocates in every way and they think of the animal’s needs first! Let’s all thank them and celebrate what they do to heal and help animals and vote for your favorite one!
I reached out to each of the finalist vets and asked them if they would give me a paragraph about their stance on declawing. All of their statements are listed in this story.

Amputating Laboratory Cat’s Toes To Test A Pain Med

These unethical humans used some of their cats that were purpose-bred laboratory cats from their colony and amputated the toes and claws on ONE paw, then did a washout/crossover, and 2 weeks later amputated the toes and claws on the cat’s other paw. Whatever treatment they got (Simbadol or nothing) the first time, they got the opposite the second.

They say in this study that none of the cats required “rescue” pain meds. Really??? In this day and age, why would anyone think it’s EVER okay for ANY cat to receive ZERO pain meds after barbarically having their toe bones and claws amputated is beyond me.

I Use My Authority To Abuse And Harm Cats

“As a veterinarian what I am not thrilled with is the legislature wanting to insert itself into my professional capacity. I am the one who is the authority, I have gone through the classes, I have had the instruction, I spent eight years of my life becoming very educated about these things. I think it comes down to being involved in the details of the procedure and knowing the situation in which you apply the procedure,” says Dr Chris Brockett, 2014 President of the NYSVMS, speaking about the anti-declawing bill in NY in this news video.

Declawing Ban Saves Cats Lives

In addition, statistics from the Los Angeles Animal Service Department indicate that there was no significant change in absolute numbers of cats adopted from our city shelters in the five years after the declaw ban as compared to five years prior to ban. Furthermore, as a ratio of cat intake, the adoption rate has gone actually increased. I can confidently state that the declaw ban did NOT have a negative effect on cat adoption in Los Angleles city shelters.

Cease and Desist Letter For Trying To Educate A Property Management Company About Declawing

” Please cease and desist calling my client. It is my understanding that you call every day. ” Wrong and a total lie! I wasn’t calling everyday. In fact, since March 20th, I tried to call once a week and then a couple times this week.
Their lawyer said in the email that I was, “harassing my client and such harassment is against the law.” He went on to tell me that if I persist in my, “telephone harassment”, then his client will “file complaints with local law enforcement, and the appropriate law enforcement agencies” where I live.
The phone messages that I left simply asked to call me back, said who I was, and that I wanted to talk about their declawing policy with the appropriate person who sets their pet policy. I never once left harassing phone messages or demanded anything.
Their lawyer also went on to say that they will, “also will file complaints with the FCC and seek to have you retrained from sending further e-mails.”

I Was Bullied For Not Declawing A 7 Year old Cat

Dear City, So my story goes like this… In 2015, I declined to perform a declaw on a 7 year old cat. The husband and wife wanted me to declaw their cat who they were afraid would jump into their newborn babies crib and scratch it.  She was still pregnant and they didn’t want to […]

My vet, friends, and family started recommending that I look into getting them declawed

They also taught me that contrary to popular belief, cats CAN be trained to used appropriate scratching posts and that declawing is 100% unnecessary.

Lastly, and most importantly, they taught me that saving a couch, drapes, and carpet can never replace saving a life…..the life of a cat whose chances of making it out of a shelter alive drastically decreases if it doesn’t have claws on its paws.

It is time to make a change

My decision to stop doing this surgery now is that other veterinarians will hopefully follow the new position statement from CVMA and stop declawing cats. As fewer and fewer veterinarians perform this procedure there is less of a concern that clients will go somewhere else and less concern that the surgery is not being done properly with the appropriate pain control.

The demand for this procedure comes from the public, and veterinarians should not be the only ones at fault . Cat owners need to stop asking us to do this procedure and we need say no and provide alternatives.

I Think I Would Know If My Cats Toes Were Gone

This veterinary practice in Oklahoma uses a guillotine clipper for their declaws and says that they, “cut off the nail and nail bed then use surgical glue to close the incision.”
They charge $69 for a 2 paw declaw and $97 for a 4 paw declaw.
When a cat owner asks them if there are any negative consequences to declawing or if there will be complications they say, “typically not, we do them frequently with no problems.”

Two Declawed Cats, Zachary and Maximilian

A frequent justification for declawing is that the cat would otherwise be banished from the home and that the procedure is a small price to pay for the kitty to live out its life in a safe and nurturing environment.
Sounds good, but it’s complete BUNK! Anyone who would subject their cat to the pain, disfigurement, and lifetime of misery resulting from a declaw procedure would discard them without a second thought.