Many people have no clue at just how resourceful their fluffy little living throw pillows actually are. My house, well more of a shack, is in a pretty wealthy old neighborhood of San Diego. I've lived here almost thirty years and have had many of these creatures take up residence in my yard after their "owners" died, then eventually my house.
The ones that bug me the most are the ones that have been de-clawed. These poor things are in constant pain for the rest of their lives. It's much like having a small pebble in your shoe, permanently. Due to this, they are always cranky and very hard to get along with, nobody wants them after it has been done to them, other than the ***** who did it to save her precious drapes or whatever. I've taken in two of those hapless things over the years.
These indifferent creatures may need us, but they are far from being dependent on any one person. It's all a scam they have developed over the eons to con us into doing their bidding.
The lady is probably not a jerk, she just loves her cats and thinks they can not get along without her, or she is afraid they will end up defenseless on the streets.
She is uninformed about cats. It's a sad situation.
-John
John, 99% of the time I agree with you. This time however, I need to correct you on a few things.
DECLAWING, DONE PROPERLY, DOES NOT CAUSE ENDURING PAIN!!!
I'm sorry for yelling, but I get sick of hearing that. Yes, there can be problems after a declaw, but that is almost always because the stupid owner calls every vet hospital in town and asks how much it costs, then goes to the cheapest place.
1. Quality counts!
2. Quality costs!
I don't think we have ever had someone call and ask what kind of pain management we use or how much experience the surgeon has or whether we use a laser or whether we provide IV fluids during surgery or if we use external heat sources during surgery, or how sophisticated or electronic surgery monitors or what kind of anesthetic gas we use or if we have an anesthesiologist assisting the doctor or any other good question. They only ask "how much does it cost". (we do all the above, and we get yelled at all the time because of how much we charge).
If you go to a vet that cuts corners to save you a few (or a lot of) dollars, you deserve what you get, but the poor cat does not.
Our Cat-Only hospital does a lot of cat declaws. We see these cats over the course of their life and there is no difference in personality between them and cats with their claws.
In fact, we have seen cats that were acting like you said, because of a botched job, and in some cases we can surgically fix the damage. Sometimes it is too late to help.
We never declaw a cat that the owner has not committed to keeping indoors its whole life.
We never declaw the rear paws. That is what they use for defense and for running away and climbing trees to escape, just in case the cat ever does sneak out of the house.
We use a laser, and we charge more for it. If you ask 20 vets whether a laser is better you will get varying opinions. But I guarantee you that the only ones that don't think the laser is better are the vets that were too cheap to buy one and or too lazy to learn how to use it properly.
There is a lot more we do to assure a good outcome, but it all costs more.
I'm going to say this again: All the horror stories you hear about onychectomy (declaw surgeries) are due to a botched job by the vet. Heck, there are even places around here that allow the technician to do the declaw surgery.
Now, back to the original post, it is amazing how many people ask for this. But most of the time it is not just a selfish jerk. It is usually because the cat has been with the owner for a very long time and the cat usually has its own problems. Generally, the chances of finding a good, dependable person willing to take on an old cat with problems is nil. So we wind up doing these.
1. Again, we do it in the most humane way possible.
2. If we don't do it, they will find someone that will.
3. It is completely legal for a licensed vet to do it.
4. Someone said you can dispose of your cat like you would an old shoe. That is not true. If you kill your own cat there is an excellent chance you will be convicted of cruelty.
5. When we do these, the doctor and the staff generally wind up crying for the rest of the day, but in their hearts they know the alternative would be worse for the cat.
The last thing I want to say is that domesticated cats are not native to this country. They should NEVER be allowed outside. The argument that they are happier outside is pure crap. Even if they are happier, they will be dead far far sooner. They will kill more native wildlife and upset the natural balance. And just doing what cats naturally do (Eat, pee, poop, mate, fight, howl) they will anger cranky old men and mean old ladies and generally give the species a bad name.
Not that I have any opinions on this subject or anything like that.
