# Declawing cats



## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

I watched a documentary last night called The Paw Project. You can watch free on Kanopy. It is also free on YouTube. Just do a search for "The Paw Project" It is about a California veterinarian who started a movement to ban the declawing of cats. She works with wild cats and also domestic cats. While I know declawing was painful and damaging, I had no idea how horrific this practice is. She has worked to make it illegal in many parts of California to declaw a cat. Sadly, American is way behind on this as many other countries have made it illegal to declaw. I cannot imagine anyone approving of this practice after they see the video and understand the facts and what this does to an animal. It is torture.
Quote " To declaw a cat, the veterinarian cuts off the last knuckles of a cat's paw – cutting through bone, tendons, skin and nerves. In a person, it is equivalent to amputating each finger or toe at the last joint. Declaw surgery can be an extremely painful procedure with associated health risks and complications such as infection. Declaw surgery can produce permanent lameness, pain or arthritis. Declawing is the same mutilating procedure for house cats or big cats."

I am not sure I am allowed to post a link or I would link to the video. They also have a website just do a search for pawproject it is an org site.

Absolutely heartbreaking.


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## Murrmurr (Jun 5, 2022)

Aren't they anesthetized before surgery?...and get pain meds for after? 

Not that I advocate declawing, but they don't give your cat something for pain while they recover from a spay or neuter, either.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

Murrmurr said:


> Aren't they anesthetized before surgery?...and get pain meds for after?
> 
> Not that I advocate declawing, but they don't give your cat something for pain while they recover from a spay or neuter, either.


The pain from declawing never goes away. The cat is left with a life long disability and constant pain. Many develop behavior problems such as biting and not using the litter box because they are in so much pain. To much pain to even move the litter around in their box. They go on to develop arthritis and other conditions. Their entire personality is changed. This is torture and outlawed in many other countries and many parts of California because people have been educated on exactly what this does. This is not like a spay or neuter. There is absolutely no benefit to the animal. Imagine if we cut a dogs jaw bone and teeth out because they chewed. This is no different. They are not simply removing the claws they are amputating the end of each toe. Image if you had your fingers amputated from your knuckle down.
Many cats are taken back to the vet and euthanized because they urinate in the house or lash out and bite because they are in pain.


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## JonSR77 (Jun 5, 2022)

From the Humane Society...


Declawing cats: Far worse than a manicure

https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/declawing-cats-far-worse-manicure

excerpt:
​People often mistakenly believe that declawing their cats is a harmless "quick fix" for unwanted scratching. They don't realize that declawing can make a cat less likely to use the litter box or more likely to bite. Declawing also can cause lasting physical problems for your cat.
Many countries have banned declawing. The Humane Society of the United States opposes declawing except for the rare cases when it is necessary for medical purposes, such as the removal of cancerous nail bed tumors.

People who are worried about being scratched, especially those with immunodeficiencies or bleeding disorders, may be told incorrectly that their health will be protected by declawing their cats. However, infectious disease specialists don't recommend declawing. The risk from scratches for these people is less than those from bites, cat litter, or fleas carried by their cats.


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## Gemma (Jun 5, 2022)

I agree with you @s76l42 about banning declawing.  I've had cats for the past 12 years and would never have put any of them through such torture.


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## WheatenLover (Jun 5, 2022)

I had cats for about 16 years, and wouldn't even consider having them declawed because of what I knew about how it effects cats.

Luckily, we had a sofa I thought my husband bought off the back of a truck. It had vertical stripes of earth tone colors. Truly ugly. Well, it turned out that he didn't ever buy furniture off the back of a truck. And the velour (not sure) it was covered in did not show any effects of the cats using it as a scratching post. I loved that couch when I discovered that. We had no furniture the cats could damage as long as we owned them.

Dogs are a different story -- just ask Aidan.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

Gemma said:


> I agree with you @s76l42 about banning declawing.  I've had cats for the past 12 years and would never have put any of them through such torture.


Thank you. I believe many people are not aware just how horrific it is. The vet does not inform people of the pain and suffering the cat will experience for the rest of it's life. The more people that are aware that this is more than just a nail trim. That it is cutting off the ends of their paws maybe they would not do it. If we each tell just a few people, educate them, write to our Governors and state representatives and write a letter to every vet in your area we can make a difference.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

WheatenLover said:


> I had cats for about 16 years, and wouldn't even consider having them declawed because of what I knew about how it effects cats.
> 
> Luckily, we had a sofa I thought my husband bought off the back of a truck. It had vertical stripes of earth tone colors. Truly ugly. Well, it turned out that he didn't ever buy furniture off the back of a truck. And the velour (not sure) it was covered in did not show any effects of the cats using it as a scratching post. I loved that couch when I discovered that. We had no furniture the cats could damage as long as we owned them.
> 
> Dogs are a different story -- just ask Aidan.


Thank you. When we adopt a cat we know the risk involved.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> From the Humane Society...
> 
> 
> Declawing cats: Far worse than a manicure​​https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/declawing-cats-far-worse-manicure​​excerpt:​​​People often mistakenly believe that declawing their cats is a harmless "quick fix" for unwanted scratching. They don't realize that declawing can make a cat less likely to use the litter box or more likely to bite. Declawing also can cause lasting physical problems for your cat.
> ...


Thank you. Education is key to stopping this.


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## RubyK (Jun 5, 2022)

Declawing a cat is illegal in MN.


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## win231 (Jun 5, 2022)

Declawing cats is one of several forms of human cruelty to animals - along with cutting Doberman's ears & tails.
The last dog I adopted had his long canine teeth cut down by his previous idiot owner.  It's hard to believe a veterinarian would do something like that, but.....as with everything else.......money over morality.
_Anyone who considers mutilating their pets in this manner should be required to have the same surgery done to THEM first._


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## Nathan (Jun 5, 2022)

My ex-wife had my daughter's cat de-clawed, that cat suffered some kind of obvious horror until the day she died.


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## HoneyNut (Jun 5, 2022)

I wonder if there are different methods of declawing.  I had my first cat declawed, and she seemed to be physically comfortable and still have all her knuckles, just not the claws.  She was able to fake-scratch at the furniture and do a good job of plucking at it in a sufficiently convincing way to make my roommate anxious about her couch.  She used her litterbox just fine.  She did eventually learn the trick about using her teeth to scratch me when she wanted to, but it was not at all the same as biting.  When she had claws, she was pretty dangerous, I literally still have, after almost 40 years, multiple scars from when she had claws.  The benefit for her was that declawing let her become a housecat and have a long safe life, instead of the short-lived miserable feral cat life that was her alternative.  This was overseas and they regularly put poisoned fish out to cut down on the overpopulation of feral cats plus she was so thirsty all the time as a feral, it is how I caught her - by having a bowl of water inside my door.  Took 8 years for her to resign herself to being a domesticated animal.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

Nathan said:


> My ex-wife had my daughter's cat de-clawed, that cat suffered some kind of obvious horror until the day she died.


All cats do. It is cruel, inhumane torture. Just don't get a cat if you believe in declawing.


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

win231 said:


> Declawing cats is one of several forms of human cruelty to animals - along with cutting Doberman's ears & tails.
> The last dog I adopted had his long canine teeth cut down by his previous idiot owner.  It's hard to believe a veterinarian would do something like that, but.....as with everything else.......money over morality.
> _Anyone who considers mutilating their pets in this manner should be required to have the same surgery done to THEM first._


That's right. There are veterinarians that will not do such procedures. Dr. Jennifer Conrad, founder of The Paw Project is one of them. It is thanks to her and others who work with her that declawing has been banned in some cities in California. 
​


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## s76l42 (Jun 5, 2022)

HoneyNut said:


> I wonder if there are different methods of declawing.  I had my first cat declawed, and she seemed to be physically comfortable and still have all her knuckles, just not the claws.  She was able to fake-scratch at the furniture and do a good job of plucking at it in a sufficiently convincing way to make my roommate anxious about her couch.  She used her litterbox just fine.  She did eventually learn the trick about using her teeth to scratch me when she wanted to, but it was not at all the same as biting.  When she had claws, she was pretty dangerous, I literally still have, after almost 40 years, multiple scars from when she had claws.  The benefit for her was that declawing let her become a housecat and have a long safe life, instead of the short-lived miserable feral cat life that was her alternative.  This was overseas and they regularly put poisoned fish out to cut down on the overpopulation of feral cats plus she was so thirsty all the time as a feral, it is how I caught her - by having a bowl of water inside my door.  Took 8 years for her to resign herself to being a domesticated animal.


Watch the video I talked about in my first post. Anyone who can watch that and understand what it is they are doing to these cats and still agree with declawing should not own a pet. Honestly, they would be better off put to sleep than declawed.


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## Blessed (Jun 5, 2022)

That is a horrible practice.  God made creatures with the features it needed to survive. I don't like people that think debarking a dog is okay either. Geez, I would need to be-talked.  They are like people, they have feelings and feel pain.  If you can't care for an animal it should not be yours.  Sometimes it is proper to rehome but never cause them harm just to keep them.


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## mrstime (Jun 5, 2022)

We adopted a cat who had been declawed,it must have been fairly recent because she would hold up one paw as if it hurt. I in my ignorance loved her soft little paws however I soon learned just how terrible such a procedure is! I must say I do not believe the pain continued through her long life. She had been an outside cat having one litter of kittens after another, while an old woman watched, she finally went and asked the owner-neglecters if she could have the cat they consented. Before the old woman took the cat home she took her to the vet to have her spayed and declawed and got all the needed shots. It was said that "Sheba", the old lady's name for her never ever looked at the door! Then before very long the old lady died and Sheba was taken in by another woman until a new home could be found, turned out we were the lucky new home that was found for her! We knew she was already 8 years old, so she was a senior kitty then but we figured we could love her for what ever time she had left. As it turned out she lived to be 21 years old and was nothing but sweet for all the years we had her and she is still missed. I don't think good vets will declaw a cat anymore!


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## Blessed (Jun 5, 2022)

I am a dog person as I am allergic to cats.  I love cats, it is difficult when I encounter one.  I want so much to pick them up, kiss them, pet them.  It is so bad that if I go to a home that has cats I can't stay.  I can't breathe, the eyes get red and itch. I just want cat owners to know it is not that we don't love cats, that we can't be around them or their dander in the home. I always feel awful when I have to excuse myself.  So often the look on their face makes me feel that I don't like their pet.  That is not the case!


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

RubyK said:


> Declawing a cat is illegal in MN.


Wonderful. It should be illegal everywhere.


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

Blessed said:


> I am a dog person as I am allergic to cats.  I love cats, it is difficult when I encounter one.  I want so much to pick them up, kiss them, pet them.  It is so bad that if I go to a home that has cats I can't stay.  I can't breathe, the eyes get red and itch. I just want cat owners to know it is not that we don't love cats, that we can't be around them or their dander in the home. I always feel awful when I have to excuse myself.  So often the look on their face makes me feel that I don't like their pet.  That is not the case!


Don't feel awful. Many are allergic. Anyone should understand that.


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

mrstime said:


> We adopted a cat who had been declawed,it must have been fairly recent because she would hold up one paw as if it hurt. I in my ignorance loved her soft little paws however I soon learned just how terrible such a procedure is! I must say I do not believe the pain continued through her long life. She had been an outside cat having one litter of kittens after another, while an old woman watched, she finally went and asked the owner-neglecters if she could have the cat they consented. Before the old woman took the cat home she took her to the vet to have her spayed and declawed and got all the needed shots. It was said that "Sheba", the old lady's name for her never ever looked at the door! Then before very long the old lady died and Sheba was taken in by another woman until a new home could be found, turned out we were the lucky new home that was found for her! We knew she was already 8 years old, so she was a senior kitty then but we figured we could love her for what ever time she had left. As it turned out she lived to be 21 years old and was nothing but sweet for all the years we had her and she is still missed. I don't think good vets will declaw a cat anymore!


I had a cat that lived to be 20 as well.  wonderful you took her in and gave her a good life. And the lady that had her declawed probably thought she was doing the right thing. Some vets, looking to make money suggest it as just part of the "care" package. Hopefully more vets care and don't do this anymore but I know many still do. We all must make our voices heard if we want this cruel practice to end.


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

Blessed said:


> That is a horrible practice.  God made creatures with the features it needed to survive. I don't like people that think debarking a dog is okay either. Geez, I would need to be-talked.  They are like people, they have feelings and feel pain.  If you can't care for an animal it should not be yours.  Sometimes it is proper to rehome but never cause them harm just to keep them.


Exactly. Just horrible to alter a pet to make your life easier. Spaying and neutering are necessary to prevent millions of unwanted animals but they recover from that unless the surgery is done wrong. But declawing is amputation. Don't get a pet if you think doing something like that is ok.


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## JonSR77 (Jun 6, 2022)

As an aside, by the way, if you love cats...

we have a couple of threads on here...

Cute Kittens and Cats...

https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/cute-kittens-and-cats.12981/

++++++++

Catitude (includes a lot of fun cat humor)

https://www.seniorforums.com/threads/cattitude.8891/page-79#post-2121539

+++++++

and my mother's lion cub story...

so, my mother was a docent at the Bronx Zoo in NYC. She got to bring a lot of animals around to the children's hospitals in the area.

One time, she got to bring around a lion cub!

I was completely jealous, of course...

After I asked what he was like.  My mother said, "he was VERY heavy and VERY sleepy."


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

JonSR77 said:


> As an aside, by the way, if you love cats...
> 
> we have a couple of threads on here...
> 
> ...


Thank you and what a cute story.


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## OneEyedDiva (Jun 6, 2022)

I never realized how painful that process was! Now I feel really bad because if I remember correctly our beloved cat Audra was declawed at some point. I don't remember her acting at all like she was in pain though and we had her for 18 years. She's been gone now for over 25 years.  We had cats before but that was when I lived at home over 50 years ago, so don't remember if my mother had them declawed. I'd love to get a kitten but won't because when I'm ready to go, I want to be able to just go and not have to worry about a pet. But if I ever do get another one, I definitely wouldn't want to have it declawed. I've found, however, that some cats prefer furniture to scratching posts.


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## s76l42 (Jun 6, 2022)

OneEyedDiva said:


> I never realized how painful that process was! Now I feel really bad because if I remember correctly our beloved cat Audra was declawed at some point. I don't remember her acting at all like she was in pain though and we had her for 18 years. She's been gone now for over 25 years.  We had cats before but that was when I lived at home over 50 years ago, so don't remember if my mother had them declawed. I'd love to get a kitten but won't because when I'm ready to go, I want to be able to just go and not have to worry about a pet. But if I ever do get another one, I definitely wouldn't want to have it declawed. I've found, however, that some cats prefer furniture to scratching posts.


You are not alone. Most people I would guess do not realize exactly what is involved and why their cats have problems after. Many times, the problems reveal themselves through behavior issues so you might not guess they are in pain. But Mia Angelou said "when you know better, do better" What we can do is bring awareness to this practice and support legislation to have it banned. Right now in CA there is a bill to outlaw the procedure completely in the state. It must be approved in both houses and hopefully it will, then it can be sent to the Governor for signature. If that passes hopefully other states will follow. If you live in CA write a letter in support of the bill, call your representatives. Make your voice heard.

If you live in CA you can help
California Residents: Support a Bill to Ban Declawing (p2a.co)


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## mrstime (Jun 7, 2022)

We adopted a 5 year old cat, she was a big girl with big claws. We were a bit worried about her clawing the furniture so I knew she was crazy about her treats. So the first time she clawed the cat post I put treats on top of the scratching post. She inhaled the treats and watching me she scratched again, more treats, she almost scratched her paws off that day. Then little by little we cut down on the treats. She never scratched the furniture.


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## Alligatorob (Jun 7, 2022)

Never even considered declawing a cat.  


Murrmurr said:


> Not that I advocate declawing, but they don't give your cat something for pain while they recover from a spay or neuter


That is different, while it may not be the most humane thing for the individual cat (would not want it done to me) in the long run it prevents a lot of unwanted kittens that often come to bad ends...  

Hard to get cats to use condoms.


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## Alligatorob (Jun 7, 2022)

mrstime said:


> She never scratched the furniture


Our cat did, giving her alternatives to scratch helped, but she did some damage.  One of the reasons we probably will have no more cats.


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## s76l42 (Jun 8, 2022)

mrstime said:


> We adopted a 5 year old cat, she was a big girl with big claws. We were a bit worried about her clawing the furniture so I knew she was crazy about her treats. So the first time she clawed the cat post I put treats on top of the scratching post. She inhaled the treats and watching me she scratched again, more treats, she almost scratched her paws off that day. Then little by little we cut down on the treats. She never scratched the furniture.


Great idea and one of the suggestions I offer in the article I wrote about declawing.


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## Remy (Jun 8, 2022)

No, absolutely not ever!!!!!   Cat claws are beautiful. Even if my couch isn't.

I know some people don't think you should spay or neuter an animal either. I know they are on the fringe and I vehemently disagree.


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## oldaunt (Jun 8, 2022)

Why do humans have such an urgent need to re-create their pets? Not just the declawing, but ear and tail amputations as well. NONE of it is necessary, nor does any of it do the animal any good at all.. Its cruel and selfish, and people should be ashamed of themselves. No, I have no problem with spay and neuter when done humanely, and yes, sometimes it isn't.


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## Pinky (Jun 8, 2022)

Blessed said:


> I am a dog person as I am allergic to cats.  I love cats, it is difficult when I encounter one.  I want so much to pick them up, kiss them, pet them.  It is so bad that if I go to a home that has cats I can't stay.  I can't breathe, the eyes get red and itch. I just want cat owners to know it is not that we don't love cats, that we can't be around them or their dander in the home. I always feel awful when I have to excuse myself.  So often the look on their face makes me feel that I don't like their pet.  That is not the case!


Have you tried taking antihistamines before you visit a home with a cat/s? I found that helped me, to the point that I was able to cat-sit for a weekend. It was an enjoyable remembrance, as he was such a beautiful boy in every way (Siamese).


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## Blessed (Jun 8, 2022)

Pinky said:


> Have you tried taking antihistamines before you visit a home with a cat/s? I found that helped me, to the point that I was able to cat-sit for a weekend. It was an enjoyable remembrance, as he was such a beautiful boy in every way (Siamese).


Does not work for me.  I took some kind of shot as a child for allergies.  I was able to have a cat at that point. After cat passed, I did not get another, don't think my folks liked having a cat in the house. Siamese a most beautiful cat, I think my cat was a Himalayan.


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## dseag2 (Jun 9, 2022)

First of all, our cats are our children.

Until we found out about the supposed horrible effects of de-clawing, we always had our cats de-clawed.  We now have two adult male cats that are both de-clawed because their original owners had it done before they passed away.  We adopted them that way.

The foster for one of our cats said it may cause arthritis, but honestly we have never seen any negative affects in our previously de-clawed cats.  They have lived to be at least 18 years old and we have never seen them show any signs of pain or discomfort or any difficulty walking. 

I wouldn't get any future cats de-clawed, but we haven't seen any negative effects.


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## JaniceM (Jul 19, 2022)

oldaunt said:


> Why do humans have such an urgent need to re-create their pets? Not just the declawing, but ear and tail amputations as well. NONE of it is necessary, nor does any of it do the animal any good at all.. Its cruel and selfish, and people should be ashamed of themselves. No, I have no problem with spay and neuter when done humanely, and yes, sometimes it isn't.


There was a local vet who actually said my cat should have a "lion cut"-  you know, leaving no fur on except little booties and fringe...  in my opinion, it's unnatural and cruel unless the cat has some kind of skin disorder where removing fur would be a healthy approach, but that wasn't the case..  not surprisingly, I learned the vet also provided 'grooming services'...


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## Remy (Jul 23, 2022)

oldaunt said:


> Why do humans have such an urgent need to re-create their pets? Not just the declawing, but ear and tail amputations as well. NONE of it is necessary, nor does any of it do the animal any good at all.. Its cruel and selfish, and people should be ashamed of themselves. No, I have no problem with spay and neuter when done humanely, and yes, sometimes it isn't.


When I got my two girls spayed they recommended pain medication. I actually didn't want them to have it but agreed. Didn't want to be viewed as heartless. We had many cats spayed and neutered over the years and they all reacted differently. Some were really down for a day or two. Some acted like nothing happened. I didn't want my girls feeling too good which was why I really didn't want the pain medication. And I was right. They were too active. Jumping on the counters. My calico even had to go right back in the next day because she almost had her sutures out. But in the end, they healed fine.


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## oldaunt (Jul 23, 2022)

Remy said:


> When I got my two girls spayed they recommended pain medication. I actually didn't want them to have it but agreed. Didn't want to be viewed as heartless. We had many cats spayed and neutered over the years and they all reacted differently. Some were really down for a day or two. Some acted like nothing happened. I didn't want my girls feeling too good which was why I really didn't want the pain medication. And I was right. They were too active. Jumping on the counters. My calico even had to go right back in the next day because she almost had her sutures out. But in the end, they healed fine.


I was referring to those who will use a razorblade to neuter male cats and dogs with no anesthesia.....yes, it happens. People are cheap.


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## win231 (Jul 23, 2022)

Some idiots also have a veterinarian surgically remove a deadly snake's venom glands and fangs so they can make a pet out of it.  You can see how happy it made this King Cobra by his constant hissing:  (what a shame the snake cannot "take care" of the vet & this nutcase.)





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venomoid


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## oldaunt (Jul 23, 2022)

I am often quite disgusted by the so-called 'human' race.....


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## win231 (Jul 23, 2022)

oldaunt said:


> I am often quite disgusted by the so-called 'human' race.....


Yes.  Par for the course.  No limit to man's cruelty.


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## Remy (Jul 23, 2022)

oldaunt said:


> I was referring to those who will use a razorblade to neuter male cats and dogs with no anesthesia.....yes, it happens. People are cheap.


I've heard of horrors like this.


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## win231 (Jul 23, 2022)

Remy said:


> I've heard of horrors like this.


It also happens all the time in slaughterhouses.
The employee just uses scissors or a small pocket knife - no anesthesia, which would increase costs.  (I won't post a link, but you can google it - if you're able to watch.  And listen.)


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## s76l42 (Jul 24, 2022)

win231 said:


> It also happens all the time in slaughterhouses.
> The employee just uses scissors or a small pocket knife - no anesthesia, which would increase costs.  (I won't post a link, but you can google it - if you're able to watch.  And listen.)


If people know what actually happened in slaughterhouses no one would eat meat. There are humane ways to raise farm animals and until people speak out and demand that happens it will never change. It is absolute torture what some animals go through.


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## s76l42 (Jul 24, 2022)

Pets are essentially prisoners in our home. And many people treat them like disposable playthings instead of living, feeling beings that deserve just as much respect and love as we do.


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