The story of Cammie (anti-declaw content)

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-11, Christina Websell penned:

One day it will be illegal in your country, like it is here.. One day
all
the cat owners in the USA will say "Declawing is disgusting." and will
tell
their vet they will never use them again if they do this.

How did the anti-mutilation law get into effect where you are?

We do not need anti-mutilation laws.
We've never declawed cats here. We found out you did and and decided to
make it illegal here anyway in case anyone thought furniture was more
important than cats feet.

Does any other country in the world declaw cats?
I wouldn't think so, it's barbaric.

Tweed

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message


On 2005-03-11, Christina Websell penned:

One day it will be illegal in your country, like it is here.. One day all
the cat owners in the USA will say "Declawing is disgusting." and will tell
their vet they will never use them again if they do this.

How did the anti-mutilation law get into effect where you are?


It started here.

Richard Martin and the RSPCA

Richard Martin was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1754. He was a wealthy
landowner known for his love of animals and his quick temper when
dealing with people. It was generally known that any man on his property
(200,000 acres) who mistreated an animal would spend some time in the
dungeons of his castle, subsisting on bread and water.

While he was a member of the Irish Parliament, that body once found
itself threatened by rioters. Armed only with a small pistol, Martin
turned to face the estimated 10,000 rioters and said:

If you advance six inches, I'll shoot every mother's babe of you as dead
as that paving stone.
The comedic value of a single man, armed only with a pistol, making this
threat was not lost on the mob. After the laughter subsided, the crowd
gave him three cheers.

Martin was, in fact, the winner of any number of duels. Asked why he so
vigorously advocated kindness to animals while he regularly fought
humans with pistols, he responded, 'because a cow cannot hold a pistol,
sir!'.

In 1822, as a member of the British House of Commons, Martin managed to
gain passage of what is believed to be the first animal welfare law ever
passed by a nation. The Martin Act, which has been called 'the animals'
Magna Carta', outlawed cruelty to cattle, horses and sheep. During the
debate on the bill, which was unruly, one Member of Parliament
challenged Martin to a fight, to be held on the spot. The fight took
place, Martin won, and the man voted for the act.

It became evident that magistrates didn't want to try cruelty to animal
cases, especially after Martin actually brought a donkey into court to
show its wounds. In 1824, Martin and three other Members of Parliament
formed the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

In 1840, Queen Victoria commanded the Society to add Royal to its name.
She has been quoted as having said:

No country can be called civilised that does not provide proper care for
animals.
Thus was born the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, which exists to this day.

Helen M


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

I'm so glad the story has a happy ending!
Best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"L. (usenetlyn)" wrote in message
oups.com...
Since my own cats have been rather boring lately (don't tell them I
said that!) I thought I'd post Cammie's story. I posted it once long
ago on h+b but I'm sure many people haven't seen it. It's one of many
stories I collected when I worked as a vet tech for a feline specialty
hospital...

Cammie was a ten year-old brown tabby with white markings, surrendered
for euthanasia by her "owner". The excuse was that the cat "leaked
urine" and was "unclean", and wouldn't use the litter box regularly.
The "owners" put her out in a garage and neglected her, where she sat
around and ate all the time, becoming fatter and fatter. Cammie was
approximately 6 lbs overweight when she was surrendered. She was
so fat that she couldn't clean her butt or vaginal area. She had a
raging vaginal infection. Even so, this was one of the sweetest,
most endearing cats I have ever met. When you looked into her eyes,
you could see the sense of betrayal and sadness this cat felt about
how she had been treated and her abandonment. During her stay at the
vet, we realized that she DID use the disposable paper box & paper
filling regularly, and that she actually WAS NOT incontinent AT ALL.
So, we spared her from euthanasia, and fixed her up. I also
discovered that her front declaws were regrowing in about half of her
toes, and that her feet were really sore. This was probably the
reason she wouldn't use the regular cat litter at home.

One of the employees took Cammie home to foster her until her medical
condition improved, and the employee's little boy (age 2) renamed her
Candy Yum-Yum. Candy Yum-Yum had her regrown declaws repaired, and
she healed fairly quickly. She was then placed in a loving
PERMANENT home, with a former employee (a vet tech) who had two other
older cats and wanted a third. The last picture I saw of her was her
napping in a fleece-lined teepee, smiling at the camera. It was a
*very* happy ending for a cat who was destined to die at the hands of
those who were supposed to love her and protect her. I was/am just so
sad and disgusted that her supposed "loving owner" of ten years
wouldn't give her the chance to live, like we did. Her story speaks
volumes about the type of people who declaw, and proves the point that
even when declawed, no cat is guaranteed a loving home. Stories like
hers make me believe more strongly that a cat should be rehomed,
rather than stay with people who threaten to get rid of the cat if it
isn't declawed. With an owner like that, who needs enemies?

-L.

Christina Websell wrote:
"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
LOL! Every time I send a post about declawing my spell checker says
that "declaw" isn't a word - oh if that were only true and nobody in
the world knew what "declawing" is!

Hugs,

CatNipped

One day it will be illegal in your country, like it is here.. One
day all the cat owners in the USA will say "Declawing is disgusting."
and will tell their vet they will never use them again if they do
this. What are you all waiting for??
Phone your vets and ask them if they declaw. If they say yes, ask
them why. Tell them about the litter box problems that declawed cats
have. Ask them to tell you frankly if it's an earner for them. Of
course it is. Shame them. Tell them what it really means for a kitty who
hasn't got
front claws and ask them why they do it.
To be honest, I find it hard to believe that a USA vet would declaw a
cat to save your furniture. Any vet who called themselves a vet should
never do that.

Tweed

I know our vet doesn't. They are animal lover. & vegetarians (not sure if
they're vegans or not, I've not asked *that* question). The receptionist/VT
made a joke to me whil I was waiting for my appt once, after she answered
the umpteen call that day do you declaw - that they had though about
building onto the back of their building and opening up a furniture
reupholstry business.
--�
The ONE and ONLY
lefthanded-pathetic-paranoid-psychotic-sarcastic-wiseass-ditzy
former-blonde in Bloomington! (And proud of it, too)© email me at
nalee1964 (at) insightbb (dot) com
http://community.webshots.com/user/mgcmdjeep

"Christina Websell" wrote
Does any other country in the world declaw cats?
I wouldn't think so, it's barbaric.


Yes, Canada.
I am not excusing declawing at all, I think it's horrible. But, I think one
of the reasons it's done here and not in Europe is that indoor-only is much
more common in the US. When a cat is inside all the time, it is going to
scratch. Some people just don't get that you *can* train a cat to use a
scratching post.
Declawing does seem to be losing ground, at least among the cats I see.
Many of the people I interview for adoptions are anti-declaw. We also don't
get all that many declawed cats in the shelter. I do not attribute this to
declawed cats keeping their homes, but to less declawed cats than clawed
cats in the area.
I don't know if vets are still actually "selling" declawing. At least, not
the ones I know. They still do it if an owner insists, but they don't push
it like they used to.

--
-Kelly
kelly at farringtons dot net
"Wake up, and smell the cat food" -TMBG

To just throw her out into the garage to live, and to not even seek vet
advice was horrible. You could see the betrayal in her eyes - she
looked at you with total lack of trust. I wanted to beat the original
"owners" senseless. I was so happy when she got adopted.

-L.

Smokey was like that when I first met him--with his sides sunken in
from hunger. Once he overcame his timidity of humans, he'd look at you
with a "Will you feed me? Cause I'm starving, an' I think you guys
are supposed to feed me. Isn't that your job? I'm really really
hungry."

It's as though he both recognized humans as food providers, and wasn't
sure at all that they'd actually provide for him.

He's still got issues about seeing the bottom of the foodbowl, even
now that he's in an environment where he's filled out to a sleek,
healthy, well-fed boy. I think he'll always be somewhat clingy and
needing the reassurance of a constant food supply to make up for his
early years.

--Fil

On 2005-03-11, Christina Websell penned:

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2005-03-11, Christina Websell penned:

One day it will be illegal in your country, like it is here.. One day all
the cat owners in the USA will say "Declawing is disgusting." and will
tell their vet they will never use them again if they do this.

How did the anti-mutilation law get into effect where you are?

We do not need anti-mutilation laws. We've never declawed cats here. We
found out you did and and decided to make it illegal here anyway in case
anyone thought furniture was more important than cats feet.

Does any other country in the world declaw cats? I wouldn't think so, it's
barbaric.


I believe you, but please don't be angry in my direction. I've never
understood the concept of declawing cats, chopping off doggie ears and tails,
etc. Long before I read about the effects of declawing on gait, litterbox
problems, etc., declawing outraged me because it seemed obvious that it was
wrong to remove part of an animal for one's convenience.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2005-03-11, Helen Miles penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message


How did the anti-mutilation law get into effect where you are?


It started here.

Richard Martin and the RSPCA


[snip]

Thank you, Helen. I've never read about him before.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

Christina Websell wrote:
snip

Would all you American members ask your vet if they encourage
declawing? If
they do, ask them why. (Well, we all know it's about earning more
money!)
Explain it is illegal almost everywhere in the world and ask them how
they
can justify it. See what they say.
Then tell them if they continue to do it, you will find another vet
that
doesn't do it for ethical reasons.
It doesn't matter if you can't.

I wish it were this simple. It is almost impossible to find a vet who
won't declaw.

If enough Americans say this to their vets
they will have to stop doing it.
(They won't know if you can find one or not, but they won't want to
lose
your business in case you do)

Well, I do say this to new vets I visit, but in almost every case, they
do declaw - whether it be "on demand" or after counseling when other
deterrents "don't work". I use the vets with the strongest
"anti-declaw" stance, but unfortunately, they all still do the
procedure. Every single vet I worked for had declawed cats at home -
some had ones that would pee on furniture, etc., and they *still*
wouldn't admit that maybe the declawing was causing the problems.

Believe me, I have tried discussing this numerous times with vets -
they simply don't care - and don't want to lose the source of income.
I estimated the vet I worked for last made 100K/yr. on declaws alone.

-L.

KellyH wrote:
On 2005-03-11, Magic Mood Jeep=A9 penned:
I've always wondered, what (or who) is TMBG????



"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote
They Might Be Giants

Sorry, I missed your question. Yep, it's They Might Be Giants. The
whole
line of that lyric is "wake up, and smell the cat food in your bank
account." It's from "Don't Let's Start". Very fun group, live
concerts are
great.

They sing the song for Higgly Town Heros - a cartoon on PBS.

-L.