The cyberbullies have their claws out

Every year the American Veterinary Medical Foundation, the charitable arm of the AVMA, hosts the America’s Favorite Veterinarian contest. Its objective is to “honor and recognize those entrusted to preserve and protect the health and well-being of pets, as well as to celebrate the special relationship pet owners share with their veterinarians.” Seems like a laudable and harmless event, right?

A group of animal rights activists opposed to declawing cats disagreed, and it launched vicious cyberattacks against most of this year’s 20 finalists. Their actions brought the contest to a halt before a winner could be declared.

The activists phoned the animal hospitals where the finalists worked and, posing as potential clients, asked about declawing. If those hospitals performed declaws, the activists subjected them to fraudulent negative advertisements on Facebook, damaging negative online reviews, and threatening phone calls. One contestant was called “a whore, a butcher, a mutilator, a hack, an animal hater, a disgrace to the profession.”

Most of the practices contacted did offer the surgery as a last resort if their clients had tried everything else to prevent destructive clawing behavior, or if being scratched presented a health risk for the cat owner. That is the stand we also take. We discuss alternatives with our clients. If they decide they must have their cat declawed, and if it’s an indoor cat, we’ll perform the procedure if the case fulfills the criteria we have established in our practice.

My experience has been that cat owners who make the decision to declaw don’t take it lightly. They’re concerned about whether their kitty will be in pain after the surgery, and about how he’ll function without front claws. Because we use both general and local anesthesia, a CO2 laser, pre- and post-op pain medications, and take-home analgesics, our patients experience very little pain and discomfort. They also function very well with no front claws. I can’t recall any long-term complications in cats we’ve declawed, and our clients are pleased with the results.

Many of our clients disagree with declawing and choose not to remove their cat’s claws. I support that decision; I prefer not to declaw. But I always urge cat owners to think ahead:  What if they buy an expensive sofa, for example, and their cat destroys it? Will they accept that willingly, or will they then decide to declaw? Young cats recover quickly from the surgery, but it can be much harder, both physically and mentally, for older cats. Because of that, we prefer not to declaw adult cats. So it’s imperative that owners carefully consider the pros and cons of living with a fully armed cat before making a decision. 

I understand the passion of animal rights activists. In fact, I’ve eaten a completely plant-based diet for almost five years, not only for health reasons but also because I feel that big agriculture is inhumane to our animal friends.  It may seem like my views – about preventing animal cruelty by not eating animal products, but allowing cat declaws – are at odds with each other. But exceptions are the rule. Some populations need to eat animal products in order to survive; I fully accept that.  And sometimes we have to declaw a cat to allow him to share a loving home with humans.

Pet owners have to make many life-changing choices for their pets, and most do so with good intentions. We can’t allow bullies to interfere with decisions that should be made between a client and a doctor.