Clipping ear, spayed, declawing...

twistedchick143

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Wouldn't you think that clipping a cats ear, to show that it has been spayed is just as mean as declawing or spaying a kitty? Your taking something away from that cat..... I would love to get peoples veiws on this subject.
 

ldg

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I can sort of see your point - but trapping the same cat over and over and transporting this cat that is insanely scared out of its mind to the vet numerous times has got to be much more traumatic for the cat.

The issue with declawing is that it isn't removing a cat's nails. In order to prevent the nail from regrowing, the entire end of the toe from the joint on must be removed in its entirety - and cats walk on their toes. Because the procedure is so traumatic, it considered unnecessary mutilation and is basically illegal in 23 countries around the world. Even the American Veterinary Medical Association does not recommend it unless medically necessary for the cat.

Spaying and Neutering are considered necessary operations. There are many benefits to the cat, including long term health, behavior (if a pet), and it helps prevent more homeless cats - so there are social benefits, unlike declawing, which ONLY benefits the owner, not at all the cat. And while some spay incisions may become infected, there are usually no complications and no long-term problems with spaying and neutering - both of which are problems with declawing.

Ear-tipping is different than both of the above. If you've had your ears pierced, you're aware that there are very few nerve endings in the ear (unlike kitty's very sensitive paw pads/feet). So ear-tipping or notching isn't particularly painful, it heals quickly, and it prevents a feral cat from being transported to a vet more than once for a spay or neuter it's already had.


...and it doesn't affect the cat's hearing, and cats don't walk on their ears.

Laurie
 

mzjazz2u

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Originally Posted by LDG

Ear-tipping is different than both of the above. If you've had your ears pierced, you're aware that there are very few nerve endings in the ear (unlike kitty's very sensitive paw pads/feet). So ear-tipping or notching isn't particularly painful, it heals quickly, and it prevents a feral cat from being transported to a vet more than once for a spay or neuter it's already had.


...and it doesn't affect the cat's hearing, and cats don't walk on their ears.

Laurie
I agree with what Laurie said. However, I would prefer they do it some other way. Such as maybe a tatoo. But then again, that wouldn't be as visable. But I don't think clipping an ear is as cruel as declawing. It's not nice IMO, but it is not nearly as cruel. A cat has to walk on its paws after the toes have been mutilated and are more prone to getting stuff stuck in their toes (such as litter, dirt etc.) that can cause irritation and pain. And declawing is taking away a cats natural way to defend itself. A clipped ear may cause very mild, temporary discomfort but will not affect the cats' quality of life as a declaw will. That's all just IMHO!
 

epona

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The ear heals very quickly with a very low risk of infection because it is a tiny open wound in which bacteria are much less likely to multiply. As has been said, it is far more traumatic for a feral cat to be taken to the vet over and over, and there is always a clinical risk with anaesthesia - ear tipping is therefore a preventative measure to protect the long-term welfare of the individual.

The same cannot be said of declawing.

Spaying and neutering are IMO a wise choice with a sound clinical reason for performing the procedures - complete prevention of common and often terminal medical conditions. Declawing has no clinical justification whatsoever.
 

kelicat

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No I don't. For one, spaying reduces the number of homeless cats that die in streets, from starvation, from disease, etc...So I can't put that even in the same catagory as declawing or tagging the ear.

They tag the ear b/c more often then not these are ferals. It's hard enough to get one trapped sometimes, then to spend all the aggrevation and stress to the animal to drag them to the vets, have them sedated (b/c if it's a feral, it isn't going to sit quietly while they feel the belly for signs of past surgery), thhheeennn to find out that it all could have been avoided by a simple small notch in the ear.

It is small part of a MUCH greater good. And not even remotely the same thing as declawing.
 

jen

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Bottom line is neutering not only is good for the pet overpopulation, but it is a VERY wise choice for the health of the cat. It prevents cancers, Pyometra, illness spread of uncontrolled breeding, etc. All in the cats best interest with the added benefit of controlling the population.

Declawing has absolutely no benefit to the cat whatsoever (excluding medical reasons). It solely benefits the human who is too lazy to teach the cat to scratch the right places, or buy soft claws to put on the cats claws.

Ear tipping might seem rather mean right off. But as everyone said, rather then repeatedly trapping and bringing the same cat into the vet over and over again and causing all that trauma to the cat while trying to do good, just notch the ear so its plain as day that the cat was neutered and it can be left alone.
 

zao_cat

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In no way is clipping the ear the same as declawing. Declawed cats are mutilated cats. They never walk the same and the healing time is very long. Taking a piece of ear is painful so that's why they do it while they are asleep. It is quite different that removing their bone down to the last digit. Plus by clipping the ear it is very noticeable and you can see it easy without having to mess with (and stress) the cat. You have to look for a tattoo. If the cat is feral don't you think it would stress the cat by trying to handle it to actually see the tattoo?
 

keith p

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I dont like the ear clipping, to me it seems unecessary unless you have so many strays you cant tell them apart. For me this isnt the case, I have very few and can tell them apart easily.

I may feel this was because here they basically clipped half the ear off on one of my strays, not the tip like they were supposed to. It looks horrible, was cut unevenly, and the cat seemed annoyed and rubbed it's ear alot. And I told them NOT to do it ahead of time and they did it without my consent. It looks like the ear was butchered to me like how they crop a pitbulls ear so hardly any is left.

And unfortunetly you cant fix that mistake.

Just the tip isnt too bad, but if it can be avoided I avoid doing it.
 

faith's_mom

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I am assuming you are talking about cats that are trapped and then altered (the wild kitties); in that case, I am not sure...I guess I would rather have a 'visual' than to keep catching, bringing that cat in and stressing him to check him out. Once altered, and snipped, if they are caught again, the people can just let them go immediately, knowing they have already been altered. Feral cats, true ones, get very stressed in human contact, and just the capture is alot on that poor cat's body! You can't put collars on these animals, because they could get caught on something and strangle...and an ear tag could easily get ripped out as well.

Now for the common pet cat...No...there would be no need to snip his ears to determine whether he is altered or not.

As far as classifying the three things together...I don't

Spaying has more advantages to the animals health than risks

Declawing...no advantages

Notching a feral cat's ears...less stress to the cat when he is captured again, because he can simply be let go, rather than have to go to the vet, be sedated (which shortens life too), only to find out he's already been altered.
 

jen

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Originally Posted by keith p

I dont like the ear clipping, to me it seems unecessary unless you have so many strays you cant tell them apart. For me this isnt the case, I have very few and can tell them apart easily.
Not just for you, but other people as well. The cat might not necessarily stick around forever. If animal control were to pick it up, they would know right away that the cat was altered and it would have possibly a more likely chance of staying as a feral instead of being PTS. Or maybe there is some other nice person out there doing TNR.
 

jen

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Originally Posted by keith p

I know about that, but still im sure the cat wasnt happy about it, it had to hurt.

And they did an awful job of it on my cat, if they did it right I would feel less guilty.
I don't know, think of how little feeling you have on that part of your ear. Do you have your ear pierced? That doesn't even hurt at all, there is little feeling in that part of your ear, same with the cats.
 

keith p

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I'm a guy so no I dont have a piercing.

Like I said the place did it wrong, if they did it right (which would mean they took off less) it wouldnt seem so bad.

I do keep papers of every single stray i've fixed/vaccinated and have photos of each just in case they ever went missing. So at least I have proof I fixed that cat.

If a cat has an ear clipped you dont know from seeing that cat who got it done so it would be hard to track the owner/caretaker down. So if animal control did pick up the cat (for lets says a nuisance complaint or injury) how would they go about finding the caretaker?
 

ldg

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They wouldn't. Animal control in different areas deal with ferals differently. I'm not sure animal control is such a great example, because most ferals just get euthanized if in the hands of animal control.

But where there are multiple colonies and other people involved in TNR, you would know if a cat turned up in one of your traps if it had already been TNRd. That's why we did it - though we did have a number of black males, so it wasn't easy to tell them apart. But there were other people in the area TNRing, so if any of their cats ever turned up in one of our traps, we'd just let it out. It's not an issue of trying to return a feral or find it's caretaker.

Or... if someone down the road saw all these strays and managed to get someone from Alley Cat Allies or a rescue group or a different rescue person to help trap, if any of the cats that had been in our colony were now feeding there, then they'd know right away the cat had already been TNRd.

So for those with lots of animals in a colony, or lots of volunteers working a colony that don't have time to read through pages of animal descriptions - or for areas where there are multiple people or groups working - it's a quick way to identify an already TNRd animal.

Laurie
 

ldg

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Oh - and another great example. We moved. We'd adopted out/fostered out all the animals that were left - but a rather large number of them disappeared - so we didn't have any ferals to move. However, if some other cat lover moves in near where we lived and is feeding/trapping, then if any of the ferals we did TNR show up, they'll immediately know they don't need to transport the animal to a vet.

Laurie
 

dragoriana

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Down here they get the inside of their ears tattooed, no clipping.
 

keith p

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See nobody in my area TNR's, i'm the only one. So it just goes to show even though a cat had its ear clipped it wont make a bit of difference if Animal Control catches it. It has no microchip and nobody here knows I do TNR so they wont know it's one of mine.

Dont even get me started about how so much help is needed in my area...
 

katzyn

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I think the ear clipping it fine (actually, I hadn't even known about it until now). I mean, cats get their ears torn up way worse in fights, at least this is for a purpose and is useful.
 

ldg

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Originally Posted by Katzyn

I think the ear clipping it fine (actually, I hadn't even known about it until now). I mean, cats get their ears torn up way worse in fights, at least this is for a purpose and is useful.
That is SO true! That's why they ear-tip instead of ear-notch, because it can be so hard to tell the difference between an ear-notch and a little missing piece of ear from a fight.

Laurie
 
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