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Vet cut off feral cat's ear! No explanation

post #1 of 21
11/8/10 at 7:11am
Thread Starter 
I am totally distressed, angry and honestly stunned. I took the four-year-old Tom that I had been trying to trap for three years to a shelter. The shelter took him to a vet in Whitehouse Station NJ after we decided he would not be TNR. I had found a home for him - a woman who was going to socialize him (he's semi-feral and responds to his name Henry) and get him adopted. The shelter sent the Tom and his eight-month-old son Bentley who I had also trapped to the vet in Whitehouse Station on Friday for neutering, shots, etc.

Went to pick up both cats today. Bentley went into the car. The shelter worked screamed as she put Henry into the car, "His eat is missing, what happened to his ear"?

He was rushed back inside where the vet tech examined him. No one had any explanation why 3/4 of his ear had been cut off. The vet had not told them. They vet was specifically told NOT TO do ear tipping. The cat is healthy and had no signs of frost-bite etc. The shelter was so astounded that they took PICTURES of Henry.

I am in shock. This is cruelty. Why and how did they cut most of his ear off. The kind woman took him as the poor creature stared out of the carrier at the two of us.

What should I do? I talked to a manager at the shelter who said they were as shocked as I am. They advised me to call the Whitehouse Station NJ vet and I left a message.


The poor cat.
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post #2 of 21
11/8/10 at 7:26am
Ohhh wow - I can see if infection was found, but a vet's office having no explanation is inexcusable! I hope you will let us know the outcome. IMO the state Veterinary Board should be informed of this immediately.
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post #3 of 21
11/8/10 at 7:31am
Thread Starter 
Good suggestion about the state veterinary board.
No call back yet from the VET
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post #4 of 21
11/8/10 at 8:03am
Omg, that is disusting and having no reasonable explanation is even worse. I hope you get to the bottom of this soon, please keep us updated, they should not be allowed to get away with this.x
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post #5 of 21
11/8/10 at 9:53am
sounds like someone slipped and cut more than they intended - especially bad AFTER they'd been told NO TIPPING!

I hope the rest of his surgery was without problems - makes me wonder, though. ???

I feel your madness! If you had to pay for the neuter - you need a refund, - I hope you don't have to use them again.
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post #6 of 21
11/8/10 at 10:22am
Maybe reserve judgment until you can get some information from the vet? While it could have been a mix up, that's more than is ever taken for an ear tipping and it would have been hard to slip and accidentally take that much.

Since this was an outdoor cat it's possible that the vet saw something suspicious but didn't consult anyone before removing part of the ear. In cats that spend a lot of time in the sun, especially those with lighter colored ears, it is possible for them to get skin cancer.
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post #7 of 21
11/8/10 at 12:02pm
Thread Starter 
They would have told the shelter. And they did not. The shelter said they ear tipped the wrong cat despite instructions not to do so. The cat has black ears.

The fact that the vets office is not calling me back is not a good sign.
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post #8 of 21
11/8/10 at 12:07pm
If it's not a long drive away and you have time, go to the clinic. It's a heck of a lot harder to ignore a person standing right in front of you.
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post #9 of 21
11/8/10 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
If it's not a long drive away and you have time, go to the clinic. It's a heck of a lot harder to ignore a person standing right in front of you.


OMG I am SO sorry! I can't imagine what the heck happened - but with THAT much ear gone, it MUST be something. That is NOT an accident. It's one thing to accidentally ear-tip a cat that wasn't supposed to be tipped - but to remove 3/4 of the ear???????????? That's not an accident.

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post #10 of 21
11/8/10 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
If it's not a long drive away and you have time, go to the clinic. It's a heck of a lot harder to ignore a person standing right in front of you.


Really - it would be better for you to go there before you get madder because they're not calling back. They're either too afraid, or too ashamed, or both.

Before you go, determine what your goal is, like ... - 1. to find out IF there was a health issue and then to verify what it was, and 2. IF it is a mistake, to get an apology, and some sort of refund. If they were careless I wouldn't want to use them again if that's possible.

Also, another thought, --- that someone, who did it, needs to be the one to apologize - not only to you, but to help themselves - they may be just as horrified and need to personally apologize to have healing for themselves?

Unless the person is heartless - and, I sorta doubt they'd be doing what they're doing unless they're just real jerks - if you meet them, you'd know if they need an extra rebuke or forgiveness ?? Just sayin'
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post #11 of 21
11/8/10 at 1:00pm
Just remember, accidents happen and try and keep your cool. You go in angry and you won't get happy results. I remember when I was attacking a mat on one of my semi feral cats, she jerked and I cut her ear- the tip just went right off and the blood- ouch! I rushed her to the vet where they took care of it quickly but to this day, she now won't let me close to her. It was a total accident and I felt horrible but it is just what happened. I took off the tip though, not the whole flap (thank God)
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post #12 of 21
11/9/10 at 10:47am
Thread Starter 
Doctor called. There was nothing medically wrong with the cat's ear. She could not explain why she cut off so much of the ear other than "so it could be seen from afar."
I told her this was far in excess of a tipping. Furthermore, the shelter had told NOT to tip the ear because the male was not going to be RELEASED.
She apologized. I told her the shelter was so shocked that they took pictures and told ME to call her. One of the shelter's workers who has been in animal control for 25 years came to get a female today (she will also go into care), told me he had never seen anything like this.

I stressed to the VET how much this poor cat already had going against it. I was very calm. I did not accuse her, merely stressed that this went FAR beyond what's acceptable.

I told her I hoped this would never happen again to any cat.

I am still dumbfound. How a medical professional could maim an animal this way?
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post #13 of 21
11/9/10 at 11:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by minouloveblue View Post
I am still dumbfound. How a medical professional could maim an animal this way?
One of the vet techs at the clinic I used cut off every single one of Tanna's back claws. There was barely any claw left to extend past the skin (when pressed out). She came home with blood on her from it - on her tail, belly, and paws. How the heck could someone keep doing that with all of the blood?

I just don't know what's wrong with some people. I hope the vet was embarrassed and that your chastisement has some effect. Hopefully in the future they'll double check any information that comes in with an animal a little more closely.
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post #14 of 21
11/9/10 at 12:38pm
Oh wow - so the vet has no clue what "ear tipping" means to begin with????

Honey, I am soooooooooo sorry! I'm glad she spoke to you - but it's still heartbreaking.

You might want to drop off a picture of a properly ear-tipped kitty, just to help reinforce what is supposed to be done if is requested of them again.



!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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post #15 of 21
11/9/10 at 4:19pm
Thread Starter 
Head of the vet hospital called to put the blame on the vet tech who has been there for 20-plus years. The shielding game begins. They are covering themselves.
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post #16 of 21
11/9/10 at 4:40pm
Odd.. try to speak to that tech maybe? I somehow doubt they did it or at least that they'd do something that drastic without asking the vet.
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post #17 of 21
11/9/10 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
I agree. They are covering themselves against legal action.
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post #18 of 21
11/9/10 at 5:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by minouloveblue View Post
I agree. They are covering themselves against legal action.
The ironic thing is that such behavior is often what gets malpractice suits in the first place. An honest heartfelt, " I seriously messed up here, I'm very sorry" and attempt to correct the matter as best as one can do can actually prevent all of that.
It's an amazing thing what an apology can do. (believe it or not, there's actually been some studies on this - it's been a while since I read them, though)
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post #19 of 21
11/9/10 at 6:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
The ironic thing is that such behavior is often what gets malpractice suits in the first place. An honest heartfelt, " I seriously messed up here, I'm very sorry" and attempt to correct the matter as best as one can do can actually prevent all of that.
It's an amazing thing what an apology can do. (believe it or not, there's actually been some studies on this - it's been a while since I read them, though)


I agree - when what's done is done, most people that care for animals are level headed enough not to be litigious. A sincere apology is all that is needed, especially when the issue helps bring a correction for future events.
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post #20 of 21
11/9/10 at 6:34pm
Thread Starter 
I am letting it go.
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post #21 of 21
11/9/10 at 11:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
The ironic thing is that such behavior is often what gets malpractice suits in the first place. An honest heartfelt, " I seriously messed up here, I'm very sorry" and attempt to correct the matter as best as one can do can actually prevent all of that.
It's an amazing thing what an apology can do. (believe it or not, there's actually been some studies on this - it's been a while since I read them, though)

Exactly!

You might find this site and its blog interesting:
http://effectiveapology.com/
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