Botched declaw?

molldee · Nov 4, 2013

After reading all of these posts from you kind-hearted people, I started to cry! These animals are so lucky to have you all!

I fostered five 5 day old Maine Coon mix kittens six years ago and kept two, Izzie and Buddha. Their personalities are just like dogs: they are loyal and follow me everywhere!

When Buddha was 1 year old, he had his first urinary blockage. It was traumatic to both him and I to say the least. The vet bill was so expensive, but he was mine and I would do anything for him so I had to borrow money from my parents. I started feeding him the prescription diet dry and wet food. Two years later, he had another blockage. Terrifying, but less so because I caught it early. The first time I had no clue what was going on and when I brought him to the vet, she said that if I had waited an hour longer he would've died. Again, I had to borrow money. Luckily my parents are cat people and very understanding and supportive. This time, I really delved into cat nutrition and only fed him high quality wet food like EVO, BG, Wellness, etc. But then again, he blocked last year. So he got the PU surgery. I now mainly feed him the prescription wet food, Royal Canin Urinary SO, and high quality wet food. I am on pins and needles, scared at every little thing, thinking he'll block again. But I work two jobs and go to school so money is tight, but I buy high quality wet food over anything I need for myself!

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread, I just wanted to share my story about the love for my cat with medical issues. Everyone in this site is so thoughtful and caring, and intelligent!

trevandbur · Nov 4, 2013

petcrazy76 said:
I sharing this to help so I hope no one will be to hard on me for admitting to this but I had my cats declawed. I should have educated myself more but I didn't know much about declawing until very recently. It was just something that everyone I knew did if you kept your cat indoors. I didn't realize it was anything more than removing a fingernail.

With that being said, my cats were declawed years apart with different procedures. Peanut had the older procedure and Angel had her claws removed with a laser. I know they are miserable after the procedure either way, but the difference was huge. Angel recovered so much faster then Peanut did. She was friendlier and more active after her surgery. It could be for many reasons, but I really believe that the laser was less traumatic.

If Burlington does have to go through another surgery, please ask if they do laser surgery. It is going to be hard to have any surgery but the laser does really does seem to be less traumatic.

Hopefully there is something else that can be done. If not, please feel free to send me a message if you have any surgery or recovery questions that you get stuck on. Angel was a jumper after and Peanut hated the litter they give you to reduce the chance of infected paws. So I've had to come up with creative solutions to help them heal.

At this point what's done is done. Thankfully my babies did not have any serious side effects. Since this site is anti-declaw many people do know about all the things that can go wrong, but not many have been through it. Since I'm part of the minority that have taken care of a cat recovering from the surgery, hopefully I can use that experience to help others in situations like yours.

Well like you said, what's done is done. But you know better now and I'm sure you won't have it done again. I will ask the vet about the laser surgery. I just feel so bad about having to do this, I look at his sweet trusting little face...

I did find out that my appointment isn't until Weds, so I'm going to call after they open (I get up way too early for work...) and see if they can see him today. I'm not sure what days they have evening hours. My boyfriend will have to take him. If they don't have evening hours (new vet, so I really don't know what they do yet) it will have to wait til Thursday. I don't want him to wait that long, but he is still being active, going up and down stairs, jumping up on the cat tree, etc, so I don't think he's in severe pain, it's just sore.

And as far as the above thread on rehoming, there is a difference between recognizing that your home isn't a good fit for the animal, and acting with the animal's best interest in mind, and ditching one who has a health problem. I have rehomed animals that just weren't happy in my house. I had multiple animals when I was married and frequently took in strays. Not every animal is right for every home, and if they are making you unhappy, you are probably making them unhappy, and if you can't fix it, I think rehoming is a good thing. Everyone deserves to be happy and comfortable with their living conditions. But rehoming has to be done carefully. You don't want them to go from bad to worse.

stewball · Nov 5, 2013

molldee said:
After reading all of these posts from you kind-hearted people, I started to cry! These animals are so lucky to have you all!

I fostered five 5 day old Maine Coon mix kittens six years ago and kept two, Izzie and Buddha. Their personalities are just like dogs: they are loyal and follow me everywhere!

When Buddha was 1 year old, he had his first urinary blockage. It was traumatic to both him and I to say the least. The vet bill was so expensive, but he was mine and I would do anything for him so I had to borrow money from my parents. I started feeding him the prescription diet dry and wet food. Two years later, he had another blockage. Terrifying, but less so because I caught it early. The first time I had no clue what was going on and when I brought him to the vet, she said that if I had waited an hour longer he would've died. Again, I had to borrow money. Luckily my parents are cat people and very understanding and supportive. This time, I really delved into cat nutrition and only fed him high quality wet food like EVO, BG, Wellness, etc. But then again, he blocked last year. So he got the PU surgery. I now mainly feed him the prescription wet food, Royal Canin Urinary SO, and high quality wet food. I am on pins and needles, scared at every little thing, thinking he'll block again. But I work two jobs and go to school so money is tight, but I buy high quality wet food over anything I need for myself!

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread, I just wanted to share my story about the love for my cat with medical issues. Everyone in this site is so thoughtful and caring, and intelligent!

When you say blockage do you mean crystals or something else. You're very lucky to still have him. A female cat I had over 20 years ago had a blockage. She was 2 and a bit. My boss said if I operated she'd die. Nothing helped so she was operated on. She died. She was such a special cat. She chose me when I went to the shelter. She was a black and white moggy. :'(

stewball · Nov 5, 2013

Stewball said:
The only reason I sent her back was because she violent. I couldn't have whisky being attacked all the time and he so wanted to be friends. I really wanted her but it couldn't be.

She was very pretty.

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stewball
Nov 5, 2013

molldee · Nov 5, 2013

Stewball said:
When you say blockage do you mean crystals or something else. You're very lucky to still have him. A female cat I had over 20 years ago had a blockage. She was 2 and a bit. My boss said if I operated she'd die. Nothing helped so she was operated on. She died. She was such a special cat. She chose me when I went to the shelter. She was a black and white moggy. :'(

I'm so sorry for your loss! Even if it was 20 years ago.

I mean crystals. He had struvite crystals that made him block. It was very distressful for both of us, but the surgery was a year ago so no blockage has happened again since then (fingers crossed). Since it was his third time blocking, the vet suggested the PU surgery.

I am just so puzzled because when I feed him all high quality wet food like EVO, Innova, Weruva, Merrick, etc. he still blocked. Now I'm feeding him the prescription diet Royal Canin Urinary SO and he's fine. I don't get it. I wish to feed him better quality, but the prescription food is helping him.

stewball · Nov 5, 2013

molldee said:
After reading all of these posts from you kind-hearted people, I started to cry! These animals are so lucky to have you all!

I fostered five 5 day old Maine Coon mix kittens six years ago and kept two, Izzie and Buddha. Their personalities are just like dogs: they are loyal and follow me everywhere!

When Buddha was 1 year old, he had his first urinary blockage. It was traumatic to both him and I to say the least. The vet bill was so expensive, but he was mine and I would do anything for him so I had to borrow money from my parents. I started feeding him the prescription diet dry and wet food. Two years later, he had another blockage. Terrifying, but less so because I caught it early. The first time I had no clue what was going on and when I brought him to the vet, she said that if I had waited an hour longer he would've died. Again, I had to borrow money. Luckily my parents are cat people and very understanding and supportive. This time, I really delved into cat nutrition and only fed him high quality wet food like EVO, BG, Wellness, etc. But then again, he blocked last year. So he got the PU surgery. I now mainly feed him the prescription wet food, Royal Canin Urinary SO, and high quality wet food. I am on pins and needles, scared at every little thing, thinking he'll block again. But I work two jobs and go to school so money is tight, but I buy high quality wet food over anything I need for myself!

Anyway, sorry to hijack the thread, I just wanted to share my story about the love for my cat with medical issues. Everyone in this site is so thoughtful and caring, and intelligent!

Does America not have pet insurance?

stewball · Nov 5, 2013

molldee said:
I'm so sorry for your loss! Even if it was 20 years ago.

I mean crystals. He had struvite crystals that made him block. It was very distressful for both of us, but the surgery was a year ago so no blockage has happened again since then (fingers crossed). Since it was his third time blocking, the vet suggested the PU surgery.

I am just so puzzled because when I feed him all high quality wet food like EVO, Innova, Weruva, Merrick, etc. he still blocked. Now I'm feeding him the prescription diet Royal Canin Urinary SO and he's fine. I don't get it. I wish to feed him better quality, but the prescription food is helping him.

What's PU surgery?

molldee · Nov 5, 2013

We do, but you can't sign up a cat with preexisting conditions. I never thought the blockages would happen so I didn't sign my cats up when I first got them.

molldee · Nov 5, 2013

Perineal Urethrostomy... basically they make the penis hole bigger so the crystals can pass.

trevandbur · Nov 7, 2013

Burlington had surgery this evening. The vet looked at his paw with the help of her assistant and could get a much better look at it than I could (I stop when he protests) and it was getting raw below the nail. She said it had to come out ASAP so we decided to do it right then. He got an antibiotic shot and then she gave him the sleepy meds and turned off the light in the exam room (too much light bothers them because their pupils dilate so much). He got all woozy, then he threw up, and then he was pretty much out of it.

What got me, and here goes a rant, the pain shot was OPTIONAL. What? Why? My cat is basically having his toe re-amputated and the pain meds are OPTIONAL?? There is no way I'd deny that poor cat pain meds to save $15. I understand that pain keeps them from over-doing stuff when they are hurt, but even pain meds don't take away all of the pain and I'm sure he'll still be sore enough to not walk on it too much. I think it is just barbarac for a person to deny an animal pain meds after surgery. So yes, he got the pain meds!

I have to work late on Friday so my boyfriend is going to go pick him up when he gets off work.

The vet agrees that he is all or mostly deaf. She checked the pressure in his eyes and said she doesn't think he has glaucoma. She said the weird spot on his eye is likely a tumor that won't cause him any trouble but I'm still concerned about it.

barbh · Nov 7, 2013

Happy to hear he got into the vet, and hopefully every thing will heal up with no complications. Poor boy, he has been through a lot. With the tumor do they think it may get any larger?

trevandbur · Nov 8, 2013

Yeah I feel so bad for him with everything he's been through. He's now spent 3 nights in the hospital since I got him about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

She doesn't think his eye will bother him but it still concerns me. She didn't do a thorough examination. But I heard about a vet in the town I work in that is supposed to specialize in cats, and I'm thinking about taking him in to see that vet once his paw is healed.

Overall I feel that this clinic isn't thorough enough. It just seems that his paw should have been discovered sooner. I have checked it several times but he wouldn't let me get a close enough look, but I just took it that he was being protective of his front feet, which is totally understandable and I know a lot of declawed cats are like that. But I really feel like a vet should be able and take the time to do a complete examination of a new client to make sure there's not anything else going on, especially when the owner has no history on the animal. I know, for instance, that his different eye doesn't react as much to light as the normal eye. I shined a light in both eyes and the normal eye's pupil contracted faster and more than the other eye. The vet doesn't know this because she hasn't looked that closely.

I'm not going to tell her how to do her job, but if she's not going to do it how I feel is right, I will find one who does. And if that means I end up having to drive an hour and a half to my old vet, if this other one doesn't work out either, I will do that. It's nice that this clinic lets you make payment arrangements for a large bill, but my old vet has known me for years and if I ended up with a big bill for something, he'd let me make payments since he knows I'm good for the money.

I'll probably still use this nearby clinic for routine stuff, but we're going to try the one a bit further away and see how he does, and if I'm not happy with them, I'll have no problem driving all the way to see my old vet when I have a problem. This is the vet that I paid a LOT extra to get out to a barn I was keeping my horse at (the barn was quite a distance outside his normal farm call area), because he had a problem I couldn't figure out and I didn't trust anyone else with him.

mservant · Nov 8, 2013

Burlington is so lucky he has you to look after him and his rights, and that you are able to do all this for him. I too can't believe surgery would be considered without pain meds. The idea that both the regrowth of claw and any form of tumour could be missed in an introductory vet examination would worry me too and if you have another resourse, esp if they are more specialist and able to offer more advice go for it! Any hint of any eye problem and my vets do a thorough examination with light and magnification.

Sending good vibes for you guys and Burlington making a speedy and comfortable recovery from his recent op'.

I hope he's able to settle and relax soon.

lilin · Nov 8, 2013

TrevAndBur said:
Yeah I feel so bad for him with everything he's been through. He's now spent 3 nights in the hospital since I got him about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

She doesn't think his eye will bother him but it still concerns me. She didn't do a thorough examination. But I heard about a vet in the town I work in that is supposed to specialize in cats, and I'm thinking about taking him in to see that vet once his paw is healed.

Overall I feel that this clinic isn't thorough enough. It just seems that his paw should have been discovered sooner. I have checked it several times but he wouldn't let me get a close enough look, but I just took it that he was being protective of his front feet, which is totally understandable and I know a lot of declawed cats are like that. But I really feel like a vet should be able and take the time to do a complete examination of a new client to make sure there's not anything else going on, especially when the owner has no history on the animal. I know, for instance, that his different eye doesn't react as much to light as the normal eye. I shined a light in both eyes and the normal eye's pupil contracted faster and more than the other eye. The vet doesn't know this because she hasn't looked that closely.

I'm not going to tell her how to do her job, but if she's not going to do it how I feel is right, I will find one who does. And if that means I end up having to drive an hour and a half to my old vet, if this other one doesn't work out either, I will do that. It's nice that this clinic lets you make payment arrangements for a large bill, but my old vet has known me for years and if I ended up with a big bill for something, he'd let me make payments since he knows I'm good for the money.

I'll probably still use this nearby clinic for routine stuff, but we're going to try the one a bit further away and see how he does, and if I'm not happy with them, I'll have no problem driving all the way to see my old vet when I have a problem. This is the vet that I paid a LOT extra to get out to a barn I was keeping my horse at (the barn was quite a distance outside his normal farm call area), because he had a problem I couldn't figure out and I didn't trust anyone else with him.

Yeah, go with your gut. It doesn't sound like this vet did an X-ray either. There could be bone fragments or bits of nail inside the paw pad that are causing additional pain. I mean, it's likely there's some deformation that can't be fixed -- that's the nature of declawing, and that's why it's awful. But some issues can be corrected.

I would definitely want a better explanation for the eye than "probably a tumor that's fine." That doesn't answer anything. And how do they know it's fine? I am also wondering if it could be an injury from a cat fight or something while he was outside. If it is, it is likely fine, so of all the possible things it could be, that's probably the best news you could get. But I'd definitely want to know exactly what it is.

I hope he heals up ok and you can get all these issues under control. Sending more good vibes.

stewball · Nov 8, 2013

molldee said:
Perineal Urethrostomy... basically they make the penis hole bigger so the crystals can pass.

ooohthat hurts even if I don't have one of those.

stewball · Nov 8, 2013

TrevAndBur said:
ok to make sure it's clear, I did not have Burlington declawed, I hate declawing and am against it. He was declawed when I adopted him.

He's understandably very protective of his feet and doesn't like them touched. When we got him, there was a clicking sound when he walked, but he had some cat litter and poop stuck to his paw and I thought it was that. I tried to get it off and he wouldn't let me (he's very good with his back claws for defending himself), but once he started feeling healthy again and started grooming himself, I figured he would clean it off and he'd be fine.

But now he's started limping, and licking at his foot a lot. I've tried several times to get a look at his foot to see why, but he just has a fit about having it touched, and with so much hair on it (Maine Coons tend to have a lot of hair between their toes), I just can't see anything. At first we thought he'd gotten stung by a bee, because we had an issue with a bee nest and a few bees got in the house, so I figured he'd be fine in a few days after the sting healed.

I hadn't noticed the clicking in a while, but today he walked across the wood floor and he was clicking loudly, and he was limping much worse. He came in the living room and was sitting and holding up his paw. I looked at it again and he finally cooperated just enough for me to examine it a little more closely, and he's got a claw on the second toe from the outside of his foot. I couldn't look at it for very long because he started struggling and fighting with me, but it's obviously sore and the source of his problem, but it doesn't look exactly right, like it's not a normal looking claw, and it's not coming from exactly the right spot, and it also doesn't appear to retract at all.

Has anyone else seen this? He's got a vet appointment to follow up with his treatment for calicivirus on Monday, but I have a new job and I will have to reschedule it either to a bit later in the day so my boyfriend can take him in, or move it to later in the week, so I'll have the vet take a look at it. But I wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with this. He was brought into the shelter as a stray, so I have no idea how long ago the declaw was done, or where it was done. The shelter said he is 4-5 years old, but I suspect he may be somewhat younger than that.

This poor cat, a rundown for those not familiar, I adopted him about 6 weeks ago. They said he had a respiratory infection, but he got very sick a couple days later and ended up hospitalized for 2 days and was diagnosed with calicivirus. He's got a funny looking eye that I am starting to suspect may be glaucoma, which may mean he could end up losing his eye at some point. And we've also discovered that he is likely deaf. He just does not respond to sound at all, and we can shout his name and he doesn't even twitch an ear. And now this thing with the claw. But he's such a sweet boy! This is a pic I took the day I brought him home. His coat looks much better now, I need to get some new pics.

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trevandbur

Oct 2, 2013

Oh look at his poor little paw.

stewball · Nov 8, 2013

What a poor little boy. He is lucky to have fallen into your good and kind hands. He is very blessed. Vets and doctors can be very slapdash in the way they do checkups. Here's hoping his eye will be okay. You're going to have to teach him some signs as you can't talk to him poor little mite.

trevandbur · Nov 9, 2013

His surgery went fine and he is home now. They had to do one on the other paw too. She said they can feel where the claws are starting to grow once the cat is unconscious, since they don't pull around and fight having their paws handled. Boyfriend picked him up when he got off work, I worked 11 hours (inventory- they wouldn't let us go until it was completely done) so they'd been home a few hours when I got here. Burlington was sore and definitely walking gingerly on his front feet. I felt so bad, the white hair on his feet is tinged with blood stains

This morning he's walking better. He still holds up one paw or the other when he sits, but he's walking faster and his appetite is better than I've seen in a while. The vet said not to let him climb up on things, but he was sitting on a chair this morning. I picked him up and put him on a folded blanket on the floor, but he got back on the chair a few minutes later. So I guess there's not much I can do about that since I have to go to work in a few minutes. Either it won't bother him, or it will hurt when he jumps down and he will decide not to get up there again for a while.

They also gave us a bag of beet pulp pellets (they are about the size of rabbit food) to use as cat litter for a week. I emptied one of the litter boxes, which are usually in the basement, and brought it upstairs for him. I figure between this box being more shallow, plus being where he doesn't have to use stairs to get to it, he won't use the other one. And hopefully Trevor doesn't want to use the beet pulp, because Boyfriend only got 5 pounds of it and if both cats use it, it won't last long and isn't all that cheap.

Once his paws are healed we're going to go see the other vet and find out about his eye. If a vet does a thorough exam on it and then tells me it's nothing to worry about, I will stop worrying about it.

I was also surprised at the bill, only $110 for all the pain meds, the surgery, and the calicivirus shot that our original appointment was for. I was expecting closer to $200.

lilin · Nov 9, 2013

Poor baby. But it's good to hear he seems to be healing ok and eating better. Hopefully he makes a full recovery and his paws will feel better, and then no more surgery.

When the wounds are better healed, you might want to try getting him to use a scratching post. I know that sounds silly, but it still has benefits for limb and back strength even if the cat can't scratch. This may help him as a sort of "physical therapy" to stretch out those ligaments and heal any remaining pain he may have.

barbh · Nov 9, 2013

Sounds like you got a great deal on the bill, I paid more than that last weekend for the two kittens for an office visit, clavomax for both and eye ointment for Leonard.

Hopefully Burlington will continue to heal quickly and his paws will start bothering him less. As painfull as it is having to have surgery done on both paws, hopefully everything has been corrected with this surgery and once healed his paws will bother him less than they had before.

Hoping that when you take him in on the second opinion on the eye that they say it is nothing major to worry about. It is always hard when we don't know what is wrong or going on exactly with our fur babies. Keep us updated on how he is doing and sending good thoughts for a speedy recovery.

Botched declaw?

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