Should I ask for my money back from the vet after bad declaw procedure?

Question

I took my cat to be declawed. He didnt put stiches or glue on her just left the bones open. Now she has had a infection. I took her to another vet and he had to amputate more of her toes and put her on anitbiotics and strong pain med. And her pads will nevre grow back and of course she won't have toes now either.

Answer 1

Actually you should have controlled the environment to keep her from getting an infection.

Answer 2

How awful for the poor kitty. People rarely want to believe how often this happens, and why most of the world has outlawed this procedure as inhumane. Unfortunately now you've seen first hand why it's just not a good idea.

Of course you should take action, but do so knowing that the information about possible risks were freely available to you before taking this step. That's a liability against you.

Take action, but I think at best you can get the vet to pay you some of the money back, which doesn't help your crippled cat.

Please, consider not declawing next time? Loving a cat does not do this, no matter what the intention was. Instead of it costing you, iot's now cost your cat.

Answer 3

The key-word right it is AMPUTATION. Declawing could relatively be referred to as De-Toeing, a front declaw is 10 radical amputations of the cats feet right down to the 1st knuckle. The vet takes, the claw, bone, fur, epidermis, and severs needed tendons and arteries. The cat can now no longer stretch the muscle mass of their front quarters precise, and often motel to biting to shelter themselves. Whoever says they have had it performed and their cats felt no discomfort are the two mendacity or ignorant, Cats are MASTERS at hiding their discomfort, this surgical operation is excruciatingly painful, it is the surgical operation they attempt animal anesthetics on as a results of fact that's the main painful of all vet performed surgical procedures. To a cat showing discomfort is a demonstration of weak point, so as that they do each and every thing of their ability to hide their discomfort. some cats end utilizing the clutter container considering that's to painful and motel to utilizing the carpets and furnishings. some cats by no ability have confidence their proprietors returned and become indignant, anti social and aggressive. notice: This surgical operation has NO reward for the cat in any comprehend that's finished fullyyt to income human beings. additionally notice: De-clawing is illegitimate in 28 international places for being CRUELTY to animals. Please do no longer do this, that's barbaric and a mutilation. there are a number of ideas, get quite a few great cat timber, trim the cats claws each and every few weeks, use double sided tape and tinfoil to maintain them far off from specific areas, placed money right into a sprig bottle, get comfortable claws, etc... in case you may no longer stay with claws then are not getting a cat, as a results of fact to mutilate a residing respiration creature to guard upholstery is a thoroughly disgusting. in case you have the different questions or prefer suggestion be at liberty to digital mail me and that i will help in any way i'm able to

Answer 4

I would consider a small claims lawsuit. Since the cat required additonal surgery and medication to "repair" the first vet's incomplete surgery first go to the first vet with the bill from the second vet and explain (calmly) the issue and see what they have to say. If they are unwilling to work with you, file the small claims suit.



But declawing a cat is somewhat animal cruelty in and of itself. To declaw a cat is to essentially amputate the tips of it's "fingers." Rather than declaw a cat, get doublesided tape and put it on things you do not want the cat to scratch - cats HATE tape / sticky stuff. Then get the cat a scratching post and train it to only scratch the post. My cat is indoors only, and that's what I did, since I didn't want to get his fingertips chopped off - my vet thought that was mean, and advised against doing that kind of surgery.

Answer 5

I would sue the vet!!!!! I'm serious get a good lawyer that was a botched operation!!!!As far as the toe's and pad's...I have a cat that was born with only 1/3 of her foot. she has no toes and just a small piece of padding very tiny padding. She gets along great. She kinda linps around on 3 feet but she does not let it slow her down one bit!!!! She's very special in our family. And very independent. I was worried about how it would effect her life, but it don't bother her one bit. It is very sensitiv e to the touch but i think thats to be expected. But serious I'd be getting a lawyer. Your pet is still a family member!!!! And it was a botched operation!!! Poor kitty :-(

Answer 6

You may want to talk to a lawyer for advice on the best way to approach your vet re: the additional costs incurred in treating your cat for the botched procedure.



I would highly recommend that you file a complaint with your state's Veterinary Board: http://www.aavsb.org/ (look for the 'file a complaint' link on the lower right portion of the page) and also contact the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.org/ . You could be helping to protect other pets & their owners from having to go through the same horror.



If you get another cat in the future, I would highly recommend trying declawing alternatives, and avoiding the declawing procedure entirely. see http://www.catscratching.com for declawing alternative info

Answer 7

All declaw procedures are bad procedures - infections are just one of the many risks you take when you decide to surgically alter your pet for your own convenience.



You've just experienced what many people experience when they have their cat declawed. I certainly hope she's OK now but it's shame she had to suffer. If I were you I wouldn't be blaming the vet who did the op, I'd be asking myself why I put her through this risk in the first place, and was it worth it?



Chalice

Answer 8

1) shame on you for having that done in the first place.



2) did you follow your vets instructions? i.e. no regular cat litter for at least 2 weeks, restricted activity, monitoring the toes for signs of infection (redness swelling discharge etc), making sure the toes stay clean?



3) your cat should have been on antibiotics and pain meds from the get go.



4) are you sure no skin glue was used? sometimes you cant tell.

Answer 9

You could ask, but, you probably won't receive it. You could sue the vet, but, then he could claim that you didn't properly keep them clean.



The fact is that you put your trust in this guy, and he didn't live up to your expectations. Just don't go back. Anything you did try to do would have to be done in court, and would not help your pet to recover.



You might check to see if your state has a licensing board where you could file a complaint, and maybe file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Answer 10

That is ridiculous that the first vet did that. Did the second vet say that it is obvious the first vet messed up? If a trained vet can verify that the first vet definitely messed up and you have the bill of what the first vet did, you can sue.



In these days, animals are treated as people, so you can definitely sue and get your money back plus get the antibiotics paid for by the first vet and any other visits to the vet due to their mistake.

Answer 11

I would talk to a lawyer, but you definitely need to report the vet who botched the procedure. I don't know if you call the Better Business Bureau or what. But something needs to be done. It seems that this vet didn't finish what he or she started and now your poor kitty has to suffer. If all else fails, call local animal shelters to see if they can give you any information on what to do.

Answer 12

did you give the vet that provided this cruel act of declawing at your request a chance to "fix" what they messed up?? This is one of the reasons I am SO AGAINST declawing cats, not to mention how painful it is for them, now this poor kitty has lost her toes due to your decision to declaw, how sad.

Answer 13

oh my god that sounds excrutiating....sorry to say but shame on you, its really your fault. you shouldnt declaw a cat. cats have claws, get over it. if you didnt want to deal with claws, then you shouldnt have gotten one at all. if she was scratching your, children, your furniture there are other way of going about fixing the behavior (soft paws...you can buy them at petco, they work and theyre cheap). you went to a crappy vet (you shouldve done your research) and you had a crappy thing done to an innocent animal. im not a cat lady, or a cat freak or anything like that but i think it sucks when people have their cats declawed. ugh

Answer 14

If you have proof, I would take them to small claims court.

Answer 15

if you have pictures and proof I would take it to court and ask for damages and also report him to some one