Enough is Enough--Do not Declaw cats!!

Over the last year or so I've heard more and more negative things coming from strangers, clients and pet professionals alike about the daunting dangers and behavior problems associated with declawing cats.

Apart from the obvious painful procedure to get cats declawed, the immoral injustice of it all, and the awful way their feet look afterward, I never really thought anything else about declawing until this year. Slowly but surely I started to hear little whispers about declawed cats peeing on beds, sofas, and cushy chairs.

It took shelters saying that declawed cats are now labeled "unadoptable," and it would be better to put a cat down than to declaw them. People are simply not ready for the consequences of declawing cats. So, here are some reasons why you SHOULD NOT declaw cats!

1) Imagine your fingers being cut off from the first knuckle down. That's the "procedure" of declawing cats.

2) Imagine during your healing time you need to use the cat box. And there's all this harsh, gritty sand rubbing painfully against your raw knuckles as you paw at the sand, covering your waste. Makes you never wanna use that thing again doesn't it?

3) You don't NEED to declaw your cat. Period. It is completely unnecessary.

Instead of paying hundreds of dollars to mutilate your poor cat, why don't you go to a pet store and buy lots of cat scratching posts, scratching balls, scratching door hang-y jingle bell things, sprinkle lots of catnip all over it and take some cute pictures of your cat going mind-numbingly happy over what you just bought for them.

It'll be the best investment you ever made and it'll spare you the pain of having shelters say to you, "Your cat would be better off dead then you declawing it."

One last thing: If you're going to not believe me and go ahead with this procedure, for whatever reason, and my predictions come true about the behavior problems (which they will)--there are no products you can buy. There are no more surgeries you can get for your cat. There is nothing you can do once things have been set into motion and your cat starts to hate using the litter box and finds other means of relieving itself.

End of the Year

It's the end of the year and I wanted to make a post that said something meaningful about life and how the years pass by, etc.

Thinking about this past year and all the changes that have gone on in my life and where I'm going, I'm realizing more and more that animal rescue, animal care and the equality of animals will always be something that is close to my heart.

Being the kind of person I am, growing up surrounded by all types of animals and learning from an early age that they have feelings, souls, personalities and special quirks--I can't imagine my life absent of any kind of animal.

The animal rescue world is a tight knit group that is slowly but surely gaining momentum in a world where some people feel that a human life is worth more than an animal one; or that with all the problems going on in today's society maybe saving one furry friend really doesn't matter in the great scheme of things.

It's simply not true. Every life matters whether it's a human life, an animal life or plant life. Once society as a whole starts to realize that cherishing all forms a life can help all aspects of society then I feel that we will be better off for it.

Why?

Because we truly are all connected in ways that no scientist or politician could ever define. Once we all realize this we can make small changes for the better that will not just affect the life you helped, but will affect every life after that.

So what did I do this year to help life? Well...I stayed true to myself and always spread the word of animal equality. I rescued my Charlie, which was probably the best decision I've ever made. I sent the word on about LostOurHome which in turn helped save a life. And I'm considering adopting another cat from Wildhorse Ranch Rescue.

If I could I would take in every animal that needs a home, but alas this is not possible. And being someone who goes to school full time and works and is living in the same down-hill economy as everyone else I can't always afford to give money either. But I can always give my time.

Just like you can always give your time.

So, for this upcoming New Years, when you're pondering your resolutions and goals you want to meet for the year--ask yourself:

What will you do to contribute to life?

Update to last post; Youtube video to Oprah

Click on the title to watch the video to Oprah. Maybe she'll do a show on the FDA.

Rescuing Animals Takes Many Forms

Hello All,

I thought I would wrap up the end of this wild year to thank those who have worked hard to spread the "rescue word."

Of course rescuing comes in many forms: We have the folks at www.lostourhome.org here in Arizona who are a bunch of Real Estate pros, but indirectly because of this blog saved an abandoned dog a couple of months ago. This dog was a neighbor to one of our pet sitting clients, and found itself in need of rescue when his people went through foreclosure and abandoned him at the property. Our client didn't know who to call, but remembered that we had started this blog, and contacted us.
Thank you LostOurHome folks for the work you've done this year.

We have the folks at www.thepetfoodlist.com who alert us whenever there is a new pet food recall in the works. Since Creature Feature Pet Sitting has many clients using all manner of brands of foods, this list is vitally important in my ability to inform our clients if they are feeding a dangerous food to their loved ones. I was alarmed when I received an alert from them the other day regarding a food I use personally for my own loved animals. After a diligent search online for the full story within 48 hours I found that the fault actually fell on the shoulders of the Australian government. They had decided that shipments of Orijen food need "super" irradiation before it could enter their country. In doing so they have rendered the food deadly to cats! By destroying 77% of vitamin A in that process, the food becomes deleterious. I'm still in shock that they choose to treat one of the top (in a handful of choices) commercial pet foods that way. Not to mention that this proves again the irradiation process is a bad idea. Well they shot themselves in the feet, because now they get no more Orijen. Sorry, Australia.
Thank you ThePetFoodList folks for the work you've done this year.

We have the folks at Wildhorse Ranch Rescue; www.mudpony.com who in spite of space and supply constraints tirelessly care for both old and new lifelong residents such as Grandpa's Charlee, a former racehorse who is trying hard to recover from a bacterial skin infection (pictured top right), and the newest lifelong resident; Jenny, a BLM rescue (pictured left) who went to live there just a month ago. These equines (among many more...see the herd on the website) are not going anywhere else...this is their last stop. Good thing too. While others give up on them, WHRR never will.
Thank you WHRR folks for the work you've done this year.

Finally, I'd like to introduce the newest link to the Creature Featurette Rescue Blog; the folks at www.truthaboutpetfood.com. It was through this organization that I got the final disposition on the Orijen-Australian food connection. This group is trying it seems in vain to bring to the forefront the fact that our own FDA is in violation of the very laws it charges others with. We have a serious problem with 4-D meat (Down, Diseased, Dying and Dead) in pet food, rather than slaughtered, which is the lawfully, required method for meat to be used in food (including pet food). The FDA has proven in it's own study that there is phenobarbital in pet food, which shows that 4-D meat is there. What that means is that euthanized animals are in pet food. You with me so far? OK....does the FDA acknowledge the violation? No. Do our Representatives in government know about it? Yes. Are they going to do anything about it? No. Not so far. Click on the title of this post to get to an expose' article about this issue. Our Representatives may never do anything about it. I believe the only way real attention will be called to this issue is through a class-action suit (we need a Sierra-Club-advocate-for-pets-type of group to do this)...or a heck of a lot of media attention. We can all work at both these options at the same time. Use the information in the article to write letters....to anyone you can think of who could possibly help. In the meantime don't use any foods that have anything void of actual description in the ingredients such as "Meat and Bonemeal," or "Meat Digest," or anything-byproducts. This indicates these ingredients come from 4-D meat. These kinds of terms indicate no real food that you can actually identify in the food. Go to www.truthaboutpetfood.com to get a lowdown on what the pet food industry terms actually are. Then get that stuff out of your animals' diets!
Thank you TruthAboutPetFood folks for the work you've done this year.

We at Creature Feature's wish all of you, and all of your loved-animals the best, and furthermore are hopeful that next year will be better for all.