Trigger warning! Read what SUNNYSIDE VETERINARY CLINIC says about cat declawing

The phrase "trigger warning" is very current. It actually applies to the Declaration of Independence. This is one of America's most famous documents and the National Archives has erected a trigger warning next to this founding 18th-century document of the United States according to the historian Andrew Roberts. He said that a framed explanatory text next to the document at the archives in London, UK now warns readers that the statements within the declaration are "outdated, biased and offensive".

And this is what we can expect from things said and done in the past. They become outdated, outmoded and objectionable. Essentially people become more civilised. Humankind is on a long journey towards being civilised. We are perhaps in the middle of that journey but nowhere near the end of it.

Declawing was invented in the 1950s in the US. It is now outdated and highly objectionable. There should be a trigger warning outside all American vets who perform the operation.

Within about two minutes I found an American veterinarian's website where they proudly declaw. It is the website for Sunnyside Veterinary Clinic in Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA. And they state the following:

"In America, most (but not all) veterinarians agree that when done properly, declawing can be a benefit to both the cat and the people involved.  Without a doubt is is a painful procedure, and absolutely must be done in conjunction with excellent pain control."

So, most vets in America believe that declawing benefits the cat. This is despite the fact that two thirds of declawing operations leave bone fragments in their paws. It is despite the fact that there is an epidemic of botched declawing operations because they are carried out too casually and quickly.

Dr Bruce Fogle, the UK's best-known vet says that declawing is barbaric. Agreed.

It is despite the fact that 99.9% of declawing operations are carried out at the convenience of the cat's owner and not for the cat's benefit. Yes, the reason why cats are declawed is to stop them scratching furniture.

How, on earth, can that be of benefit to the cat? This veterinarian is lying through his teeth. This veterinarian has no right to be a veterinarian. This veterinarian is in complete and abject breach of his oath which he swore when he became a vet. He might as well tear that up and stick it in the nearest bin. It is completely pointless.

In their oath vets swear that they will only do things for the benefit of their patients. This is obviously completely incorrect in the vast majority of veterinary clinics in America if you believe what this veterinarian states namely that most veterinarians agree that declawing can be a benefit to both cat and people.

Yes, it can be benefit to people who are highly sensitive to a domestic cat's needs. It can benefit people who are highly insensitive to the need to improve their cat's life and not cause them unnecessary pain, sometimes lifelong pain because of the declawing operation.

It benefits people who fail to understand how they can avoid being scratched and how they can avoid their furniture being scratched by alternative means. They dive straight in and declaw young kit a kitten instead.

I messaged this veterinarian to tell him what I think about him. Just for the record. And I sent him a link to a page I wrote a little while ago about the high number of botched declawing operations leaving fragments of bone in cats' claws. Perhaps he needs educating. I think it does.