Amy Jordan Duggar Jordan Duggar King Duggar Wedding Part 3 AKA Amy and Dillon King

[snarkykitty]

I just read her most recent blog post about "changes". She mentions getting a kitten, and says, "I have about 8 scratches on my hands that seal the deal that we need to get her declawed!"

Declawing removes an entire knuckle from each of its digits. Since cats walk on their tip-toes, the loss of the extra knuckles can out their muscles and even bones out of alignment, in their wrists all the way up to their shoulders. Walking, using the litterbox, and doing basic cat things often become difficult, not to mention painful, not only at the time of surgery, but for the cat's entire lifetime (many cases of litterbox aversion problems happen to declawed cats because of the memory of the pain experienced while using the litterbox right after surgery). In addition, it talks away one of the cat's primary defenses against predators.

Since she's home all day, she has lots of time to teach the cat what is acceptable and not acceptable by using the word "no," providing lots of appropriate places for her to scratch, no playing "rough" with her hands, and distracting the cat if/when she focuses on areas or things she shouldn't be in/on/around. Or try an option like nail caps (we used Softclaws on our cat when we first adopted him, until he learned where it was ok to scratch).

But no, make pet adoption all about YOUR convenience. It's people like her that "give back" their pets or dump them at a shelter (or worse) because they failed to learn about the pet's natural proclivities, needs, etc. or provide safe, accessible options for the pet to do what animals of their breed/speices do.

Selfish brat.

[Marissap]

1 hour ago, missegeno said:

Nice powerball tickets - the tax on people who don't understand statistics.

 

But someone has to win!!!

[missegeno]

1 hour ago, missegeno said: Nice powerball tickets - the tax on people who don't understand statistics. [emoji4]

 

But someone has to win!!!

There are always outliers! Everyone is probably an outlier in some capacity. Being an outlier in a given capacity is still rare by definition.

While my stats knowledge keeps me from regularly buying tickets, no judgment on anyone who loves Powerball either. I have bought lottery tickets before. I think what you're paying for is the chance to dream. When you hold a ticket like that, big things could happen in your life once the number is drawn. You can imagine it in a way that is impossible if you are not holding that ticket. And i can't really fault anyone for wanting a chance to dream.

[PennySycamore]

@snarkykitty, somebody needs to sic Jackson Galaxy on her sorry ass!  JG's got a video on YouTube about declawing.

If someone will PM me a link to her blog, I'll see if I can't post a comment on it about declawing.

 

[Grace]

She might not even know what's actually involved. My family always had cats declawed and assumed they were just removing the nails. Once everyone realized it is actually amputation nobody does it anymore.

[socalrules]

I am not ashamed that I buy lottery tickets every week. There are worse ways I have spent my money. What I am not stupid enough to do is take pictures with the numbers so that the world will know I won. I don't need crazy relatives seeking me out for money. She will have it worse, she will have crazy Duggars seeking her out. 

[actuallyjessica]

She might not even know what's actually involved. My family always had cats declawed and assumed they were just removing the nails. Once everyone realized it is actually amputation nobody does it anymore.

This. Has anyone tried to leave a comment or something educating her on the alternatives of declawing?

[PennySycamore]

@actuallyjessica,  I don't know if anyone's posted anything on her blog yet or not, but Jackson Galaxy has a great video about all the problems with declawing.  A link to The Paw Project would be good, too.

[Grace]

1 hour ago, actuallyjessica said:

This. Has anyone tried to leave a comment or something educating her on the alternatives of declawing?

Almost every comment on the blog post mentions it. So I refrained from commenting because it drives me crazy when people continue to "correct" someone  online after it's already been pointed out a million times. As if each additional person thinks he/she is the specialist snowflake of all and theirs will be the comment that FINALLY makes the big difference. 

[PennySycamore]

1 hour ago, Grace said:

Almost every comment on the blog post mentions it. So I refrained from commenting because it drives me crazy when people continue to "correct" someone  online after it's already been pointed out a million times. As if each additional person thinks he/she is the specialist snowflake of all and theirs will be the comment that FINALLY makes the big difference. 

Hopefully, she will heed some of those voices.

[GreenTea]

What I would do...

Saw this picture from a pet rescue/awareness group called Gabe to the Rescue. https://www.facebook.com/HeroDogGabe/?fref=photo (Facebook Page) http://iamgabe.yolasite.com (Gabe to the Rescue website) 

[clueliss]

If Famy can't deal with a few kitten scratches, how is she going to handle motherhood and poopy diapers?  

[snarkykitty]

16 hours ago, Grace said:

She might not even know what's actually involved. My family always had cats declawed and assumed they were just removing the nails. Once everyone realized it is actually amputation nobody does it anymore.

I'm sorry, but I think that it very irresponsible for someone to agree to surgery on a pet/animal without knowing what is involved. I cannot imagine that any vet would not explain the procedure in some detail to anyone voluntarily bringing their cat to have such a surgery, and having to care for the cat immediately afterward. 

Heck, some vets won't even perform the surgery. 

Ignorance is not a valid argument. 

[sophrosyne]

1 hour ago, clueliss said:

If Famy can't deal with a few kitten scratches, how is she going to handle motherhood and poopy diapers?  

Rotating J-Slave shifts.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Cats scratch, get over it Amy. The easiest and cheapest way to teach a cat not to maul you or ruin furniture is to give it access to a scratching post as scratching is an important cat need, and not play with it with your hands but use toys instead. That and learning about cat body language so you don't end up with the non play kind of scratch.

 

I have three adorable kittens (and a 3 year old cat) and I think I am used to kitten love maulings after the first few weeks. In fact, I don't even have that many scratches anymore-only 4 right now, as they've grown up a bit more and learned how to use kitty manners.

[19 cats and counting]

9 hours ago, clueliss said:

If Famy can't deal with a few kitten scratches, how is she going to handle motherhood and poopy diapers?  

Call up Jana, Jinger, or Joy (and perhaps Johannah).  Whichever one is not changing Meredith or Spurgeon's diapers.

[Grace]

20 hours ago, snarkykitty said:

I'm sorry, but I think that it very irresponsible for someone to agree to surgery on a pet/animal without knowing what is involved. I cannot imagine that any vet would not explain the procedure in some detail to anyone voluntarily bringing their cat to have such a surgery, and having to care for the cat immediately afterward. 

Heck, some vets won't even perform the surgery. 

Ignorance is not a valid argument. 

I disagree. Of course ignorance is a valid argument. If you don't know something, it won't factor into your decision making. As far as vet procedures go, My vet never told me what was involved in "fixing" any of my animals. I didn't feel need to ask specific details about what they would be doing to my my cat's testicles, I just trusted his Dr to perform a common procedure. I don't have a hard time imagining a vet not detailing what declawing was to my mom and grandma in the 70's and early 80's. They can't have because I know neither one of them would have agreed to digit amputation on their kitties. 

Amy didn't HAVE the procedure done yet. She just said she was going to need to. Now that she has the information, I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and hope she'll change her mind. I don't expect her to broadcast that change, but maybe it will happen.

[QuiverDance]

She'll probably go to the vet, ask for the procedure, the vet will suggest capping, and that will be the end of it.  She's just stupidly spouting off on a blog before she has all the info.  You know, like people do on blogs.

[19 cats and counting]

I think Amy needs to invest in these for her feline headship

 

http://www.softpaws.com/

[missegeno]

16 hours ago, Grace said: She might not even know what's actually involved. My family always had cats declawed and assumed they were just removing the nails. Once everyone realized it is actually amputation nobody does it anymore.

I'm sorry, but I think that it very irresponsible for someone to agree to surgery on a pet/animal without knowing what is involved. I cannot imagine that any vet would not explain the procedure in some detail to anyone voluntarily bringing their cat to have such a surgery, and having to care for the cat immediately afterward. 

Heck, some vets won't even perform the surgery. 

Ignorance is not a valid argument. 

I'm halfway between you and @grace on this one. Yes, it is irresponsible. But people make irresponsible and uninformed decisions frequently. More importantly, a lot of people glaze over at just the thought of medical explanations. It's not uncommon to have a mental block in such an obfuscated area, even if the procedure is explained in layman's terms. Add to that the possibility that the vet isn't explaining it at the peak of clarity.

Notwithstanding, I could totally see Amy's thoughts going: "it's a common procedure, it must be alright and I don't know of any alternatives or questions I should ask." I admit to using that type of approach when I was getting my wisdom teeth out. I had one surgery when I was young, but then nothing of the sort until I was an adult, moved out, and finally got the resources to get rid of those impacted teeth. I was on my own and didn't know what questions would be relevant, and there was only one surgeon I could get insurance for, so I didn't really have any alternative choices other than let the teeth stay for the forseeable future. So I didn't ask any questions and I had the procedure done. A friend drove me home after. If I had surgery now, I would know a few things to make sure are covered. But I didn't at the time.

[maple802]

On 1/12/2016 at 10:01 AM, clueliss said:

If Famy can't deal with a few kitten scratches, how is she going to handle motherhood and poopy diapers?  

She thinks cat claws are sharp? Try newborn/infant nails -- I swear they're like razor blades and I've only cared for babies as a sitter!

Honestly, it surprises me that there are vets that still perform this procedure absent a legit, medical reason (if there are any) for doing so.

[boston2495]

On January 11, 2016 at 3:21 PM, snarkykitty said:

Selfish brat.

@snarkykitty, you said it all and I could not agree with you more. I'm kind of horrified that she would post this - it makes me worried for the well being of her kitty, simply due to the fact that she obviously hasn't done her (very basic) homework into what truly goes into caring for a pet. If she doesn't know that declawing has been strongly frowned upon (and in most cases, simply not done) for years now, and the terrible surgery that it really is, what else does she not know? Then again, she's a Duggar, and we all know about their track record when it comes to animals (cats in particular). Not only the incident with the sled last year, but the two kittens that Josh and Anna adopted over the years that both mysteriously disappeared. It is just so irresponsible and makes me so mad when I think about it.

At least most of the responses to her post focus on the declawing issue. Hopefully anyone reading the post, who doesn't know about declawing, will learn something that way.

At the very least, most responsible veterinarians these days refuse to declaw, except in extreme circumstances (nail infections and the like the require such surgery). I hope the veterinarians in her area are responsible enough to set her straight! Also hoping that the kitty is spayed/neutered or will be soon.

[Guest]

I doubt her vet would do the procedure.  My vet doesn't do it unless there is a medical reason.  My kitty was born with 6 toes on each of her front paws.  Five of them are normal (she looks like she has mittens).  But the one between her "thumb" and first toe was much shorter, and the vet said the nail was growing at such an angle that it would grow into her first toe.  She recommended having that one claw removed on each foot because it would be painful for her and could get infected easily.  So I did it, but I felt terrible about it.  She was fine though.

[RosyDaisy]

Declawing? OH HAIL NAW! That's animal cruelty! My feline headship will never get declawed. I just trim his claws. There are also claw caps (non toxic and digestible if swallowed).

My Eli prefers trimming followed by paw massages and some cat treats.

[boston2495]

9 hours ago, AbandonAllHope said:

I doubt her vet would do the procedure.  My vet doesn't do it unless there is a medical reason.  My kitty was born with 6 toes on each of her front paws.  Five of them are normal (she looks like she has mittens).  But the one between her "thumb" and first toe was much shorter, and the vet said the nail was growing at such an angle that it would grow into her first toe.  She recommended having that one claw removed on each foot because it would be painful for her and could get infected easily.  So I did it, but I felt terrible about it.  She was fine though.

Aww, I'm sorry to hear that about your kitty, but it sounds like you've got a very special one!! I love Hemingway cats.  And it definitely sounds like you did the right thing. A tough decision for sure, but one that would have resulted in the least amount of pain overall of her. And it's exactly the type of reason why such a procedure should be performed!