Surgery on animals

[OneAugustKnight]

Okay, so I know how the Church feels about sterilization for people and I can guess what they think about cosmetic surgery for people.

That being said, is it morally acceptable to have your pets spayed or nuetered? How about declawed? What about having their tails and ears clipped?

I am not one of those people who put animals on the same level as humans, to me they are somewhere slightly above coffee tables or stand mixers.

But I wonder if the Church considers it cruel or unnatural to have your pets fixed. Any resources on this subject?

 

[iamscifimike]

That being said, is it morally acceptable to have your pets spayed or nuetered? How about declawed? What about having their tails and ears clipped?

I think getting a dogs ears clipped is evil (ok at least unwarrantedly cruel)

scratch that, I don’t think… it is.

 

[BobP123]

But I wonder if the Church considers it cruel or unnatural to have your pets fixed. Any resources on this subject?

Why would that be cruel? I think it would be a whole lot more cruel to kill unwanted healthy cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.

 

[THutch04]

I don’t think there’s any Church teaching on it, and I don’t really know why there would be. Although personally I do think that declawing is wrong, as what you’re really doing is an amputation… I don’t know why tails and ears are clipped, but it doesn’t sound like something that’s necessary so I’m assuming I would feel the same way about that. Then again, I’m an animal lover!!!

 

[Dale_M]

Catholic Answers/This Rock has a “quick questions” section. The topic of spaying/neutering pets was asked… and answered.

Q: This may sound funny, but can I have my cat neutered? While I was at the animal shelter it dawned on me that I was about to have done to my pet something that would be sinful if I was having it done to myself—sterilization I mean.

A: Directly intended sterilization of a human, whether a vasectomy or tubal ligation, except when performed for strictly therapeutic medical reasons, such as to save a life, is a serious violation of the moral law (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2297). The same does not hold for animals.

The difference is the difference between human beings and animals. Properly speaking, animals have no rights, despite what many “animal rights” activists are saying today. (Although we say they have no rights, as stewards of creation we have duties toward them and toward all the rest of creation.) Unlike humans, animals do not possess rational souls made in the image and likeness of God—this is the key distinction. The Church never has taught that there is anything wrong with having an animal sterilized. Catholic moral theologians of note hold that spaying or neutering a pet is analogous to picking the fruit off a tree: Removal of all the fruit will prevent a tree from reproducing.

catholic.com/thisrock/1995/9509qq.asp

 

[OneAugustKnight]

I know the Church is opposed to cruelty to animals, but I thought if they had a problem with common surgical procedures for animals then someone might have said something about it.

These particular surgeries are performed not to correct abnormalities (disease, injury, deformity), but to alter the way the animal naturally exists or functions.

Since I think of animals as more like tools or toys than like people, I don’t have a problem with altering them to serve a good purpose.

But since they are living creatures with nerve endings, and they obviously are in pain after surgery and do not really understand, I wonder where you draw the line.

Cruelty of pet sterilization, I have an indoor cat. I will never let her outside, and I will never get another cat. So technically she isn’t much of a pregnancy risk. Got her fixed anyway. Cruel? I don’t know, the sterilization is required as part of the adoption process through the animal shelter.

Some people think keeping a cat inside always is cruel, some think declawing is cruel, some think euthanizing an animal is cruel, some think keep an animal alive when it is in constant pain is cruel. There is probably some sort line, I just wonder where it is.

Hutch,
tails and ears are clipped on certain breeds of dogs to get a certain appearance, mean, cute, whatever. I’ve heard some breeds need it for health reason, but I don’t believe it. You would probably be against it, a lot of people are. I don’t know, if I had one of those breeds and didn’t get them clipped (they get clipped as puppies before they are sold) then nobody would buy the puppies. But I am not a dog breeder, so I don’t worry about that too much.

 

[OneAugustKnight]

Thank you Dale,
That is basically what I thought. I like the tree analogy. Any ideas on declawing and tail clipping, or does the Church pretty much leave that for us to decide? Maybe declawing is like removing a heavy tree branch hanging over your awning . . .

 

[CarrieH]

Cruelty of pet sterilization, I have an indoor cat. I will never let her outside, and I will never get another cat. So technically she isn’t much of a pregnancy risk. Got her fixed anyway. Cruel? I don’t know, the sterilization is required as part of the adoption process through the animal shelter.

Unspayed female cats which are “celibate” have a higher incidence of breast problems and female cancers than those which are spayed. It has to do with the high level of circulating hormones which doesn’t get balanced with breeding. So if they are not going to make kittens, best to spay them anyway, even if they stay indoors. And besides, it eliminates that obnoxious crying and gyrating when they are in heat!

I don’t think the Church says anything about declawing, but in some countries it has been banned as cruelty. I have had 7 cats over the years and have never declawed a single one. I keep the house cat-proofed (no expensive carpets, etc.) and I clip their claws about once a month, and we do fine.

CarrieH, “crazy old cat-lady” with “fixed” felines >^…^<

 

[OneAugustKnight]

And besides, it eliminates that obnoxious crying and gyrating when they are in heat!

Ha! Is that what that is? My daughter has been telling people she thinks the cat is broken.

I don’t think the Church says anything about declawing, but in some countries it has been banned as cruelty. I have had 7 cats over the years and have never declawed a single one. I keep the house cat-proofed (no expensive carpets, etc.) and I clip their claws about once a month, and we do fine.

CarrieH, “crazy old cat-lady” with “fixed” felines >^…^<

I was kind of worried about declawing being amputation and all, but the vet told me he has client whose toddler is blind in one eye because she thought clipping was satisfactory, and is against declawing. He has been a vet for 30 years and has seen a lot of young children seriously injured by cats, so he always declaws his own cats. I have a 2 year old, so the claws thing was a no-brainer

And my husband wanted to break the cat’s neck when he saw a scratch on his brand new leather recliner. She is probably much safer with out claws. She has been a better pet anyway.

 

[Dale_M]

Thank you Dale,
That is basically what I thought. I like the tree analogy. Any ideas on declawing and tail clipping, or does the Church pretty much leave that for us to decide?

You’re welcome, Monica. I am anything but an expert on Church teaching - although I have learned a lot since coming to CAF!

I am not aware of specific teachings regarding de-clawing etc. But here is what the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1917 (how’s that for traditional?) has to say about animals and how we treat them.

The very essence of the moral law is that we respect and obey the order established by the Creator. Now, the animal is a nobler manifestation of His power and goodness than the lower forms of material existence. In imparting to the brute creation a sentient nature capable of suffering – a nature which the animal shares in common with ourselves – God placed on our dominion over them a restriction which does not exist with regard to our dominion over the non-sentient world. We are bound to act towards them in a manner conformable to their nature. We may lawfully use them for our reasonable wants and welfare, even though such employment of them necessarily inflicts pain upon them. But the wanton infliction of pain is not the satisfaction of any reasonable need, and, being an outrage against the Divinely established order, is therefore sinful.

newadvent.org/cathen/04542a.htm

From that piece, I think you can justify de-clawing as a necessary infliction of pain and not as cruelty.

 

[Viki59]

I have to disagree with the previous poster;
Dr. Nicholas Dodman, author of “The Cat Who Cried for Help,” has this to say about declawing:

The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of cats’ recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. --Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Partial digital amputation is so horrible that it has been employed for torture of prisoners of war, and in veterinary medicine, the clinical procedure serves as model of severe pain for testing the efficacy of analgesic drugs. Even though analgesic drugs can be used postoperatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge."

A cat’s claws are vital to his physiology, providing protection, balance, and mobility. Cats who find themselves outdoors without claws are virtually defenseless.

 

[thistle]

CCC 2416 Animals are God’s creatures. He surrounds them with his providential care. By their mere existence they bless him and give him glory. Thus men owe them kindness. We should recall the gentleness with which saints like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Philip Neri treated animals.

CCC 2417 God entrusted animals to the stewardship of those whom he created in his own image. Hence it is legitimate to use animals for food and clothing. They may be domesticated to help man in his work and leisure. **Medical and scientific experimentation on animals is a morally acceptable practice if it remains within reasonable limits and contributes to caring for or saving human lives. **

CCC 2418 It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly. It is likewise unworthy to spend money on them that should as a priority go to the relief of human misery. One can love animals; one should not direct to them the affection due only to persons.

 

[MSParrott]

Okay, so I know how the Church feels about sterilization for people and I can guess what they think about cosmetic surgery for people.

That being said, is it morally acceptable to have your pets spayed or nuetered? How about declawed? What about having their tails and ears clipped?

I am not one of those people who put animals on the same level as humans, to me they are somewhere slightly above coffee tables or stand mixers.

But I wonder if the Church considers it cruel or unnatural to have your pets fixed. Any resources on this subject?

Wow! Thanks for posting this! I have been wondering the same thing (about getting animals fixed) and kept meaning to ask it, but never did.

 

[OneAugustKnight]

I have to disagree with the previous poster;
Dr. Nicholas Dodman, author of “The Cat Who Cried for Help,” has this to say about declawing:

The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of cats’ recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. --Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Partial digital amputation is so horrible that it has been employed for torture of prisoners of war, and in veterinary medicine, the clinical procedure serves as model of severe pain for testing the efficacy of analgesic drugs. Even though analgesic drugs can be used postoperatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge."

A cat’s claws are vital to his physiology, providing protection, balance, and mobility. Cats who find themselves outdoors without claws are virtually defenseless.

I’d hope some vets will chime in to confirm or deny this. My vet disagrees about the recovery, balance, and mobility. But I understand he could be wrong.

thistle and Dale,

I appreciate those excerpts. I think this is one of the most clearly answered questions I have had about the Church so far.

 

[Newbie2]

A cat’s claws are vital to his physiology, providing protection, balance, and mobility.

Well, you’re entitled to your opinion.

OK, I’ve been in small animal practice for 19 years. I don’t want to turn this into a cat declaw/anti-cat declaw debate, because people can fall passionately on both sides of the issue and frequently speak from their emotions rather than from facts. A large majority of veterinarians do not have problems with declawing cats, only a small (vocal) minority do.

In any case, neutering has both preventive value of both reproductive and cancer aspects.

That’s the medical stuff…

…morally, it’s OK to neuter, since we are providing a benefit to these animals.

Declawing is certainly questionable, in a moral aspect:

1. Automatically declawing every cat is morally suspect.
2. Declawing per owner request (leather chairs getting ruined, etc.)
   is morally OK, provided the alternative is going to a shelter or
   getting tossed out on a road. Declawing older cats (over a
   year of age), there has to be a good reason, like the cat will be
   euthanized by it’s owner…“death vs. declaw”.

Tail docking and ear cropping for purely asthetic reasons is coming under fire in the veterinary community. Very few veterinarians that I know, including myself, will perform these. In my opinion, these procedures will eventually be considered morally objectionable by most veterinarians in the near future, if not presently.

BTW, a comment on breeders…it always bugs me that people will solicit medical advice from breeders. Now, there are good breeders and bad breeders, and everything inbetween. However, there are no credentials for being a breeder. *** Anyone ***can call themselves a breeder. Good breeders respond to medical questions by their customers by referring them to a veterinarian, who IS qualified to answer such questions.

Do yourself a favor…don’t ask breeders medical questions. Years of “experience” as a breeder does not qualify one to give proper medical advice.

 

[Catholic90]

I have to disagree with the previous poster;
Dr. Nicholas Dodman, author of “The Cat Who Cried for Help,” has this to say about declawing:

The inhumanity of the procedure is clearly demonstrated by the nature of cats’ recovery from anesthesia following the surgery. Unlike routine recoveries, including recovery from neutering surgeries, which are fairly peaceful, declawing surgery results in cats bouncing off the walls of the recovery cage because of excruciating pain. --Declawing fits the dictionary definition of mutilation to a tee. Words such as deform, disfigure, disjoint, and dismember all apply to this surgery. Partial digital amputation is so horrible that it has been employed for torture of prisoners of war, and in veterinary medicine, the clinical procedure serves as model of severe pain for testing the efficacy of analgesic drugs. Even though analgesic drugs can be used postoperatively, they rarely are, and their effects are incomplete and transient anyway, so sooner or later the pain will emerge."

A cat’s claws are vital to his physiology, providing protection, balance, and mobility. Cats who find themselves outdoors without claws are virtually defenseless.

Well, as the property of a little kitten (5 months old) who I recently had declawed, I have to disagree with this person who says they “bounce off the walls due to pain”.

I was fully prepared that he would be in pain. I warned the boys to be gentle and cautioned them he would be stepping gingerly for awhile.

Ha! Was I wrong! Within an hour of picking him up from the vet, he had demolished an entire bowl of kitten food. Then he decided to chase on of his toys across the kitchen floor, bashing into my legs repeatedly as usual as I prepared dinner. Then he spied the resident older cat and decided to stalk and attack her…repeatedly…until the older cat had had enough and swatted him down. The he jumped up on the counter to inspect my dinner preparations, trying to steal a piece of meat or 2. Later in the evening, after a nap, he jumped down from the couch onto the floor (I expected a yowl or at least limping following that) only to again race across to the floor to once again attack the older cat.

It has been 2 weeks since his declawing. It has not slowed him down one bit. It HAS decreased the number of scratches and bandaids used by humans, though. I no longer cringe in fear as he goes from sweetly rubbing his face against mine to batting my nose with his paw, as I know there won’t be claws attached dangerously close to my eyes (he scratched me several times on my face prior to the declawing). He also cannot pull his body up our screen door any longer, draw blood from anyone, or snag his claws on our furniture.

 

[CarrieH]

Well, as the property of a little kitten (5 months old) who I recently had declawed, I have to disagree with this person who says they “bounce off the walls due to pain”.

Your kitten did OK, partly due to his small size, and I’m glad it worked out for you. But this isn’t always the case. I know someone whose cat’s feet were so tender that when she used the litter box the first time right after being declawed, the coarsely-textured litter on her fresh wounds caused much pain and left a lasting impression. Kitty associated the pain with the box, not her feet, and refused to use the box for a long time. And several people have reported that their declawed cats tend to bite. That would make sense, because the cat’s first line of defense has been literally cut away. I have never had anything more serious than a “love-nip” from any of my cats, although I have been scratched a few times. If the humans in the household are getting scratched on a routine basis, perhaps some training in “cat-psychology” would help. Many people don’t know how to read signs of aggression in cats, esp. if they are inexperienced owners. If the cat starts to show these signs and you don’t leave it in peace to cool off, you** will** get scratched and/or bitten.

I don’t know if I would change my mind about declawing if I had small children in the house. But I do know that I would exhaust the other options before I would do that to my feline friends.

 

[LeahInancsi]

I’ve gotten the impression that the Church has no regard for pets at all. Considering the high cost of veterinarians, it’s easy get the feeling that those in the Church would prefer that money spent on pets should be donated to the Church instead.

Several times, I’ve mentioned the thousands of dollars I’ve spent on my animals over the years and Catholics seem to be the most horrified.

My pets are my most precious possessions.

 

[Renton405]

St Francis of Assisi is a great example on the rights of animals and how they should be treated…
Hurting and killing animals in my opinion is almost worse than hurting humans. Because most animals and pets are innocent and helpless and cannot fight back…

I really hope animals go to heaven and we can see our pets in heaven when we die… I love my 4 cats so much and are wonderful companions to have in our lives…While humans are made in the image of God animals are part of God’s creation and deserve just as much respect.

 

[Catholic90]

St Francis of Assisi is a great example on the rights of animals and how they should be treated…
Hurting and killing animals in my opinion is almost worse than hurting humans. Because most animals and pets are innocent and helpless and cannot fight back…

Hunting for food is not a sin! Eating meat is not a sin! (Where do you think that hamburger comes from??) By not hunting deer, the population spirals out of control and then animals die from starvation, disease, and car hits. What is worse - a starving deer or a cleanly shot one?

I really hope animals go to heaven and we can see our pets in heaven when we die… I love my 4 cats so much and are wonderful companions to have in our lives…While humans are made in the image of God animals are part of God’s creation and deserve just as much respect.

God made the animals, but Humans have dominion over them. There are absolutely not equal in any way, shape, or form!

I also believe if God wants us to see our pets in heaven, they will be there in some fashion. However, they are still not human’s equals!