Steer clear of Marty the Loser

Hells teeth! This bloke takes a bit of beating. On that stinking horrible site that demonstrates the instrument of torture known as Clearview Laser Declaw Assistant there are two testimonials. One is from a Dr Cohen from Cincinnati who gushes "The time and effort saved using the Clear View laser declaw assistant make it a valuable tool."
And the other is from a Dr Martin Losey from Winter Haven, Florida who says "Allowed us to free up a technician during the procedure, who was no longer needed to hold the leg". Oh yeah the leg is held up for him to do his dirty deed by the horrible wooden frame with the hook embedded in it. The technician can use the time saved to prepare the next victim for the conveyor belt declawing procedure, the quicker the better, he’s got to make the money back for his equipment.
But from three comments on this site which invites reviews of animal hospitals in Winter Haven http://www.insiderpages.com/s/FL/WinterHaven/AnimalHospitals it seems that Dr Losey is to be avoided at all costs.
The first review is entitled THINK ABOUT THIS VET BEFORE YOU GO THERE and says “If you use this vet you really need to reconsider if YOU LOVE YOUR DOG OR CAT, he really is not a good vet, he tried to do a un-necessary surgery on my dog that he was just guessing at and never did the proper lab work to find out what was wrong. I DO NOT AND REALLY MEAN DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS IDIOT TO ANYONE.” Posted 06/10/09 This person gave him a rating of 1 out of 5, there wasn’t an option to give zero or I think he’d have got it from her.

The second review is titled “Heard bad things too” and says “I have always heard bad things about this place and also I heard that the wife is not very nice at all, matter of fact I overheard a young girl that works there talking about how much she can't stand her and that she is very hard to work for, I am so glad I never went there after reading this” Posted 06/10/09 this was a 1 out of 5 too.
The third comment is this “Thank you for your review I'm sorry to hear about your dog, but I'm glad I'm not the only one with problems with this so called vet, I had my dog in there just for normal shots and was told that his prostrate was enlarged and he needed to be neutered right away or he would get cancer, I took him to a real vet and was told that his prostrate was NORMAL in size and the dog was ok. That man should not be practicing any more. I have heard sssoooo many things bad about them now I know, I would never recommend him to anyone!!!!” Posted 06/13/09 again 1 out of 5 for the rating.

Now isn’t it a horrible thought that someone who has attracted such bad comments, particularly the first and last ones, is performing declawing procedures on cats, probably every day.

This is what he says about himself: “I treat all my clients' pets like "fur" children. Many owners children have grown up and moved away leaving the pet behind for the parents to care for them.” and he says this around the time of his 30-year in practice party “Veterinary medicine has always been my love..It never gets boring.”

Correct me if if I’m wrong but I really don’t think this chap would amputate the finger and toes ends of children, and I’m damned if I think their Grannies and Grandads would allow it either! So what’s all this guff about fur children, and if he’s been in practice for over 30 years then he should sod off and retire and take his Clearview Laser Assistant with him, oh yes I just bet he DOES love the dosh he makes, and the new and more gruesome apparatus he gets to aid himself will provide endless entertainment for his savage habits.

Here’s the blurb about him
Dr. J. Martin Losey II DVM opened Losey Animal Hospital in 1977, after attending the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medine. Our primary interest is in small animal medicine and surgery. We have a well equipped lab for fast,easy results; a cutting and therapy laser for stifle/knee surgery which aids in faster recovery of your pet. Laser surgery makes declaws, neuters and spays faster, bloodless and less painfull for your pets. Losey Animal hospital has always been on the cutting edge of medicine for your pets ,as well as giving family like quality to our clients. We recently celebrated our 32nd anniversery of excellant pet care. My staff and myself would be pleased to care for your furry friends.

There he goes, “laser surgery makes declaws (neuters an spays) faster, bloodless and less painful.” LESS painful…why should they be in pain at all? They should never even be in the theatre having their toes amputated. And the final sentence “my staff and myself would be pleased to care for your furry friends” is just creepy, it makes me think of a pantomime undertaker standing smiling and rubbing his hands together while sizing you up for a coffin. He can’t spell excellent either!

Here’s his list of “services” I use the word services very loosely. And I think those three reviewers would agree.
Small Animals
Boarding
Surgery
Spay / Neuter
Declaw
Euthanasia
Microchip
Dentistry
Ultrasound
Laser Surgery
On-Site Pharmacy
Flea Control Program
Dietary Counseling
Behavioral Counseling
On-Site Lab

Home Alone

I know Kattaddorra has already blogged about this subject very capably, but this week I heard some really sad things about cats who’s owners had taken every precaution to leave them safely cared for and still lost them. This made me think all over again about how often people ask the question “Is it Ok to leave my cat alone for x number of days?” And it’s sometimes up to a week that they are thinking of leaving them! How can they be so dense? It is pure selfishness and totally blinkered thinking because of course they want someone to say “Yes it’s fine, leave your cat, go and enjoy yourself”

Here’s Bobby’s story by his mum Tina
“Please say a prayer for my little cat. We arrived home from our holiday, and I immediately rang the cattery - couldn't wait to get my cat home again. Was told he had been taken to the vets that morning while we were travelling home, he was very poorly after an Asthma attack. Rang the vets and was told to go straight away as it didn't look good. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. By the time we got to the vets he was desperate and hanging on to his poor little life. He was in an oxygen tent, suffering, in pain and his breathing was desperate. He was dying. If we hadn't have arrived when we did, they said they would have had to put him to sleep without us. We were just in time to say goodbye. My baby has gone.”

Poor Bobby, poor Tina, and this was a well loved cat who had been left in a cattery, just imagine then if he’d been home alone, with bowls of stale water, food gone off, litter tray dirty and then had an asthma attack. He would have died, in pain and fear alone. This is what could happen, do they care?

Here’s another cat Angus who would have died alone
“We went to Cornwall in March to visit family. On the Thursday before we came back my friend called at 8pm to tell me that my boy Angus had been rushed to the vets in the afternoon and unfortunately he had passed away. It is bad enough when it happens when you are there for them but when you are not there, it is worse. I felt really bad for my friend having to go through all that for me, but I know he was well looked after during his last few hours.”

Luckily the friends were there to care for Angus, but who would have rushed him to the vet if he’d been locked in and left by himself, no one and he would have lain dead until his mum came and found him.


This one shows that even asking a friend to care for your cat doesn’t guarantee he/she will be safe
“That happened to me a few years ago I had a friend look in and feed my cat only to come home for her to say she hadn’t seen my cat for 2 days but didn’t phone me, so I went round all the neighbours houses to see if she was accidentally locked in a shed my adjoining neighbour told me to go to someone’s house, she told me the cat walked into her garage crawled under her cupboard to sleep said it looked ill, she phoned the RSPCA as she didn’t know whose cat it was so they took her away and put her to sleep I went all over Oxfordshire to find my cat to bring her home to bury. After being given the run around eventually found her & met the RSPCA man at a service station on a hot day like today, came home to be sickened they’d only left a pigeon, mouse etc in with her, and maggots I was not happy ...eventually buried her”
Frankly I would have killed the friend; I notice she said “I had a friend”, sometimes those who would leave their cats say "he has a cat flap", but who would be there to notice if he left by way of the cat flap and never returned.... This poast doesn'r say much for the efficiency of the RSPCA either, but that is old news, sadly they are pretty useless, except for asking for donations.

And finally Prudence
“The same thing happened to us 5 yrs ago my beloved Prudence had a stroke and was in the vets when we returned from holiday. She was 18yrs and extremely intelligent she had hung on for us I am sure. I have never heard anything like the sound she made when we arrived and feel sure to this day that she was trying to talk to me. She had to be put to sleep and it broke my heart I will miss her forever.”

Imagine Prudence locked in, alone, in the dark, scared, dirty probably and finally.... dead.

I wish I could understand what makes people tick, what makes them think that cats can be neglected for up to a week at a time just so they can go away and enjoy themselves?

These three cat mums are obviously very upset, I wonder what they would say to someone considering abandoning their cat at home – alone.