The GTHS Animal Hospital staff was thrilled to host Dr. Gitte Fenger on Monday, November 18th when she came in to mentor our very own Dr. Anick Amaro.
Dr. Fenger has been a member of the Paw Project Team since 2015 (if you haven’t seen the Paw Project documentary, make sure you do – watch it on iTunes , Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, YouTube) and has been an influential voice against the practice of declawing. When Dr. Fenger isn’t busy advocating for the kitties, she runs her own veterinary practice (along with her husband) in Mississauga.
When declawed, some cats will have left over fragments of bone on the tip of their digits which causes pain and, in turn, inappropriate urination outside of the litter box. This past Monday, GTHS Animal Hospital Veterinarian Dr. Amaro assisted Dr. Fenger on an onychectomy repair (declaw repair which removes the fragments and repairs the location of the toe pad to reduce/alleviate the pain). This is a relatively new procedure in the world of veterinary medicine and was introduced as a way to keep cats in their home by way of reducing pain and thereby eliminating the likelihood of urination outside of the litter box. Freddie, the cat who underwent the surgery, was the first cat to receive this procedure in an Ontario shelter! Globally, only approximately 300 onychectomy repairs have been done to date!
We’d like to thank Dr. Fenger for lending her expertise to us and bringing this groundbreaking surgery to the GTHS Animal Hospital!
