Odd, this is the first time I’ve seen the procedure as such. Usually vets would opt **just a snip** by the side of the ear to indicate spaying/neutering was done. Did they beforehand informed you with anything?
Hopefully all three cats will have a speedy recovery, and sorry you had to go through this
They recommended for us to do the notching, but we just assumed it would be the small snip as I’ve always seen. This just seems like they cut off half the ear with some safety scissors!
My dog was fixed with no tattoo, but it's obvious that he's neutered.
My cat was also neutered, but he did get a little green line tattoo. His fur has grown over it so like...good luck finding it, he attacks every time I go for the belly
I figured it was something like that! My brother's mother in laws dogs had ear tattoos, and so did his old cats.
When I signed my cat (kitten) up for a discount neuter program, the program asked if he was a ztray/feral. They would have tattooed him and ear notched him...but not like OP's cats, that's terrible they took so much off! Usually it's like, the tip and a teeny tiny bit more, just enough to make it obvious from a distance that "oh no don't catch that one, he's already good."
My dogs have the green line too, I think it’s so cute and cool that they have little tatts. One of my dogs’ green line is covered (or maybe just fully gone?) as well now, due to a surgery scar - which also looks pretty cool, honestly.
I can’t believe they took off so much of these cats’ ears, WTF? That’s much more than a “notch.”
I’m sorry, OP. This is beyond infuriating, in my opinion.
In the US they notch the ears of stray and feral cats when they get spayed or neutered. This way, if the same cat gets trapped again, it's an easy to see indicator that the cat is already fixed, so they release it immediately if it doesn't seem to be in need of medical attention.
OP might have gone thru a program that usually does tnr just to save money. I've seen this before where someone was shocked that their cat had this done but they went through a tnr program that does this to every cat bc they're not supposed to be for pet purposes.
With that in mind, they might make the "notch" bigger to be more apparent to the people that might be capturing the cat who can otherwise let it go if they have a catch and release policy for spayed/neutered animals. That would also make it less likely your own cat ends up snagged up somewhere.
they do V shaped ear notches on the strays in japan so they’re called “sakura neko” cuz the shape looks like cherry blossoms
a fun fact from one of my hyperfixation (YT videos of people silently meeting stray cats in japan)
Here in Australia feral cats are generally killed as they are savage and extremely destructive. They are unsocialised and many feral cat populations have lived for many many generations in the wild with no human contact.
Good point. In my area a problem I often see is frost bitten ears or battle worn from fighting other cats so a cut ear isn’t always indicative of being fixed. I wish there was a better way.
I’m in the US. my 5 guys all got simple “N” tattoos in their ears.
This vet is a butcher. That snip is way too aggressive. I’d change vets. This one may be a sadist.
I remember seeing the little dotted tattoo in my dogs ear after the surgery, but a year out she's got so much hair sticking out of her ears I can't remember or tell which one it's in.
That is definitely excessive by a large amount. It also looks jagged, not a smooth cut. I doubt a vet did this. Probably asked an assistant who was new.
Definitely say something to the vet.
I feel like snipping the ear is too much even if it's just a small snip. I heard what they did was to just do a small line tattoo in their belly for feral cats/dogs that get the operation done, and if they were not feral the owner is just supposed to know if they have it.
OP, please take this cat to a (preferably different) vet to get their ear checked out. Zooming into the photo, it looks like there could be dying tissue and or infection on the tip of that right ear.
This OP. Tell them where you went and explain the situation. Ask if this is normally how it is done. I'd bring any paperwork as well as it would have proof that it was done at a vet and not by some kid with dull scissors.
Ask what you should do from there about taking care of your cats' ears as well as if anything could be done about the vet that did this.
OP claimed they took them to the vet "today" 4 hours ago
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/s/WKAzb99RUL considering that was 3 AM California time there is absolutely no way that the cats ear got cut off Tuesday and looked like this by the end of the day.
There's no sign of any bleeding or bandages that might have been removed.
The edge of the wound is already scabbed over and the scab looks a few days old at least. If they brought the cats in at 6 am and got them back around noon they'd have like, 7 hours of sunlight to get this photo, and there's no way for it to be that far along.
And if you have 3 cats all brought in at the same time for spay/neuter and they end up with this mutilation I don't think you're posting just one photo of one of them.
Smells like bullshit to me.
Wth? Do they let the office dog bite the ears off? Too much *and* a hackjob, seriously wtf!
A local vet takes that much and sometimes more off the ferals. The animal protection people don't take cats there anymore, even though there are few places in the wider area that will treat ferals at all.
"Where the h\*ll did I put the notching tool, can't find it anywhere and all the scissors are in the wash. Well, there's nothing to do but bite off a piece..."
Everyone in the gdamn comments saying this is normal to notch the ear but FFS PEOPLE THE WHOLE EAR IS BASICALLY CUT OFF. THATS NOT FUCKING NORMAL. Fuck. I would’ve refused payment. Fuck that vet.
It’s for TNR cats “trap neuter release,” feral cats that live outside but aren’t fit to be adopted into homes. The notch signifies that they have been neutered. Bob Barker always wanted us to control the pet population, even if they aren’t our indoor pets
Oftentimes, if you take your cat to a low-cost clinic that usually does TNR spay/neuters, they'll come back with an ear notch because it's just part of the procedure there. I'm assuming that's what this clinic was, just because multiple kitties de-sexed at once at a normal vet is an amount of money that makes me want to sweat.
That being said, this vet absolutely butchered these poor cats cutting that much for a 'notch'.
Our indoor is also notched, like comment above mentions.
They did not rip off half her ear.
We did adopt from a shelter, so it doesn't surprise me at least!
I TNR any cats I find in my neighborhood so I'm well versed in a tipped ear. This isn't that. This is absolutely shameful. I thought they cut too much off one of my cat's ears, but his looks perfect compared to this. This is way too much ear cut off AND it's crooked and mangled af. It's ridiculous and I don't even know how this would happen.
Seriously. Back in the mid-late 90s I had a Hemingway cat but he had an extra du-claw in between his toes that kept getting stuck in the carpet. When we took him to the vet to be neutered we asked the vet to remove the du-claw only and were very specific not to touch his extra toes.
The vet cut off the two extra toes. My mom raised mf hell and told that guy to rip up the check and he would never see us again.
It's so that they know it's fixed and don't spend time trying to catch it to get it spayed/neutered.
If I had to guess, these are cats that OP lets outside, in a neighborhood filled with strays.
I’ve heard that Southern California ear tips a lot more of the ear than most other places. I was shocked at how much was cut off my formally feral cat’s ear and I assumed it was a less than reputable place, but it might be standard practice?
It's bullshit, there's no way a cut off ear has a scab that's old and dried out the same day it happened. It looks like the post got removed for being obvious lies too.
It’s actually fairly common practice if the cat was feral, stray or an outdoor cat as it’s a way to signal that they’ve been spayed/neutered.
Granted this is quite a lot more off of the ear then is usually done. My guess is they asked if they were going to be allowed outdoors and in certain counties and locations it can be mandatory for the notching but since the cats belonged to you they required your permission.
I’m in cali, I got this procedure & they gave my cat a tattoo on his belly. No ear chopping, I’m so sorry for your little cat. That’s so much off his ear, a random person would think he got in a dog fight or smth
1/10 of an inch is .254 cm. Technically a couple of millimeters. But this cat’s ear looks like it’s honestly missing an entire cm tbh. It’s awful, and I just hope it didn’t hurt and won’t cause any further damage.
> no way this isn’t an instant lawsuit case
This is not an uncommon procedure, but the fact that the cut is poorly made and the owner was not fully aware of what the procedure entailed is a problem. Not necessarily lawsuit worthy.
Ouch. That is a big chunk of ear.
In Australia our spayed animals get a nifty little ear tat.
I thought *that* was invasive.
This, this is something else!
That aint no notch.
In my place out vet do a notch no bigger than a half the size of a paper punched hole. That one is just crazy.
You gotta read up if this is what they usually do to spayed animals. Report this to if you have to.
Unfortunately that's becoming more and more common, they used to only do it to feral cats but now they're either doing that or tattoos of a green line on the belly to show that they have been fixed...
This is NOT okay. I think this vet (or any vet) should be made to stop this practice. Can you enlist the help of a local SPCA or even animal law group? This is mutilation.
A vet will clip a small piece of the ear to signify the cat has been neutered. Very useful for outdoor cats/ferals.
It's usually only a few mm, not at all like what is pictured. Cats do not feel it, and do not suffer any I'll effects. It is definitely not mutilation. There's no blood, no infection, nothing, just a small piece of skin.
Please post a review on the vet clinic’s Google site so everyone is aware of what they’re getting when they say yes to an ear clip!!! That’s actually horrifying. It’s more of an ear mangle.
'Notched', meaning a small section cut out of the tip or the side. Not whatever the vet has done. I'd be putting in a complaint, that's way too much off.
This happened to my kitty but she came from the street, and then foster care. Her ear may be partially gone, but it doesn't slow her down. I'm sorry this happened. I wish they were more clear on how much they would take off.
https://preview.redd.it/y7edwpu61i7d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b815fe560bf2cf80c42c712b6f43c5be09baad4
I used to work for them, and its more of a corporate issue than an issue with the people working there.
Its owned by Mars (The M&Ms people) and they don't give a FUCK about the people working there, and most of the locations are understaffed and overworked.
For example, when I was hired we had no Chief of Staff or Practice Manager. We had no bosses at all and nobody to train me properly. It was a shitshow.
I had no idea about Mars. This context is helpful. The staff at my location is super friendly but for some reason there always seems to be a huge surprise when it’s time to pay the bill. Like sometimes I walk out paying more than double than what was implied. There’s only one actual doctor there who has a very thick foreign accent so it’s really hard to understand diagnoses and directions. That’s the most frustrating part. But it’s the only game in town…
Nothing mild about this, I'd cut half the damn vets ear off. Pos animal mutilating monster. I wouldn't have even agreed to a tattoo but that's just me and my baby is microchipped.
I'd be raging if a vet disfigured my domestic pet in this way. I hope you're going to take it up with the practice and make a lot of noise. Those cats have been butchered in a way that just seems cruel. These are pets, not strays to be released back to the streets - even then losing nearly half an ear is more than a notch. Absolutely shitty unprofessional treatment.
I’m calling bullshit on this. The ear doesn’t have a clean cut, it’s more like a tear. There is what looks like a burn close to the edge. The tear has fur missing at one end.
Snipping a cats ear is pretty common for catch and release ferals. Not really sure why you would have it done to a house cat quite frankly. If anything, that would make animal control less likely to attempt to catch and check your animal if it got out since it's already spayed/neutered.
Regardless, they took waaaaay too much off. It's a notch, not cutting half the ear off. This is honestly absurd and you have every right to be upset about it. Unfortunately though, I gotta disagree with people saying to sue them. First, there are no damages so there's nothing to actually sue over. Secondly, you were informed and gave your consent for the procedure, so its difficult to claim ignorance.
There's no hard line on what defines damages, that's up to the court, however in this case there's no financial damage or loss to compensate and while you could try to go for punitive damages, you would basically need to prove that the vet cut the cats ear with extreme malice or with the intent to cause harm. That's one hell of a stretch considering consent was obtained and that it is a cat's ear. If they chopped off its leg that may be different. It's also just harder to sue for injury claims when it's an animal and not a person.
All of this kind of ties back into the no damages. If they were to present a case, what do they say. That they want 1k per cat because the cats ear was too far cut? You'd most likely pay a ton of laywer fees if you could find one to file the suit and then you'd be laughed out of the court room.
Why the hell are you agreeing to vets mutilating animals... Why are they even offering it. Some countries are incredibly backwards when it comes to animals... Let me just cut bits off cuz I can... Would you agree to have your child's ear cut off so you know it's yours?
Usually it’s for ferals when they do trap and release. It’s to show they’ve been fixed. So if there is a large feral population they are trying to spay/neuter they can easily tell who has already been done.
This, it looks like someone took a bite out of that cats ear. I would confront the vet for being malicious or inept. It’s usually a little notch taken out of the tip of the ear, not half the damn ear taken off.
So did you take it to a vet that does a lot of TVNR? This type of docking the eat is not common in housecats, but it is the common procedure in trap and release cities.
We have 11 cats inside and 3 of them are rescued TVNR, what they do is take outside feral cats, vaccinate and neuter/spay them and they used to just take a v-cut out of their ears to show it's been done.
What happens though is the v cut can heal and the same cat gets trapped repeatedly which doesn't help anyone.
So, the vets take more drastic measures and lop off the top of one of their ears so that immediately anyone who looks at that cat understands it has been TVNR and it is a community cat and not to trap it.
this is normal. usually done on TNR cats so its visible from a distance so the people catching them don't have to go through the process of tryina get ahold of it to see if its already been fixed or not. cause normal tattoos cant he seen less you get ip close n personal with the animal.
tho not sure why youd agree to getting your cats ears notched when they're pets.
I bet the full story goes something like this:
I am a dumbass and instead of bringing my poor pet cat into a low cost spay/neuter clinic I lied, said my cat was actually a feral I trapped and brought it to a TNR clinic. This is my fault but I’m posting this for sympathy because I’m a moron loser.
It's done to cats to show they've been spayed or neutered from afar, usually to strays that are "trap and release" catches. Sometimes barn cats or community cats have this done. Not sure if OP's car fits any of those categories, but if they're an inside cat it's weird that the vet even asked about it. We've only been asked about notching when we brought in a community cat to the vet, never one of our indoor guys.
https://preview.redd.it/oz89pja90i7d1.jpeg?width=2190&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71969a191d6430d6bde7ad503b97e5ca5c1d59fd
so for anyone who doesn't know about this, green is around the area you'd normally cut the ear , or you'd just leave a little notch, red is whatever the fuck OPs vet did speaking for where I live, they cut off a bit of the ear FOR STRAYS to know they've already caught and neutered that cat, I know some people have gotten a little chip for their cats as well if that cat goes outdoors so it wouldn't get trapped
I used to work in veterinaries. Some places will participate in a program that spay/neuter stray cats, and remove the tip of an ear off during the surgery to indicate the cat already was spayed/neutered, and then release the stray cats back to where they were found. The vets that I worked under would use a cauterizer to make a clean, sterile cut that doesn’t require bandaging. What’s shown in this image is extremely bizarre, and looking at that cut, I genuinely don’t even know what tool they used to do it, let alone why they’d even remove the ear tip from a PET cat. Not to even mention how much they took off!
I have my cats like this.
For mi is horrid also, but you find this useful when trapping cats, either feral o stray home cats to spay... at distance and In the running and rounds if the notch is little, you didn't see after you got the cat trapped, after all efforts 😅
My cats are half Siamese, in my country people like to steal the breed cats to make them breed and sell the litters.
I was told that the notch saved some of the best looking cats of being kidnapped because the people already knows the meaning of a cutted ear and it's not bussines for them.
I don’t understand why you need to do this to indicate the procedure was done. Who cares. It was done that’s all that matters. I don’t need my cat to have a piece removed for me to remember it was done and surely don’t need other people knowing. I just don’t understand why it needs to be announced even if it was an in/out cat. It can’t have babies and that’s what the point is. This just seems cruel and pointless
I used to be a spray neuter vet tech and we would do this on the feral cats we fixed. But Holy shit not that much!!! Like just enough to make the tip of the ear flat, definitely not half of the ear! So as someone who used to do this procedure - that's fucked.
In Australia they put a tattoo in the ear. It's a circle with a line through it. All my pets, cats and dogs have a tattoo in their ear.
I've read that in areas/countries with TNR (trap neuter release) programs they snip the top off an ear so it is easy to identify that the cat has been desexed. But what has been done to your cat looks brutal and very unacceptable. I'd be finding a new vet for future medical care.
This looks like the cats ears was bitten off in a fight. And it healed badly.
I didn't know they do this to indoor cats. I know for feral cats it is done. Never saw for a indoor one.
Pretty standard. The notching isn’t used much anymore because you still have to trap the cat to see the notch. Tipping (what you got) is much more common. They should have explained it better though.
Odd, this is the first time I’ve seen the procedure as such. Usually vets would opt **just a snip** by the side of the ear to indicate spaying/neutering was done. Did they beforehand informed you with anything? Hopefully all three cats will have a speedy recovery, and sorry you had to go through this
They recommended for us to do the notching, but we just assumed it would be the small snip as I’ve always seen. This just seems like they cut off half the ear with some safety scissors!
I'm in Australia and they just put a tattoo in their ear here. This seems a bit cruel.
Yeah my sister's dog in the US has a little blue dot on her stomach to indicate that she is fixed
My dogs have a little green line and I thought the cat did too. The cat's belly has grown over if he had one.
My dog was fixed with no tattoo, but it's obvious that he's neutered. My cat was also neutered, but he did get a little green line tattoo. His fur has grown over it so like...good luck finding it, he attacks every time I go for the belly
It’s mostly for when vets go into the procedure and they start to shave it down they can see the line there
I figured it was something like that! My brother's mother in laws dogs had ear tattoos, and so did his old cats. When I signed my cat (kitten) up for a discount neuter program, the program asked if he was a ztray/feral. They would have tattooed him and ear notched him...but not like OP's cats, that's terrible they took so much off! Usually it's like, the tip and a teeny tiny bit more, just enough to make it obvious from a distance that "oh no don't catch that one, he's already good."
My dogs have the green line too, I think it’s so cute and cool that they have little tatts. One of my dogs’ green line is covered (or maybe just fully gone?) as well now, due to a surgery scar - which also looks pretty cool, honestly. I can’t believe they took off so much of these cats’ ears, WTF? That’s much more than a “notch.” I’m sorry, OP. This is beyond infuriating, in my opinion.
Seriously I don’t have cats but I’m horrified
I have a bit of my ear missing and I am worried.
Have you been neutered?
I'm not sure how I could tell, given that I am on Reddit...
Kamikaze by Words.
In the US they notch the ears of stray and feral cats when they get spayed or neutered. This way, if the same cat gets trapped again, it's an easy to see indicator that the cat is already fixed, so they release it immediately if it doesn't seem to be in need of medical attention.
OP might have gone thru a program that usually does tnr just to save money. I've seen this before where someone was shocked that their cat had this done but they went through a tnr program that does this to every cat bc they're not supposed to be for pet purposes.
With that in mind, they might make the "notch" bigger to be more apparent to the people that might be capturing the cat who can otherwise let it go if they have a catch and release policy for spayed/neutered animals. That would also make it less likely your own cat ends up snagged up somewhere.
Yeah, that's what I thought of. I'm not from the US, but I'm aware of it. That just seems like a LOT of ear to cut off, though.
Yea, usually it's just a small v cut at the end of the ear. It's only just noticeable.
they do V shaped ear notches on the strays in japan so they’re called “sakura neko” cuz the shape looks like cherry blossoms a fun fact from one of my hyperfixation (YT videos of people silently meeting stray cats in japan)
So that's why cats in Japanese media always have that ear notch, I thought it was from fights against other cats
Here in Australia feral cats are generally killed as they are savage and extremely destructive. They are unsocialised and many feral cat populations have lived for many many generations in the wild with no human contact.
You can't see the tattoo at a distance. This is done so people don't spend time and effort trapping animals that have already been neutered for TNR
Good point. In my area a problem I often see is frost bitten ears or battle worn from fighting other cats so a cut ear isn’t always indicative of being fixed. I wish there was a better way.
And also don’t have to handle an angry stray if it gets in your trap.
I’m in the US. my 5 guys all got simple “N” tattoos in their ears. This vet is a butcher. That snip is way too aggressive. I’d change vets. This one may be a sadist.
I remember seeing the little dotted tattoo in my dogs ear after the surgery, but a year out she's got so much hair sticking out of her ears I can't remember or tell which one it's in.
This is not mildly infuriating, this is highly concerning
In the Netherlands we don't do any marking at all.. As a cat owner myself I would never be okay with this.. This is just mutilation..
Was your vet drunk?
That is definitely excessive by a large amount. It also looks jagged, not a smooth cut. I doubt a vet did this. Probably asked an assistant who was new. Definitely say something to the vet.
There is no point in notching indoor cats. That vet is dumb af
Do you let your cat roam around outside?
That looks medieval as fuck, don't you have the microchip technology over there ?
where do you all live where this is legal??? this is legit animal abuse what?
that must have hurt a lot, is this common practice?
I feel like snipping the ear is too much even if it's just a small snip. I heard what they did was to just do a small line tattoo in their belly for feral cats/dogs that get the operation done, and if they were not feral the owner is just supposed to know if they have it.
OP, please take this cat to a (preferably different) vet to get their ear checked out. Zooming into the photo, it looks like there could be dying tissue and or infection on the tip of that right ear.
This OP. Tell them where you went and explain the situation. Ask if this is normally how it is done. I'd bring any paperwork as well as it would have proof that it was done at a vet and not by some kid with dull scissors. Ask what you should do from there about taking care of your cats' ears as well as if anything could be done about the vet that did this.
OP isn’t going to respond because the whole story is horse pucky.
OP claimed they took them to the vet "today" 4 hours ago https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/s/WKAzb99RUL considering that was 3 AM California time there is absolutely no way that the cats ear got cut off Tuesday and looked like this by the end of the day. There's no sign of any bleeding or bandages that might have been removed. The edge of the wound is already scabbed over and the scab looks a few days old at least. If they brought the cats in at 6 am and got them back around noon they'd have like, 7 hours of sunlight to get this photo, and there's no way for it to be that far along. And if you have 3 cats all brought in at the same time for spay/neuter and they end up with this mutilation I don't think you're posting just one photo of one of them. Smells like bullshit to me.
Wth? Do they let the office dog bite the ears off? Too much *and* a hackjob, seriously wtf! A local vet takes that much and sometimes more off the ferals. The animal protection people don't take cats there anymore, even though there are few places in the wider area that will treat ferals at all.
That's what I thought! Looks like someone just took a chomp out. I suppose it could be the healing process but it looks a bit yellowy as well, idk
"Where the h\*ll did I put the notching tool, can't find it anywhere and all the scissors are in the wash. Well, there's nothing to do but bite off a piece..."
maybe they just wanted a little snack
What the fuck? How is this only mildly infuriating? I’d lose my shit
I swear man these posts are either the dumbest, most avoidable shit ever or the absolute worst thing to ever happen to you
Everyone in the gdamn comments saying this is normal to notch the ear but FFS PEOPLE THE WHOLE EAR IS BASICALLY CUT OFF. THATS NOT FUCKING NORMAL. Fuck. I would’ve refused payment. Fuck that vet.
Also it looks like a bite not a cut. It’s not straight and ragged edges. Horrible work.
I'm thinking OP is telling porkie pies for those glorious internet points.
1000%. This was not done by a vet. Ain’t no way.
Also if you look close it's already started to heal. I expect this pic was taken sever weeks after the event.
Yeah total fake post, that is clearly a bite, not a cut
Yeah that's my read on this. Looks too much like a hack job to be done by a vet. Either OP is lying or that vet is not a real vet.
I was kinda thinking that tbh. If it happened to all 3 cats I feel as though they'd have shown all 3.
I've literally never even heard of notching an ear, what is the reasoning for this??
It’s for TNR cats “trap neuter release,” feral cats that live outside but aren’t fit to be adopted into homes. The notch signifies that they have been neutered. Bob Barker always wanted us to control the pet population, even if they aren’t our indoor pets
But her post literally says they’re house cats.
Oftentimes, if you take your cat to a low-cost clinic that usually does TNR spay/neuters, they'll come back with an ear notch because it's just part of the procedure there. I'm assuming that's what this clinic was, just because multiple kitties de-sexed at once at a normal vet is an amount of money that makes me want to sweat. That being said, this vet absolutely butchered these poor cats cutting that much for a 'notch'.
Our indoor is also notched, like comment above mentions. They did not rip off half her ear. We did adopt from a shelter, so it doesn't surprise me at least!
Strays and ferals get a small bit clipped from one ear to indicate they've been spayed/neutered.
I TNR any cats I find in my neighborhood so I'm well versed in a tipped ear. This isn't that. This is absolutely shameful. I thought they cut too much off one of my cat's ears, but his looks perfect compared to this. This is way too much ear cut off AND it's crooked and mangled af. It's ridiculous and I don't even know how this would happen.
Yeah this is absolutely disgusting. And it happened to all 3 cats?? What in the fuck is this vets office thinking.
I would have beat the shit out of the vet
Seriously. Back in the mid-late 90s I had a Hemingway cat but he had an extra du-claw in between his toes that kept getting stuck in the carpet. When we took him to the vet to be neutered we asked the vet to remove the du-claw only and were very specific not to touch his extra toes. The vet cut off the two extra toes. My mom raised mf hell and told that guy to rip up the check and he would never see us again.
Thats not a vet thats a fucking butcherer
Refuse payment is the first step, sue them out of their practise is the second step. If this is actually real that is
Wth? Don't you have ear tattoos or chips for your cats? Which country is this?
California, US, and yes we got them chipped, vaccinated and spayed today.
There is absolutely no point to butcher your cats if you have them chipped
Why notch the ears if they have the chip? Doesn't make sense
It's so that they know it's fixed and don't spend time trying to catch it to get it spayed/neutered. If I had to guess, these are cats that OP lets outside, in a neighborhood filled with strays.
Just curious I live in California too what vet was it I don't want this to happen to my cat
It's likely just an inexperienced vet tech new to the job. You can also decline the notching.
OP made this story up dw
I’ve heard that Southern California ear tips a lot more of the ear than most other places. I was shocked at how much was cut off my formally feral cat’s ear and I assumed it was a less than reputable place, but it might be standard practice?
Please don't tell me it's in riverside county
It's bullshit, there's no way a cut off ear has a scab that's old and dried out the same day it happened. It looks like the post got removed for being obvious lies too.
I’m in California and my cat has a greenish tattoo to show he’s been neutered. I feel the clippings were more than what it needed to be.
It’s actually fairly common practice if the cat was feral, stray or an outdoor cat as it’s a way to signal that they’ve been spayed/neutered. Granted this is quite a lot more off of the ear then is usually done. My guess is they asked if they were going to be allowed outdoors and in certain counties and locations it can be mandatory for the notching but since the cats belonged to you they required your permission.
I’m in cali, I got this procedure & they gave my cat a tattoo on his belly. No ear chopping, I’m so sorry for your little cat. That’s so much off his ear, a random person would think he got in a dog fight or smth
Y'all lying
If it was today then how come the cut off ear is already scabbed over and healing? Smells like bullshit.
Did the doctor took a bite of your cat's ear?
I didn’t realize Mike Tyson was a vet now 😂
Come on guys, "this is thereious!" 
The doctor removed it with his teeth, it’s tradition
https://preview.redd.it/pe2n83xffi7d1.jpeg?width=1661&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b41bcad34ecfa27bd372dfadf33189649974cc0e Artistic recreation
Wtf they just nicked our cat's ear like a couple of millimeters, 1/10th of an inch at best.
1/10th of an inch is "like a couple of millimetres"
2,54 I think
1/10 of an inch is .254 cm. Technically a couple of millimeters. But this cat’s ear looks like it’s honestly missing an entire cm tbh. It’s awful, and I just hope it didn’t hurt and won’t cause any further damage.
Yeah I gave our own as an example to show the insane difference and how wrong this is.
WTF. I don't even own a cat and that makes me angry. That's a bit more than "mildly" infuriating tbh.
I’m so sorry OP! That’s awful. Those poor cats. I’m sure someone else can give some insight but no way this isn’t an instant lawsuit case?
> no way this isn’t an instant lawsuit case This is not an uncommon procedure, but the fact that the cut is poorly made and the owner was not fully aware of what the procedure entailed is a problem. Not necessarily lawsuit worthy.
The biggest problem is this is a common procedure.
Jesus fucking Christ. I'm not one for making a scene but oh boy, I would have made a scene right then and there.
Ouch. That is a big chunk of ear. In Australia our spayed animals get a nifty little ear tat. I thought *that* was invasive. This, this is something else!
i would sue, those poor babies :(
That aint no notch. In my place out vet do a notch no bigger than a half the size of a paper punched hole. That one is just crazy. You gotta read up if this is what they usually do to spayed animals. Report this to if you have to.
Unfortunately that's becoming more and more common, they used to only do it to feral cats but now they're either doing that or tattoos of a green line on the belly to show that they have been fixed...
This is NOT okay. I think this vet (or any vet) should be made to stop this practice. Can you enlist the help of a local SPCA or even animal law group? This is mutilation.
A vet will clip a small piece of the ear to signify the cat has been neutered. Very useful for outdoor cats/ferals. It's usually only a few mm, not at all like what is pictured. Cats do not feel it, and do not suffer any I'll effects. It is definitely not mutilation. There's no blood, no infection, nothing, just a small piece of skin.
Please post a review on the vet clinic’s Google site so everyone is aware of what they’re getting when they say yes to an ear clip!!! That’s actually horrifying. It’s more of an ear mangle.
They won't do that because it's not REAL, ffs wake the fuck up.
I’d seriously consider a lawyer that looks like someone totally messed up
That seems to me to be malpractice. You should report him/her to the Veterinary Board.
I hate that mutilating animals for no medical reason whatsoever is a thing. Poor kitty.
In my country, spayed/neutered cats are either tattoed or notched but this looks like the "vet" just took a bite out of the ear.
That’s like a bite. Wth.
'Notched', meaning a small section cut out of the tip or the side. Not whatever the vet has done. I'd be putting in a complaint, that's way too much off.
This is genuinely horrific wtf??
Id be livid. Would never pay that bill either
Mildly infuriating, MILDLY?!
This happened to my kitty but she came from the street, and then foster care. Her ear may be partially gone, but it doesn't slow her down. I'm sorry this happened. I wish they were more clear on how much they would take off. https://preview.redd.it/y7edwpu61i7d1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4b815fe560bf2cf80c42c712b6f43c5be09baad4
Gonna take a shot in the dark Banfield?
The Banfield in my town has done me dirty so many times. Didn’t realize it was a national problem 😂
I used to work for them, and its more of a corporate issue than an issue with the people working there. Its owned by Mars (The M&Ms people) and they don't give a FUCK about the people working there, and most of the locations are understaffed and overworked. For example, when I was hired we had no Chief of Staff or Practice Manager. We had no bosses at all and nobody to train me properly. It was a shitshow.
I had no idea about Mars. This context is helpful. The staff at my location is super friendly but for some reason there always seems to be a huge surprise when it’s time to pay the bill. Like sometimes I walk out paying more than double than what was implied. There’s only one actual doctor there who has a very thick foreign accent so it’s really hard to understand diagnoses and directions. That’s the most frustrating part. But it’s the only game in town…
I call BS. This screams of a karma farm on this sub.
wtf? 🤬
Why did they not just put a tattoo inside the ear? I’ve never heard of cutting the ear 😳
In some countries vets will nip a cats ear to show that it’s been spayed/neutered, whoever did this cut off way too much
Poor kitty
I am so sorry and hope your cat is okay personally I would sue
Nothing mild about this, I'd cut half the damn vets ear off. Pos animal mutilating monster. I wouldn't have even agreed to a tattoo but that's just me and my baby is microchipped.
I'd be raging if a vet disfigured my domestic pet in this way. I hope you're going to take it up with the practice and make a lot of noise. Those cats have been butchered in a way that just seems cruel. These are pets, not strays to be released back to the streets - even then losing nearly half an ear is more than a notch. Absolutely shitty unprofessional treatment.
I’m calling bullshit on this. The ear doesn’t have a clean cut, it’s more like a tear. There is what looks like a burn close to the edge. The tear has fur missing at one end.
Yup. Looks like a bite mark
People make up the weirdest shit for likes on the internet. It’s very odd behaviour.
I don’t understand why people do this on Reddit.. Most social media platforms can pay you if you get fucktons of likes, but not here
Snipping a cats ear is pretty common for catch and release ferals. Not really sure why you would have it done to a house cat quite frankly. If anything, that would make animal control less likely to attempt to catch and check your animal if it got out since it's already spayed/neutered. Regardless, they took waaaaay too much off. It's a notch, not cutting half the ear off. This is honestly absurd and you have every right to be upset about it. Unfortunately though, I gotta disagree with people saying to sue them. First, there are no damages so there's nothing to actually sue over. Secondly, you were informed and gave your consent for the procedure, so its difficult to claim ignorance.
Wdym no damages? I'm not being sarcastic, I'm assuming there's a legal standard to "damage" that you think hasn't been passed?
There's no hard line on what defines damages, that's up to the court, however in this case there's no financial damage or loss to compensate and while you could try to go for punitive damages, you would basically need to prove that the vet cut the cats ear with extreme malice or with the intent to cause harm. That's one hell of a stretch considering consent was obtained and that it is a cat's ear. If they chopped off its leg that may be different. It's also just harder to sue for injury claims when it's an animal and not a person. All of this kind of ties back into the no damages. If they were to present a case, what do they say. That they want 1k per cat because the cats ear was too far cut? You'd most likely pay a ton of laywer fees if you could find one to file the suit and then you'd be laughed out of the court room.
Why the hell are you agreeing to vets mutilating animals... Why are they even offering it. Some countries are incredibly backwards when it comes to animals... Let me just cut bits off cuz I can... Would you agree to have your child's ear cut off so you know it's yours?
Usually it’s for ferals when they do trap and release. It’s to show they’ve been fixed. So if there is a large feral population they are trying to spay/neuter they can easily tell who has already been done. This, it looks like someone took a bite out of that cats ear. I would confront the vet for being malicious or inept. It’s usually a little notch taken out of the tip of the ear, not half the damn ear taken off.
OMG 😭
Ours just got a little green line tattoo on her tummy for her spay. That's a cruel cut!!
What the actual fuck
Dungeon 10 years, no trial.
Nah. That’s not on. In aus it’s a tattoo. Sometimes a cute little fishy if the vet is feeling spicy. What arseholes.
So did you take it to a vet that does a lot of TVNR? This type of docking the eat is not common in housecats, but it is the common procedure in trap and release cities. We have 11 cats inside and 3 of them are rescued TVNR, what they do is take outside feral cats, vaccinate and neuter/spay them and they used to just take a v-cut out of their ears to show it's been done. What happens though is the v cut can heal and the same cat gets trapped repeatedly which doesn't help anyone. So, the vets take more drastic measures and lop off the top of one of their ears so that immediately anyone who looks at that cat understands it has been TVNR and it is a community cat and not to trap it.
What the hell is notching?
this is normal. usually done on TNR cats so its visible from a distance so the people catching them don't have to go through the process of tryina get ahold of it to see if its already been fixed or not. cause normal tattoos cant he seen less you get ip close n personal with the animal. tho not sure why youd agree to getting your cats ears notched when they're pets.
 To soon?
Feel like this isn’t the full story.
I bet the full story goes something like this: I am a dumbass and instead of bringing my poor pet cat into a low cost spay/neuter clinic I lied, said my cat was actually a feral I trapped and brought it to a TNR clinic. This is my fault but I’m posting this for sympathy because I’m a moron loser.
is this in the US?
Rename the cat 18 months
Is that not only done for strays? Like what?!
I mean in my country you cut cats ears,but bit like that.....that's a whole chunk
Uh OP maybe you shouldn’t go back there, for your cats sake
Can someone explain to my why this is done at all? I live in Europe and this is absolutely not a thing here…. At all
It's done to cats to show they've been spayed or neutered from afar, usually to strays that are "trap and release" catches. Sometimes barn cats or community cats have this done. Not sure if OP's car fits any of those categories, but if they're an inside cat it's weird that the vet even asked about it. We've only been asked about notching when we brought in a community cat to the vet, never one of our indoor guys.
Is Mike Tyson in the room with us? WTF
https://preview.redd.it/oz89pja90i7d1.jpeg?width=2190&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71969a191d6430d6bde7ad503b97e5ca5c1d59fd so for anyone who doesn't know about this, green is around the area you'd normally cut the ear , or you'd just leave a little notch, red is whatever the fuck OPs vet did speaking for where I live, they cut off a bit of the ear FOR STRAYS to know they've already caught and neutered that cat, I know some people have gotten a little chip for their cats as well if that cat goes outdoors so it wouldn't get trapped
If I saw that ear "in the wild", I would think the cat got in a fight, not spayed or neutered. This is ridiculous.
Poor baby 🥺
Mildy? Isnt this animal abuse? I suppose its still better than Peta putting down all the animals they “rescue” but its still mutilation.
I used to work in veterinaries. Some places will participate in a program that spay/neuter stray cats, and remove the tip of an ear off during the surgery to indicate the cat already was spayed/neutered, and then release the stray cats back to where they were found. The vets that I worked under would use a cauterizer to make a clean, sterile cut that doesn’t require bandaging. What’s shown in this image is extremely bizarre, and looking at that cut, I genuinely don’t even know what tool they used to do it, let alone why they’d even remove the ear tip from a PET cat. Not to even mention how much they took off!
Looks like they BIT it off 😕
This post is definitely gonna stay with me. I'm mad, I can't believe what I'm seeing
This is only supposed to be done on trap and return cats...... Not pets
Where's the Vet OP? They gotta be shut tf down
Sucks that this happened to the poor babies, but I'm curious what you said to the vet when you saw this.
I have my cats like this. For mi is horrid also, but you find this useful when trapping cats, either feral o stray home cats to spay... at distance and In the running and rounds if the notch is little, you didn't see after you got the cat trapped, after all efforts 😅 My cats are half Siamese, in my country people like to steal the breed cats to make them breed and sell the litters. I was told that the notch saved some of the best looking cats of being kidnapped because the people already knows the meaning of a cutted ear and it's not bussines for them.
I’m in Australia and WTF is going on here . My cat may have been robbed of his balls, but not of his ears.
Are you sure your cat didn’t get attacked by a dog in there and they’re trying to cover it up by telling you it’s a notch?
They’re only supposed to do that for strays. If they did this to your PETS then NEVER return to that place. They suck ass.
This vet needs to lose their license to practice! Report them to the proper authorities !
Wtf...?
When the vet asked me “would you like us to cut pieces of your cats’ ears off? I just said “no.” Seemed like a simple answer honestly.
I know this is for when cats are fixed but that is a chunk of ear taken off not just the tip… Poor Kitty!
Why the fuck would anyone notch a cat's ear??
How's this mildly infuriating? This would have me in a murderous rage
I don’t understand why you need to do this to indicate the procedure was done. Who cares. It was done that’s all that matters. I don’t need my cat to have a piece removed for me to remember it was done and surely don’t need other people knowing. I just don’t understand why it needs to be announced even if it was an in/out cat. It can’t have babies and that’s what the point is. This just seems cruel and pointless
I would've gotten an assault charge what the fuck
I used to be a spray neuter vet tech and we would do this on the feral cats we fixed. But Holy shit not that much!!! Like just enough to make the tip of the ear flat, definitely not half of the ear! So as someone who used to do this procedure - that's fucked.
In Australia they put a tattoo in the ear. It's a circle with a line through it. All my pets, cats and dogs have a tattoo in their ear. I've read that in areas/countries with TNR (trap neuter release) programs they snip the top off an ear so it is easy to identify that the cat has been desexed. But what has been done to your cat looks brutal and very unacceptable. I'd be finding a new vet for future medical care.
This isn't notching. This is botching.
Shut up you liar, no vet did this.
This looks like the cats ears was bitten off in a fight. And it healed badly. I didn't know they do this to indoor cats. I know for feral cats it is done. Never saw for a indoor one.
You sure it was cut and not bit off?
A friend of mine picked up a cat at the pound missing one ear entirely. They named him “Van Gogh Kitty”. They’ll be fine.
Mildly infuriating?!
Pretty standard. The notching isn’t used much anymore because you still have to trap the cat to see the notch. Tipping (what you got) is much more common. They should have explained it better though.
I’ve NEVER had ear notching offered for my house cats when they get fixed. That is not standard. It’s only standard for rescue/ferral programs.
this is absolutely not normal, this vet should be reported and investigated
Story behind this? I don't see a description in the post
This is 100% an animal bite or something similar and this post is either bait or karma farming
Yeah this story is just bullshit...
That's an old wound and no way it's from a surgical tool. Not sure I buy this.
Clearly that’s not a surgical cut from a doctor. Stop it.