cheyene1885 asked:
Please do not think of me as an animal abuser. Four months ago I found a tuxedo kitten in the parking lot of my office and we all fell in love. My boss let her stay at the office and she has a complete home at our office. Recently somebody from my office said that it was okay to pull her tail because the vet told her to do it to her cats because it will strengthen her spine. I haven’t seen her do it to our office cat but I’m afraid of the medical reasons behind it. To mee it just seems wrong.
Medical reasons for not pulling a cat’s tail-because it can/will bite you, that’s why! It does NOTHING to straengthen the cat’s spine and could actually damage it
pulling a cats tail can be damaging and the vet that told her that should not be treating animals. You can dilocate the tail by pulling it.
He is PULLING your leg….
Pulling a cat’s tail involves pulling the rest of their spine. You could actually pinch the nerves inside of the spinal cord and do some serious harm. Please do not listen to any vet that tells you that!
I can’t see how pulling her tail would make her spine stronger, that seems pretty far-fetched. My own kitty did like his tail tugged, usually he would put it straight up in the air, as if he was offering it to me to pull it *ever so gently* just a little.
But pulling it in any other fashion, especially if the cat reacts badly, is not a good idea.
No qualified vet would provide that advice. Either your co-worker is: a) joking; b) has a demented vet; or c) is lying.
As others note: do not pull the tail. It is painful, mean and potentially causes injury.
the person that told you that is full of BS…there is no benefit to pulling on a cat’s tail..none!!!! In fact, it can hurt them. They are going to naturally try to resist that, and by doing that they are straining themselves. It would be the same if someone was pulling our hair b/c they said it would help our neck….whatever!!!! However minor the case may be, that is animal abuse….tell them to stop now!!! And if they don’t….report them anonymously. I have reported several people on animal abuse cases, ranging in severity….and almost all of them were resolved!!! Stand up for that kitty and protect her!!!!
Some cats enjoy their tail being pulled GENTLY. Others don’t. No cat likes its tail being pulled HARD. Think about your own tail and what you like happening to that.