Woman Gets Plastic Surgery for her “Ugly Cat”

A woman in China has been accused of animal abuse because she made her cat undergo plastic surgery. According to the Mirror UK, the woman considered her car to be an “ugly cat”. In order to fix this issue, she took the cat to an animal hospital to have eyelid surgery.

The reason she wanted the cat to undergo plastic surgery on the eyes? She claimed its eyes were in “ugly” shape.

Animal Plastic Surgery on a Cat in China

According to news reports, the cat reportedly had a double-eyelid operation. The surgery, at a cost of around 10,000 yuan ($1500), was performed to add a crease to the eyelid of the feline in order to create the look of a monolid (eyes that do not have a crease on the eyelid). 

There were photos of the cat that were featured on television that showed the feline with its fur shaved off its face. In the photos, the face of the cat was red and its eyes appeared to be swollen. A line of stitches on each eye of the cat can be seen in the photos after the cat had animal plastic surgery.

In the report in the Mirror, the animal hospital where the surgery took place is used to these types of procedure. The vets at the hospital say the double-eyelid surgery is quote common. In the past, there have been owners of animals that decided to get this particular plastic surgery in order for their dogs to compete in shows. It has been reported that there can be a health risk if, and when, the surgery is performed on cats. In addition, the surgery can also cause cats to experience a lot of discomfort.

In order to make the changes requested to the appearance of the animal, the vets at the animal hospital made a cut on each one of the cat's eyelids with a scalpel according to a report from Jiangsu Television.

According to the staff at the Rupeng Pet Hospital in Nanjing, where the animal plastic surgery was performed, double-eyelid surgery is common and many dog owners choose to have it done so their pets can participate in shows.

Claims of Animal Abuse after Animal Plastic Surgery

After the report was aired on Chinese television, the owner of the cat started to face criticism on social media platforms. Some of the comments included:

• "I would go as far to say this is animal abuse - complete disregard for the poor cat's feelings.”
• “It doesn't even look like the same cat anymore."
• “This is plain torture."
• “Completely Unnecessary.”

Animal Plastic Surgery is Common

As odd as the idea of animal plastic surgery might seem, this is not the first time a pet owner in Russia has decided to have plastic surgery performed on a pet.

As recently as 2017, a family faced critics for making their dog have plastic surgery in order to look more like the dog that was featured in the Jim Carrey film, "The Mask." It was reported that Marina Esmat asked a group of doctors to lower the ears of her dog which had grown straight up instead of lying flat on the head of the animal.

At the time of the surgery, she told news reporters that her family “decided to correct the ears and started looking for a surgeon. We used glue and tape to stick the ears down at first, but nothing helped. The dog, of course, felt no discomfort." She went on to add, “As a family we decided that the ears should be corrected surgically. Doctors tried to talk us out of it. I would like the dog to have pups, but with the ears, we could not find a suitable mate. We also want to participate in competitions. And now everything is fine."

Steps to follow for Plastic Surgery for Humans (and Animals)

Before humans decide to have plastic surgery, they should schedule a consultation with a board-certified plastic surgeon. The surgeon can conduct a thorough examination of the patient to determine if the person is an ideal candidate for a procedure. In addition, the doctor can set realistic expectations so the patients will not be surprised or disappointed by the final results.

In addition, human patients should make sure they are having the plastic surgery because they want to have the procedure and not because they are trying to make someone else happy. This same idea can apply to plastic surgery patients that are animals. The animals should need to have the animal plastic surgery procedure because of a medical condition and not because the owner wants to alter their appearance for a show. Plastic surgery can make a big difference in the self-esteem and self-confidence of a human patient and this can apply to animals as well. Make sure the pet needs to have the surgery for a medical condition and not for the vanity reasons of the owner of the animal.