YES CLAWS....I am on a soap box...

There is a debate in the cat community as to whether or not to declaw your cat. I say HELL NO. My owner decided very early on that he wouldn't do that to me, thank YOU! I suppose if all other options are exaughsted and the only other option is to take a cat that is bothersome with his/hers scratching activities then maybe declawing would be ok, instead of having to take the cat to a pound and possibly the cat being euthanized. I see more cats that have been "declawed" in shelters though...so I wonder if that option is really all that prudent. I think if you have a problem cat that is scratching more likely it's the owners fault not the cat. Cats naturally and normally scratch to mark there territory and also to take some of the nail tips off so it's more comfortable to the cat. So providing your cat with scratching posts and getting them used to it early on is the best option. Get cats used to NOT scratching where you don't want them buy using double sided tape or citrus scented sprays that will deter us from scratching what you don't want. Also appropriate water sprays are useful if you don't want us scratching where we shouldn't. Humane way's of getting us to scratch were we should and not scratch were we shouldn't is much better than declawing. De clawing at any age means the knuckle of each "finger" for lack of a better word is CUTT OFF, this is very painful for cats at any age. Some cats have developed problems after these procedures. Also if a cats back claws are mutated this means they have a harder time climbing trees and also there defenses are suspect meaning they might not survive a cat fight or a dog attack, where they might if they had the claws to defend themselves. Of course I wouldn't recommend that declawed cats be allowed outside but it's never a 100 percent guarantee that any cat will never slip out. Also if your cat is mainly indoor you can have the cat's nails trimmed by a professional at usually low cost or if you can get the kitten used to having the nails trimmed by yourself early on it's rather easy to do. Normally trimming doesn't have to be done with cats all that often. Also beyond popular belief you can actually train a cat not to scratch or use his/her claws at people. My owner did that early on. While there are exceptions to the rule normally I retract my claws when playing with my owner. Again these things need to be done early on.

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