Animals: DO NOT DECLAW YOUR CATS.

I hope that like many other countries in Europe and around the world, declawing cats becomes illegal in the United States. It is an inhumane, cruel amputation that is completely unnecessary and painful. Its not just removing "nails," in fact its severing each "toe's" tendon, and chopping off the first joint of each "finger." Imagine your mom chopping off each of your fingertips at the base of the last joint? She said because it bothers her that you pick your nose. Or leave fingerprints on her windows and furniture. NOT OKAY.

Although that painful procedure in humans would still allow us to go to the bathroom without having to painfully dig in sand and walk every step feeling such pain. Cats don't get that luxury, and with regular nail trimmings (which is much cheaper, and not painful), scratching posts, and training your cat to play with toys, and NOT TO ATTACK YOUR HANDS as a way to play, eliminates scratching problems.
Cat's need their claws, and their TOES not only as defense, but as a part of their feet to walk properly. Scratching their nails when taught how to on a proper scratch post not only sharpens their claws, but it relieves stress, and aligns their back and spine to live happier, longer lives without skeletal problems.

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN ANIMAL CRUELTY

HERE'S MORE READING:

http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/facts/declawing.html

http://www.best-cat-art.com/declawing.html

http://www.onlyforpetlovers.com/articles/entry/Is-Declawing-Inhumane-The-Fact-vs-Fiction

 http://cats.about.com/cs/declawing/a/declawing.htm

"Indeed, in all my research on the Internet, I have yet to see a veterinarian cite a common medical reason for declawing, except to repair a badly done first job, in which the claws have grown back, causing crippling pain to the cat."

There is no reason to declaw other than the Americanized idea of turning pets into commodities that can be modified to our liking. They are not, they are living, pain-feeling, sentient beings. If you still think the only solution to owning a cat is to have him or her declawed, then I think you SERIOUSLY need to rethink owning cats in the first place. If you already have had your cats declawed, and want to adopt another one and figure, "well I already declawed the others, might as well...right?" Wrong. You can stop this behavior, and not continue the brutal mistreatment of your pets. Make the right choice. And ask yourself, why do you want a cat in the first place?