I absolutely think it is cruel to de-claw a cat - no matter the circumstances! The only time I had a cat that had been declawed, was when I was really little, like 2yrs old, and my brother had just been born... Back then, 26+ years ago, we (my parents) had no idea, which sucks b/c it really is cruel. Had we known then, what we learned just a couple years later, they wouldn't have done it, (and haven't since) no matter what!! Now, we would never ever ever declaw any of our cats, or future cats, ever again, no matter what! My parents are animal lovers (as am I), and they had no idea then, (I asked them if it was cruel when I was around 4, and then they got informed, so they could give me an honest answer - although, they didn't give me specifics, they just said it was really cruel, & they wouldn't do it again), and now they do know, & would never ever do that again, not for anything, esp. not something like a stupid material possession, (like a stupid couch) cats r living, feeling, wonderful, intelligent creatures... And we (including anyone in my family (extended family too)... & any friends that have cats) would never declaw a cat ever again! And of course animals can feel pain, I don't want to see any of my pets in pain. Although, (it should be said) with cats, they aren't so much
our pets, as we are theirs... They train us, as opposed to us training them...
Lol
Also, (in reference to Ordphien's statement) I absolutely do
not understand why someone who knew what declawing their cat involved, would ever knowingly do that to a living animal.
That's absolutely despicable
In my previous post, I mentioned that our cat (Flash) was declawed, because I was explaining how much he liked the little melon balls, he wasn't quite as interested in cantelope if it was in a wedge (although he did still like it). But I had tried to shorten my post, and I'm not sure that my point came across...
I know there's plenty of ppl that are that cruel, but we aren't, and never could be.