I used to have a declawed cat (front only). He was our family's first kitten, when I was very young. No one did any research beyond the obvious benefits. He was an outdoor/indoor cat, and never seemed to have any problems. He ruled the neighborhood, could climb up and down trees and hop around on our roof. He wasn't aggressive at all, unless a stranger tried to pick him up outside (instead of running away he would just lie there, and go nutty when they grabbed him - probably a good thing he was declawed lol).

I was a lot older for the next cat, and I got to watch her growing up. She loved her little claws so much, I didn't want to take them from her. I made a bargain with my parents that she would be declawed if she ever ruined any furniture, but otherwise she got to keep them. If we ever noticed her scratching on something, we would scold her and then take her to her scratching post and play with her on it, encouraging her to sink her claws in. We also had a wall carpeted with thick carpet (yes, a carpeted wall - god knows why) that she liked to climb and use her claws on, but that was fine with us if it was the only thing.

But I wouldn't have felt bad about declawing her if she had been destroying the furniture - better than living out on farm where she was born, where cats generally get hit by cars or eaten by coyotes before they get too old.

BigDreams wrote:
I am so never getting married. I've never really liked babysitting.
4Horses and Holding wrote:
You know, with sperm banks and handy-dandy machinery, there really isn't much use for men. I mean, most cats will kill bugs.
aakora wrote:
I think most problems in life can be traced to an incorrect ratio of men to cats.
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