I'm only OK with declawing when it's only the front and only if the other option is a homeless cat after exhausting all other options (scratching post, nail trims, soft paws, etc). I have seen rare cases where none of the alternatives worked. We don't do them often at my clinic, but when we do they get the highest-level pain management equivalent of a serious orthopaedic surgery. All the cats I've seen that have had it done handled it well. I've also known many mature cats who've been declawed all their lives, and they're as sweet as any other domestic cat.


Bratpony.... the need for keeping cats inside is definitely real in the US. I'm not a big fan of letting cats outside especially where I live. I think sending your pet out to deal with the world (in the US) is at least as harmful as declawing. Here's what awaits most outdoor cats here:

Predators that eat them (coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, and probably others I'm not thinking of) - a lot of cats become lunch.

Rabies - we are often dealing with rabies outbreaks in wildlife, already this year we've had to euth most of a litter of feral kittens that were attacked by a rabid skunk.

Parasites and diseases such as Feline Leukemia, FIV, etc. - many if not most outdoor cats aren't vaccinated, so these diseases spread easily and the exposure to (and infestation with) parasites is much greater.

Fights with other cats... we see a lot of outdoor cats with fight wounds that abscess and need to be treated, some can be pretty bad.

Rattlesnakes... we just treated an outdoor cat last week who was bit in the front paw. Treatment can be expensive (a bottle of antivenin costs in the range of $700, and often more than one bottle is needed over the course of a treatment). There's also scorpions, black widows, gila monsters and other critters... though cats seem to do well at avoiding them.

There is also a likelihood that feral cats have a negative impact on the wildlife population, especially birds.

I do understand that there are some cats that just won't stay indoors, as long as they are spayed/neutered and kept up on vaccines it's not ideal but OK. All this is why I stick with dogs.

Carole
Equine Art

"We struck down evil with the mighty sword of teamwork and the hammer of not bickering." The Shoveller, Mystery Men.