I'm relieved to hear they remove less these days. They used to cut the entire first joint off, bone and all, and I had the experience of seeing a botched case, where the cat never really recovered, and walked on its 'heels' the rest of its life. Put me thoroughly off the idea. Of course, declawing beats euthanasia - I've just never seen the need.

And for anyone who'd prefer to avoid declawing, there are products that work pretty well during early training - most of them contain bitter lemon, I think - doesn't stain or smell, kitties won't go near it.