Okay, this is thread creep, but since Weepiper said to me, "I can't believe you think declawing a cat is a normal thing to do", I feel I should address that.

No, I don't believe that declawing is a "normal" thing to do, but neither is spaying or neutering. Spaying and neutering are done, of course, to keep cats from procreating whether they're outdoor cats or indoor cats. But for indoor cats, neutering has the added advantage of preventing a tomcat from spraying the furniture to mark its territory (or at least lessening the chances thereof!) and creating a more harmonious relationship between pet and pet owner. By the same token, in my opinion and by my experience, declawing an INDOOR-ONLY cat takes away some stress from the owner-pet relationship: the pet won't be yelled at and won't find household articles marked by the owner with repellent or booby-trapped in some way to prevent the cat from "sharpening" its claws, and the owner won't have expensive furniture, drapes or wallpaper ruined by the pet. The cat can still leave its scent with its glands by rubbing its paws on things it would "normally" claw, and it can still grip with its toes during play. What it can't do is defend itself as well when necessary, which is why I stress that only a cat that will be kept indoors ALL THE TIME (or let out into its own pen outside, protected from predators and SUPERVISED) should be a candidate for declawing.

Some say it's cruel to declaw a cat, but I just don't see it as any more cruel than ripping out its sex organs or keeping it inside all its life. If one is going to do those last two not-so-normal things in order to "make a pet" out of a cat, then I don't see anything any more wrong with declawing that pet. In fact, I see it as less cruel than what Chester's previous owner, which was to throw him out – discard him – because he was "bad" by that owner's standard.

(...not that Chester wasn't still naughty when he was my pet; he happily found plenty of ways to get into mischief, even without claws! *G*)

I realize that I'm in the minority by holding a pro-declawing opinion, but I thought I ought to explain that I did not come to that opinion without a lot of thought and deliberation, and I did not do the deed (of sending my cats in for declawing) lightly or frivolously.

Sharon