As an owner of cats with claws, I now have seen the light.

For years, my parents would have cats declawed. I didn't know any better and had no idea what it really meant to the cat to miss a digit on his toes.

DH and I declawed our beloved Jessie (may she RIP) and I have regretted it ever since. She was never the same again. She always favoured both her front paws and she walked funny. She ended up getting cancer in her toe and we had to put her down. Whether or not the cancer was caused by the declawing, I don't know but suffice to say, we will NEVER declaw a cat again.

Now that we have adopted two new boys, they have claws and have been trained (very well) by their previous owners to use the posts. We have two of them in the house and they do use them. They do not scratch us or our guests and in fact, are very gentle boys.

I don't think we'll ever do it again. it's heartbreaking.