I am against declawing as a rule, although i was considering having ALL mine done about a year ago. We had just gotten new furniture that cost Sooooo much money and when i saw them scratching at it i was so mad. However i am a Veterinary Technician Student and i had learned at school how to properly cut a cats nails myself without hurting them. I tried this on my own cats and it auctully worked. I just cut off the very tip of the point (sharp part) once a week and they don't do any damage when they do scratch. You can even do their back ones!