What is your opinion on declawing?

[ramanth]

There are some places here that require cats to be declawed. I would never and I continued to look.

If you really have your heart set on a place, find out if they would consider Soft Paws as a substitute to declawing.

[kb2yjx]

I find people are really ignorant about this! They think just because they declawed the cat, it won't scratch the baby. But, they get really upset when the cat then bites the baby!! Our Boo came to us declawed because she " fought with the other cats in the house(!)." She then became a biter, and the people got rid of her!
People think just because the kitten scratches a piece of furniture once that the kitten must be declawed!!! HELLo!!!kittens, I have found easily learn about scratching posts!!
I fostered a kitten who used the scratching post ALL the time!! I took photos and video to prove this. The very first thing the woman's mother said was " when are you getting the cat declawed?" I went thru the roof. I told her I would make an appointment for her(the mother)the same day the kitten was going to be declawed, at her doctor, so she could have the top knuckle on each of her fingers removed, so SHE would have an idea what pain that kitten was in!!! The kitten(now a 3yr old moosey girl)has every claw!!!
Would the landlord allow the cat to have the Soft Claws????

[Pembroke_Corgi]

There are some places here that require cats to be declawed. I would never and I continued to look.

If you really have your heart set on a place, find out if they would consider Soft Paws as a substitute to declawing.

That's a good idea. I don't think I'll have to move into a place that requires declawing (I'm hoping there are some other options, I haven't looked that thoughrally yet because I don't know exactly where I'll be moving), but if it came down to it, I could ask them about soft claws.

[elizabethann]

I don't believe in declawing. And I have the ruined furniture to prove it.

Just my .02 cents.

[Pembroke_Corgi]

I just wanted to add I'm not trying to start a controversy about declawing vs not, I'm just wondering if renters requiring cats to be declawed is common. I'm personally against declawing, and it seems like most people are here, too.

Does anyone know any good websites for apartments (or preferably rental houses) that take pets?

So far I've been just looking at apartments.com, and browsing local papers online, and they seem pretty slim...I've been lucky enough to rent a house here since my landlord likes pets, but I most likely will only be able to visit the town once before moving in (the closest school I'm applying to is 300 miles away, the others are 800+).