I plan to start my own little "war" on vets that don't educate...
I think that's the ticket right there. So many people (including myself in the past) have no idea what they are doing to their cats. It should be mandated that the doctors explain exactly what they are doing and provide the patient with other options.

I must say I've gotten lucky. My childhood cats were all declawed as well as one of the cats I have now. (She was already declawed when I adopted her.) They all lead normal happy lives. On the same line, there's lots of human amputees that lead normal happy lives too. That doesn't mean the amputee likes missing limbs.