I am totally against declawing cats, but I do have one kitty Abagail who actually NEEDED to be partly declawed as a tiny kitten. I rescued her and her two littermates (and sweet mom) seven or so years ago, and Abby was badly injured on one of her front feet. After numerous vet visits it became apparent that her crushed foot was never going to heal properly. It was sutured, bandaged, you name it....it was all tried but still it never healed. I brought her in for her spay etc. when she was around five months and actually requested that they do a partial declaw on her badly injured paw! (That was sooooo hard to say to the vets). That did the trick, and Abagail has one funky claw sticking out of the middle of her multilated paw, but she finally stopped bleeding after all else failed. A month ago she started limping for no apparent reason, so I started her up on some antibiotics and all was fine a week later. I'll try to get a picture of a much needed partial declaw....it sure looks funky! But she gets her isometric excersizes and is generally a very happy goofy girly! I'm happy her little paw finally healed up, but I cannot see any logical reasoning behind declawing as a routine. Jan