I have worked with alot of different declawing surgeries, and I have first hand seen what they do during the surgery. Did you all know that they clamp the digits with regular clamps, and then RIP out the nail, cuticle and access bone out with REGULAR nail clippers? And to say it has miniimal pain is bizark! Whenever we did a declaw, the cat wakes up after the surgery, most of the time screaming in agony, and then the day after we have to remove the bandages from the bloody paws, and they again scream in pain. I can not imagine anyone thinking that it would not hurt. If you provide a good scratching post and good nail grooming habits, the cat wont need to scratch on furniture or the carpet. The only benefit I see from it is the benefit of the human, it is natural instinct for a cat. But hey, its just my opinion