I've had two of my cats declawed because they kept attacking eachother. They were both indoor and outdoor cats, let me tell you they could climb a tree just as well as any other could. They use their back nails to climb. Mine never had a problem and recovered beautifully. If there is a question between giving up my cat and getting it declawed I would declaw.

This is true Mine couldnt use litter in the litterbox for a couple of weeks

Declawing has been around for decades. If it were cruel, vets would never have done it (what about tail docking and other things that are acceptable "in the name of breed conformity?") That said, I have a declawed cat (front paws only) and she has NEVER missed her front claws. She was being extremely destructive and the declawing solved the problem. She still attempts to scratch/sharpen her nubbins on floor rugs and wicker and such (harmless). Tried the soft caps once and that was much more annoying to her. There is no reason to declaw the back feet because if a cat is pinned, they will need them to protect themselves in defense with the back claws. Also, a declawed cat MUST be kept as an indoor only cat. It's the cat friendly dogs that are at most risk of injury. My rescue yorkie was recently quasi accepted by my declawed cat. They sniff each others' noses, but Phoebe will occasionally softly bat at Bowie's face. He almost lost an eye at my daughter's house because he assumed her (non-declawed) cats were as cute and cuddly and receptive as Phoebe. We have to visit tonight for my daughter's halloween bash and I am terrified that my curious Yorkie will try again to make friends with disastrous results. One cat is particularly aggressive and approaches him with the intent to inflict bodily harm. But I will also say an aggressive cat needs to be trained/disciplined for intentionally inflicting injury when it's not out of bona fide self defense.

So you're saying that bc things are around for decades that means they aren't cruel...? Slavery was around for decades too. Beating women was once allowed by law, for decades. And btw, in many parts of the world, tail docking is actually BANNED - we in the US are wayyy behind the times in terms of that barbaric practice.

And I don't mean this in a snarky manner - but how on earth could you possibly know that your cat "has never missed her front claws" -- ???? :confused:

In this day and age, there are so many things one can do in order to avoid declawing a cat - so I'm really disappointed to not see more people taking advantage of those options. The shelter where I volunteer never advocates declawing and hasn't for years and years. And the people in my life who own cats always use alternative methods to declawing.

Why would you even think of bringing your baby to a home where he was already seriously attacked?
When I had my pack of 3 girls they came every where with me, they were the sweetest, animal, ppl, friendly pups ever. I had one friend that had a not dog friendly poodle, I left my babies home.
How can you enjoy your daughters company or the party if you have to constantly watch where your baby is.

Are you a vet? Are you anti circumcision? We could go on and on but My cat is awesome and happy. She doesn't walk funny and enjoyed teasing and playing with my other dogs I used to have. I disagree that it's cruel, so we'll have to agree to disagree. Getting rid of a cat who is a member of the family is cruel in my opinion, particularly because I know my cat's psyche and physical health is completely normal. I've had many cats during my life (only my current cat, age 14, was declawed) and see absolutely no difference in quality of life between her and my previous clawed cats, so yes, I know from experience that sometimes declawing is necessary and think people have blown the whole outrage thing out of proportion. What did upset my cat was the claw caps we tried before declawing. I live with her, you don't.