That's probably true PB. It's very hard to teach an animal to change something that has become a habit.

We have 3 cats and all of them have their claws..Espectialy my two indoor out door boys..They need them to climb and defend themselves.

My other cat "The Frost Queen" has hers and she keeps the two dogs in line as the Alpha animal in the house.

Declawing a cat is cruel and unnecessary.

And you can train older cats..Use ground up catnip or catnip oil on the scratching post and they will get the hint and go there..

If your cats are outside cats or get outside often (one of ours does), not having claws makes them unable to defend themselves from raccoons or dogs.

Sure your furniture is going to take some wear. But isn't your cat more important than material goods? Also with Sour Apple repellent or double sided tape you can keep them off of whatever you want kept clean.

I'm not even going to read responses before I reply. Yes, it's cruel. If you don't want an animal that acts like a cat, don't get a cat. If you want a cat, let it be a cat in its natural state.

Declawing is the equivalent of cutting off our fingers at the first knuckle. Even Germany has outlawed it.

My cats have their claws, and they also have a scratching box to sharpen them on so my furniture is (mostly) intact.

Yes, it's very cruel. My neighbor has a cat which gets attacked by other cats all the time, because it has no claws to really fight back with. And it has problems climbing and catching birds and small rodents.
Which outdoor cats (normally) spend most to all of their day, and sometimes (Referencing off of my cousin's three cats) go off for days at a time. So if they can't 'hunt', how will outdoor cats not start to get really hungry while they're being outdoor cats? Cause you know cats are usually stubborn enough to chase something even if they know they can't get a hold of it.

De-clawing is barbaric.

It is possible to train a cat not to scratch furniture or alternatively to scratch what you have provided for her to scratch. You can also use claw tips (called cosy toes or soft toes or something like that).

On the other hand, you could always get a goldfish. They don't scratch, mark territory, claw furniture, present you with dead mice or crap in the shoe cupboard.

I think de-clawing cat's is pretty stupid actually. I mean, from a practical point of view, I can see it being done to a cat that lives with an old lady in her tiny apartment. The cat would never go out, and probably never live anywhere else but there. That's the only scenario where it wouldn't be detrimental to the cat. Otherwise, let the cat's have their claws. My cats have their claws. I don't even clip them anymore. I used to clip them when they were kittens because they didn't understand that they hurt me when they clawed. But now that they have control over that, I don't bother clipping them. It helps them climb the furniture and stuff. Hilarious watching a cat try to run along the top of a couch without long claws. Slipping and sliding all over the place. Don't declaw your cats. It leaves them defenseless!

De-clawing is wrong and shouldn't be done as the reasons stated above.
When living at my parents we had a cat and he had his. But he was a mean ole cat and no amount of catnip or anything would make him choose the scratching post we provided for him over other options.

We did have him spayed though.
What are your thoughts on that?

If you dont think its cruel then please imagine this!

a doctor taking a hedge clipper and chopping off your finger at the last knuckle (the one before the nail). Thats what declawing is... and ouch... to say thats not screwed up is just a little farfetched in my opinion.

I have on of my two cats declawed all he did was scratch me while I was asleep. I did not want to do that but I was getting tired of Snowball scratching me. It was hard for me to do but I did. Oh well, at least I won't get clawed anymore.