If the choice is to get a cat declawed or to lose her home, declawing is the way to go.
I used to fall of the ‘inhumanity’ argument of declawing, then I had to think about it and give myself a reality check. I used to take care of abandoned, feral, and injured cats. I had cats missing a leg, tail, and eyeballs. (One was missing one of each. We called him One-eyed Jack) Had one who got into a fight with a opossum and lost all of the toes on one foot. A few were toothless.
One abandoned cat was found in a barn, already declawed. He was pretty freaking happy where he was. He caught mice and was fantastic at hunting birds. Believe it or not, the bastard could climb trees as well as a monkey. We decided to let him be a barn cat and he did a great job.
Every single one of them adjusted and went on to live happy lives.
Cats don’t feel sorry for themselves. They hurt, they heal, they adapt, and they go on as cats.
Personally, I think that a lot of the arthritis and pain that some older declawed cats have to deal with is more due to excess weight. You can’t have a declawed cat who’s twice the weight they should be and not expect problems.
The thing about cats is that they’re instinctive animals. Trying to train a cat is right up there with potty training a goldfish. You can discourage some behaviors, but in the end, they’re going to do what they want and, if you try to discipline them, they only learn to hate YOU. In a million years, they won’t connect their behavior with your displeasure.
Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate them. I’m only thinking about the front paws. I just cannot go through the continuous procedure of waylaying this cat every 2-3 weeks and clipping her claws. It takes a blanket, a towel, some welding gloves and my daughter to drive up here to do it. I have to hold her head tightly and the paw being clipped while the others are under the tile while my daughter clips. She does NOT like it at all. Never will.
[My daughter sent me a video of her clipping her cat’s claws. Calmly sitting there with no bother while she picked up the paw and clipped them one by one. I got sooooooo pissed and envious]