Cat Claws & Declawing

  Cats have claws as they are essential for defense, balance & grasp. Some people are for declawing and consider having it done to prevent undesired scratching, some people see declawing as a cruelly "painful surgery" with a "painful recovery period."

What is declawing?
  Commonly going by declawing, a more correct term would be phalangectomy, (excision of the toe bone), as the procedure more than a permanent nail trim. To prevent the nail from growing back,  the last bone of the toe is amputated. Though there are different techniques, every one involves this excision. According to the Humane Society of the United States, "If preformed on a human being, declawing would be like cutting off each finger at the last knuckle."

Regulations
  As said before, different opinions fly upon declawing. Though legal in North America, there are locations where the act is strongly restricted or prohibited. Under Local Animal Abuse Laws in many European countries, the practice is forbidden unless deemed medically beneficial for the animal, while in some like Germany & Switzerland, it is entirely outlawed.

Complications 
After the declawing procedure, physical/medical complications have been reported and a number of behavioral problems are said to have been experienced. It is not unusual for surgeries to bring anxiety to an animal.
  Claws are a cat's natural line of defense. With little ways of defense, animals are more timid and anxious, which can lead to aggression. Aggressive cats that are declawed may not have the ability to scratch, but they can still bite-- and a bite is often more severe than a scratch.

There are other ways!
 Scratching is natural cat behavior: it's done for conditioning the claws, marking territory and stretching. To lessen undesired scratching, you can partake in ways such as providing & encouraging the use of scratching posts and other appropriate materials, keeping nails trimmed or using claw caps such as Soft Paws.

If you wish to learn more on the subject and help prevent declawing, please visit The Paw Project at www.pawproject.org.