Should You Declaw Your Cat?

I wanted to research about the controversy pertaining to whether you should have your cat declawed or not. I have a one-year-old Siamese cat, in which I had declawed at the age of seven months. Please don’t bombard me with hate emails; I believe it was the best measure for his situation. However, I wanted to read the opposing side of the argument to better understand this extremely controversial topic. A common misconception of the declawing procedure is thinking that it is simply trimming the cat’s nails; declawing actually involves the amputation of the last bone of each toe. If performed on a human being, it would be like cutting off each finger at the last knuckle. Many countries around the world see declawing as being inhumane, and should only be used for rare medical conditions. Some tips provided were to trim your cats claws regularly, provide stable scratching posts, or use special cat products like Soft Paws, and Sticky Paws to deter scratching. I do believe that having your cat declawed shouldn’t occur simply, because you don’t want your furniture scratched; however if it is necessary I find the procedure safe. My cat seems happy as he jumps from my bookshelves, and plays with his toys like if nothing happened to him.