If you are thinking about declawing your cat, after reading this, you may want to think again.  Declawing a cat is pretty much an American thing. It is not allowed in the UK.  The reason, it is major surgery that inflicts a great deal of pain on your beloved pet.  First of all you must realize the your cat is not going in to have his “nails done.” This is serious surgery.  Your cats claw is not like your toenail. It is attached to the bone. It’s attached so closely that in order to remove the claw, the last bone of your cats claw has to also be removed.  Declawing is actually an amputation of the last joint in your cats toes. When you envision not one but TEN  amputations on your beloved pet, you can clearly see that this is not a humane act.  Your cat is in great pain and has a long, painful recovery ahead of him. While you cat is recupering, he still has to walk, jump and scratch to use his litter box. Sorry – no wheelchairs for cats!  Also remember that your cats claws give it agility and flexibility. That’s the way that God designed him. So what are your alternatives? Actually there are lots. You can train your cat not to scratch furniture by putting several cat scratching posts around the house. Another excellent alternative to to put vinyl nail caps on your cat. You have to change them every now and then but they really protect your furniture. You can also trim your cats nails frequently. Let me close my saying this. I know that many of you have declawed your cat. I do not mean to be rude by saying that if your furniture is your priority then it’s better not to even consider owning a cat and having it declawed. I know that many of you will disagree but this is my sincere belief. My two cats did ruin one of my chairs – nothing else,  just one chair. I now call it Millie and Mollie’s chair.