Scratching is a fundamental feline behavior serving communication, claw maintenance, and stretching functions. Declawing, which amputates the last bone of each toe, causes chronic pain and behavioral problems.
Declawing causes lasting harm that extends well beyond the surgical procedure. Cats walk on amputated toes for the rest of their lives, with chronic pain that affects gait, litter box use, and social behavior. The behavioral changes seen in declawed cats — increased biting, inappropriate elimination, avoidance of the litter box — are predictable consequences of chronic pain rather than personality defects. The solution to furniture scratching is not amputation but education: providing appropriate scratching surfaces, training cats to use them, and using temporary solutions like nail caps. This is not a difficult welfare problem to solve without causing harm.