Here are two posters by Ruth (aka Kattaddorra) who has been fighting the good fight against the declawing of cats for many years. She is a co-founder of the ‘International Coalition Against Declawing’.
Declawing only occurs in the USA and Canada (I think to a lesser extent in Canada). For me it is an aberration within a nation where, in general, there is a good attitude towards cat welfare. I believe that a major reason why cat owners decide to declaw their cat is because they need educating on why a cat’s claws are so important to a cat and why the operation to declaw is both unnecessary and cruel.

This lack of education about the function of cats’ claws and the horrific nature of the operation to remove them together with the first joint of all ten of the cat’s forepaws is used by unscrupulous veterinarians to make money. Against their oath and professional guidelines, many American vets mislead their clients (cat owners) by convincing them that declawing is morally acceptable and that cats get over the operation quite quickly. Declawing is profoundly painful and can have a life long detrimental impact on a cat’s welfare, behavior and mental health.

Ruth is skilled at making educational posters. So here they are. I hope people with read them carefully and spread the word about the importance of allowing cats to keep all their anatomy given to them over eons of evolution. And if you don’t believe in evolution then God would not have given cats claws unless there is a good reason for it. Don’t undue God’s work and don’t think that humans are better than nature.
There are simple alternatives to this brutal operation. Learn to accept the claws. Learn to avoid them through sensible and enlightened handling of your cat. Provide alternative objects to scratch such as solid scratching posts. Learn to value your possessions less. They are only possessions. Your companion animal’s wellbeing is far more important. Realign your values and focus on doing valuable things (such as improving animal welfare) rather than possessing pristine, valuable items. It is a culture change that will advance Americans’ relationship with the domestic cat.
The picture below is by Michael and it illustrates a page on the anatomy of a cat’s claws and their functions. Click on the image to go to the page.
There are hundreds of pages on declawing on this website, please use the search box at the top of the page to find them.
I stopped patronizing PetSmart when I learned that their partner, Banfield Vet Hospital declaws kittens and cats, as part of their “Wellness Program”. Many people don’t realize this.
Another thing that my local PetSmart does is store pet food in a large window area, where the Western sun shines on the food. Pet food should be kept COOL in a DARK place. PetSmart isn’t so smart. I took pictures of this last summer 2017. Any of that food could have easily gone rancid, and pets may have gotten sick, with guardians not having a clue to the connection.