[sugarcatmom]

They shouldn't be getting cats if they're so overwhelming concerned about them scratching that they're willing to mutilate them (causing them extreme pain and long-term harm) to suit their own needs.

My favorite website on the topic of declawing: http://www.pawproject.com/html/

Maybe this part will help in their decision:
http://www.pawproject.com/html/faqs.asp

Is declawing a painful procedure?
Declawing is actually a very painful procedure in which each front toe of the cat is amputated at the first joint. Declawing a cat is equivalent in a person to amputating the entire tip of every finger at the first knuckle. Declaw surgery is so predictably painful that it is used to test the effectiveness of pain medications. Initial recovery takes a few weeks, but even after the surgical wounds have healed, there are often other long-term physical complications and negative psychological effects.

In DVM Best Practices, August 2002, veterinarian Kip Lemke illustrates typical levels of post-surgical pain using common surgical procedures. Declawing is associated with "severe pain," compared to spaying ("moderate pain") and neutering ("mild pain"). Pollari states in JAVMA (June 1, 1996), "Because these procedures are so routine, they are often trivialized by clients as well as veterinarians." "Declawing is very painful – there's no question about that…" says Dr. Katherine Houpt, professor and director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine.

Carroll, et al., in JAVMA (July 15, 1998) report, "Typically, cats undergoing onychectomy (declawing) are not given any analgesics (pain medication) or are only given a single dose of analgesic before or after surgery…. There is a physiological cost associated with uncontrolled pain. Thus, provision of adequate analgesia…would be of benefit." However, the investigators go on to report that veterinarians often have misconceptions regarding the degree and duration of pain following declawing as well as the safety of analgesic use in cats despite the abundance of published data documenting the efficacy of these drugs. The article also points out the challenges in assessing pain in cats, who instinctively hide signs of pain. The difficulties of clinically recognizing pain in cats is reported by a number of other authors, including Winkler ( J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 1997), Franks (JAVMA 2000) Cambridge (JAVMA 2000), and Gellasch (JAVMA 2002). Although cats typically are sent home one to two days after declawing surgery without pain medication, Carroll points out that "the optimal duration of post-operative analgesic treatment for cats is unknown." A cat's behavior may be misinterpreted, because not all cats show outward signs of pain after surgery, such as crying, whining, or licking at a paw. "What they'll often do is curl up and go to sleep in the back of the cage," says Dr. Karen Tobias, an associate professor in small animal surgery at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine, who conducted a study on pain in cats after declawing surgery. "Owners or veterinarians may think they're sleeping comfortably and not in any pain."

It appears that undermedicating cats after declawing is the norm. A survey of over 1000 veterinarians by Wagner and Hellyer (JAVMA Dec. 1, 2002) found that 44% administered no pain medication after declaw surgery. For those animals receiving pain medication there are potential problems. Some veterinarians have proposed the use of fentanyl patches. The patches, which are placed on the skin, contain a powerful narcotic. Their use in humans for post-operative pain was abandoned after several deaths occurred from accidental overdose.