Declawing can be done without residual pain or disability by a skilled veterinary surgeon. Our two older adopted cats were declawed by the same vet we've used for decades. They healed quickly with no lingering pain or disability. Both cats walk normally and still sharpen their clawless toe-pads furiously on scratching posts and pads and everything else -- they prefer corrugated cardboard and the edges of plastic bins, for some reason. If there was any lingering pain or tenderness they'd avoid such intense toe-sharpening.

The only reason our third cat hasn't been declawed is because our vet won't do multiple procedures during the same session, so he won't neuter and declaw during the same surgical session. He believes it's too risky for pets to be anesthetized longer than absolutely necessary. And he insists on keeping pets for at least 24 hours and preferably 48 after surgery, because he has trained assistants to keep an eye on them and watch for complications. He's probably right. The one cat I had neutered and declawed by another, cheaper vet, never woke up from the anesthesia and died within a day. I'd rather spend more for the better vet.

This same vet also prefers not to use those injectable pet ID chips under the skin because he says it's painful and there isn't enough standardization in the industry to make it worth the expense, pain and risk of infection. That surprised me because it seems like a quick and easy moneymaker for vets, but he usually persuades pet owners against it until the ID chip industry is standardized and universally readable.

Usually I adopt only declawed cats, or have the declawed later, because I'm extremely prone to cellulitis from cat scratches and bites. I've had at least three fairly serious bouts of cellulitis from fairly minor scratches and bites over the decades. No idea why I still keep cats, but for some reason friends, family members and cats think I like cats, so I keep adopting rejects and strays.