In the state of Washington it is legal to declaw your cat. Not only is this inhumane, but it is very harmful to the health of your cat. Essentially, you are cutting the top knuckle off of your cats paw. People often mistakenly believe that declawing your cat will stop them from scratching, but in reality all you're doing is making it less likely that your cat will use the litter box and more likely to start biting instead of scratching. The method of removing the claw is quite horrifying. To do this, they amputate with a scalpel or with guillotine clippers, then the wounds are closed with stitches or surgical glue, and then the feet are bandaged. There are many drawbacks to declawing your cat as well, such as: pain in the paw, infection, tissue necrosis (tissue death), lameness, and back pain. When you remove your cats claws it changes the way their feet touch the ground, feeling like the equivalent of wearing an uncomfortable set of shoes. So please, let's put a stop to this!