You're not crazy at all!
In all my childhood of cats my family owned, both indoors and out, never has one been declawed. I felt it was inhumane before I ever even knew how it was done. They were born with claws, so with owning a cat one must just deal with it. As others have mentioned, training - or more importantly finding out 'how' they like to scratch - and purchasing appropriate scratching posts/boxes are key. In our home I've said NO more times than I can imagine saying to a 3yr old child.
I could sit here and tell you that if I think about what our once pristine leather furniture in our RV looked like right now, under the multitude of covers strewn everywhere across them, after adopting a stray 8mo kitten this past March -- I could cry. After 7mos of owning him he is just now getting the message the furniture is a no-no. We wade over or through every shape and style of scratching boards or posts and most times he could care less about any one of them. My ankles and arms stay nicked up from his hunting practices & rough play even though I trim his claws weekly -- BUT he will never, ever be de-clawed.
In all my childhood of cats my family owned, both indoors and out, never has one been declawed. I felt it was inhumane before I ever even knew how it was done. They were born with claws, so with owning a cat one must just deal with it. As others have mentioned, training - or more importantly finding out 'how' they like to scratch - and purchasing appropriate scratching posts/boxes are key. In our home I've said NO more times than I can imagine saying to a 3yr old child.
I could sit here and tell you that if I think about what our once pristine leather furniture in our RV looked like right now, under the multitude of covers strewn everywhere across them, after adopting a stray 8mo kitten this past March -- I could cry. After 7mos of owning him he is just now getting the message the furniture is a no-no. We wade over or through every shape and style of scratching boards or posts and most times he could care less about any one of them. My ankles and arms stay nicked up from his hunting practices & rough play even though I trim his claws weekly -- BUT he will never, ever be de-clawed.
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