I'm brand new to kitten ownership. A few months ago I adopted a 3 month old kitten from a shelter. So he's almost 6 months old now. He HATES having his paws touched. My vet, my mom and my mom's vet all say I should declaw him while he's young and he'll adjust better. But I wanted to see if I could explore other solutions first. While he does periodically try to destroy furniture that's not the main issue and could be easily fixed. He loves to jump on peoples laps or backs or legs and usually by accident he will draw blood. He either falls off someones lap and struggles to stay on or he gets a nail caught in someones shirt and shreds their skin trying to get free. While I did sign up for all the crazy energy and pain that comes with having a kitten, my housemates did not. I've tried trimming his nails but it only partially helps and he struggles a good deal. I just tried applying soft claws and that was a disaster. My housemate and I spent 20 minutes struggling to get two of the little plastic caps on. He cried and cried and cried like he was in extreme pain and scratched and bit us. My housemate no longer feels comfortable helping me put them on because he feels like he's hurting him. So far it's been an hour and the two we did get on are still on but if I touch his paws he gets really scared. I'm not going to give him up or anything because of this, but if I don't find a solution he's going to live the rest of his life shut away in my bedroom so that he stops hurting people. I might just give in and declaw him. I haven't been able to find any reliable scientific evidence that declawing causes long term problems. But I have read that kittens should be declawed around 6 months which is in another few weeks. And in the end, humans come first and humans pay rent. If my housemates leave because my kitten accidentally hurts people then I'm SOL.
Any advice on my situation?
Any advice on my situation?