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I just recently changed my mind about this. I worked in a vet clinic and the cats that were declawed under 3 months woke up from the surgery and were ready to play. They had no idea. The older ones went nuts, totally insane afterward. I was always against declawing older ones because it was torture to them but as the younger ones didn't seem to mind when they woke up, I figured it was better for people to declaw early if it would stop them from declawing later on. I thought that young cats who didn't use their nails yet were like puppies. Puppies have to "discover" their nails and once they do, they start to walk loudly on wood floors, etc. I recently went to my boyfriend's sister's house and her tiny cat was declawed really early on. This cat falls off the sofa, tries to climb things with her nails and can't, and even does that thing where they paw at material with their nails, you know-- when they're on your lap and they start moving their paws around and grabbing the material with their claws? Anyway, it became clear to me that these kitties grow up without nails but still have the instincts and behaviors of a cat with nails. It's not like I thought before where they never had them so they don't know what they are missing. Watching this cat trying to grab on to the sofa before falling to the ground was really sad. I have heard arguements to no end and I think I just had to see it really for myself. How a cat reacts right after surgery is no indication of how their life will be afterward, but at the time, that is all I got to see.
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