PLEASE HELP!!!

Question
Hello, I need some very quick advice about my two cats. They are going to the vet on Friday to get fixed (one male and one female), and my husband is insisting that they get declawed while they are there. I am strongly opposed to this, but I can't seem to convince him otherwise. The reason he wants them declawed is that they are constantly scratching the areas under the doors in the house, to the point where it is severely damaging the carpet. His point of view (which is partly right, I must admit), is that it is much cheaper to get the cats declawed than it is to replace the carpet (we live in an apartment and will definitely have to replace the carpet when we move if this continues). But, he is not taking into consideration all the possible negative effects this can have on our cats, not to mention our relationship with them. The other point he is making (which is also true) is that we have tried EVERYTHING to get them to stop scratching there. The main problem is, they won't do it when we are home and/or awake, they wait until we are out of the house or asleep to do it, in other words they are "trained" to not do it in our presence, not to not do it at all. Since we are not able to catch them in the act, it has been impossible to get them to stop. Here is everything we've tried, and what they do to get around it:
*aluminum foil- they scratch, bite, and play with it until it's out of the way
*rubber bath mat- they bit/ripped it to shreds until they could get at the carpet
*plastic desk chair mat- same as above
*welcome mat- same
*cardboard box- same
*we tried putting their scratching post on top of the spot so that they would scratch that instead- they moved it out of the way and scratched the carpet
*Soft claws- they bite them off within 24 hours
*trimming their nails every 2-3 days- they still somehow manage to tear up the carpet
So in my husband's defense, we really have tried everything. BUT I still don't want to get them declawed!! Do you have ANY advice, or something I can tell my husband to convince him we don't need to do this? PLEASE!!! They are going to the vet Friday morning!!
Thank you,
Jodi

Answer
This is a tough question for me to answer, and one I had to think a lot before I did.  On the one hand I have recommended declaws to people before, and on the other I just got one of my cats declawed and then decided not do have any of my other cats done.  I myself am on the fence about this issue.  I have seen many cats declawed, and when it is done properly and with good pain management, it is a lot easier on the cats.  If it is done when they are younger then its even better since younger animals are much more resilient and get used to being declawed much faster.  On the other hand, my cat got declawed two months ago and she is still limping.  I know that she is a unique case, most cats recover completely within a month at most and many are back to playing as usual after two weeks.  Are their any medical reasons to not get them declawed? A couple, mainly having to do with the anesthesia.  Since they are going to be anesthetized to be fixed anyway, then that risk is minimized.  Infection is also another risk, but they should be put on antibiotics so that deals with that one.  Provided they are well taken care of when they get home (clean feet, proper litter), then infection is very rare.  There has been some argument that declawed cats can't stretch their back properly, but that's one of those things that changes depending on who you talk to, and I know I've seen many declawed cats who have had no problems.  In the end it boils down to what is right for you and your pets.  If your husband is going to get fed up with them destroying the apartment, and want to get rid of them or it causes a fight between the two of you, that is definitely something to consider as well.  I wish I could give you an answer one way or the other whether it is ok or not to get them declawed, but its kind of like telling someone they shouldn't have cosmetic surgery.  The answer is different for everyone.

Amanda