Whether to Declaw

Question
Hi,

I have two 3 year old cats, Fira and Explorer. Recently, I moved into a new apartment with these two, who are quite rambunctious, and my landlord informed me that unless the cats were declawed, I would have to get rid of them. The lease (which said I could have pets and said nothing about declawing) has already been signed, and I can't bear to give away my babies. In the interim, I've tried every other thing I could think of: claw covers, water in the face when they tried to climb or claw things. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked.

So my question is, how safe is it to have a cat declawed, especially at three years old? Is it a very inhumane or painful process? Will they be able to carry out normal, happy lives? I'm new to this city, so I don't know any of the vets in the area - should I look for any particular credentials when finding one to declaw them?

This is an extremely difficult situation for me. Thank you very much for your time.

Sincerely,

Celeste

Answer
If it was me and the furniture is yours I'd say if the lease doesn't say so then i dont have to.  But if u are going to go for it, it a very painful process and can be depressing to a cat.  If you have a phone book there is probably many vets in there call each one until u find one that your happy with.