You are sitting peacefully, minding your business, and then a small paw reaches out and taps you with the gentlest extension of what is technically a weapon. Congratulations, you are a cat owner. When the claws come out, you know it is not in aggression, but just the casual way of a creature that has never once considered your feelings and is not about to start. It is, inexplicably, the cutest thing that has ever happened to you.

Cat claws have destroyed furniture, shredded curtains, and punctured the dignity of everyone who has ever tried to pick up a cat that did not want to be picked up. They are also, when photographed up close, completely unreasonable in how adorable they are. A Reddit page has dedicated its feed to showing us that both things can be true at once.

Cat claws are more architecturally interesting than most people give them credit for. Newborn kittens cannot retract their claws at all, which is information that will make you look at a kitten photo completely differently. They develop that ability at around four weeks old, right around the time their personality also arrives and makes itself at home.

The claws themselves grow in continuous layers, with scratching serving the very practical purpose of shedding the dull outer husk to reveal a sharper point underneath. So when your cat destroys the corner of your sofa , they are technically engaged in personal grooming. Most cats have 18 claws total, five on each front paw and four on each back paw, and every single one grows directly from the last bone of the toe.

But not everyone thinks claws are cute, though. They still consider declawing a solution to the furniture unfurling. It is not. The ASPCA , the American Veterinary Medical Association, and most of the developed world are firmly against it. The UK, Australia, and much of Europe have banned it outright, as have several US states and major cities.

The reason is straightforward and fairly grim once you understand what the procedure actually is. Declawing is not a permanent nail trim. It is the surgical amputation of the last bone of each toe, which in human terms is the equivalent of removing every finger at the top knuckle. It alters how a cat walks, frequently leads to chronic back pain and early arthritis, and carries risks of infection, nerve damage, and bone fragments left behind during surgery.

The behavioral consequences are also the opposite of what people hope for. Because cats walk on their toes, the altered gait from declawing makes digging in standard litter genuinely painful, which is why declawed cats often start avoiding the litter box and choosing softer surfaces instead.

Carpets. Beds. Anywhere that does not hurt. Claws are also a cat's primary defense mechanism, and without them, many cats become significantly more likely to bite. The scratching problem gets traded for a biting problem and a cat in chronic pain, which is a poor exchange by any measure.