You must also remember that cats are genuine carnivores. They are natural hunters. They will not survive on a diet of grains and vegetables. In fact, they don t need these types of food. They only need meat. Their bodies require a great amount of protein than any other mammal. You may opt to give your cat canned cat food or dry food. Before you head off to have him de clawed, you may want to try out some of the alternative methods of preventing the scratching. Alternatives One way is to provide them with scratching pads or posts. There are a wide variety of them available including those that are part of a cat condo. You can even make your own by using two foot high section of a four by four, two foot by two foot piece of heavy plywood and a carpet remnant. In order to get them under control, you ll need to use one of the liquid flea and tick treatments. You can also use flea or tick collars and baths as well. If the fleas are in your house, as they probably are, then you will need to use a powder or spray for the bedding and upholstered furniture too. As a last resort, you can use a flea and tick bomb in your home. Use the sprayer but if this scares him, you ll need to pour water over him using the pitcher. A word of warning, do not pour water on his head. You ll clean his face later. Now he s wet. You can squeeze a palm sized amount of shampoo and massage the shampoo into his coat. Use slow, calm motions and he ll relax and maybe even will enjoy it. Never hurt or shout at your cat, or it will associate you with the unpleasantness. Instead put some dry beans in a tin and shake it briefly if you cat is being bad. When the cat obeys, praise and stroke it. Treat your cat with food when it does well, it will learn to associate a good behaviour with food. This is a surgical procedure where the nails are permanently removed so that it will not grow back. However, you should still ask your vets advice if you want to go for declawing because with this, cats will lose a natural defense mechanism. A better and kinder option is to regularly trim the cat s nails, have them use a wooden post for scratching, or crate-training to prevent them from clawing at your most-treasured possessions.