My mom said that very same thing about cat claws once, a long time ago. She had one of her cats de-clawed in front, leaving the back paws completely intact. The problem was, once the kitten came home from the veterinarian, his front paws were so tender that he could barely walk. Plus, the surgery left permanently disfiguring scars on all of his toes, since they had to cut into the pads in order to fully remove the claws. Once he had healed enough to walk properly again, he soon figured out that he could still scratch people if he really wanted to, only he'd have to use his hind feet to do it. De-clawed cats will still go through the motions of scratching at furniture, only they can't do the damage, which is perhaps the only good thing that comes out of the surgery. The paws still remain a bit sensitive to touch however, and handling them becomes a real good way to get yourself bitten. I really don't recommend this process for pets as it is a huge stress on the animal. There are alternatives that you can use for your house cats, such as rubber claw covers, though I personally have never used them. I find it easier to just present the animal with a scratching post and teach him to use it by applying catnip to the post. Most cats are intelligent enough to figure out what a scratching post is for all on their own however.
