Declawing cats is so awful, because it amputates the toes up to the first knuckle. Cats don’t have sweat glands on their bodies like we do. Instead, although they do sweat through their paws, they rely more on the evaporation of saliva off their fur to maintain normal body temperature.
Cat’s paws also contain scent glands, and the scent, mixed with the sweat from their paws, is used to mark their territory while they’re engaged in walking, kneading and scratching behaviors. In addition to marking their territory, cats use scratching posts and other surfaces to hook their claws in deep to allow them to engage in a full body stretch.
This benefits them physically and mentally and is another reason not to declaw the animals. All cats sweat through their paw and they all use this process to mark territory that is theirs.