The worst thing about declawing is that the surgery doesn't even have to be botched for the animal to suffer.  The declawing of Neko and Noni was a textbook declawing.  It's just that declawing a cat is like having your fingers amputated at the last knuckles.

Cats' claws are not toenails.

Still, I'd rather have the top of my fingers surgically removed under local anesthesia by a professional surgeon than have them chopped off by a butcher. Obviously I'd prefer to KEEP my fingers, but there is a difference in suffering depending on how skilled the vet is.

That is definitely true.

There is a sci-fi book series called the Chanur series by C. J. Cherryh, which focuses around a space cargo vessel run by lion-like aliens called the Hani.  wiki link

Hani's fingers have webbing from their knuckles to their middle joint, so they use their claws as an extension of their fingers for delicate work.  In one of the books, they rescue a human named Tully who eventually becomes part of their crew.  Unfortunately for Tully, most of the Hani's equipment requires claws to operate (keyboards, gun triggers, buttons, etc), so he has to use a metal pick.