I agree with the declawing issue. I refuse to declaw my cats just because with a pack of dogs around (no matter how small - I have a pack lol) I don't want to ever worry about the dogs packing up on the cat and the cat being totally defenseless.
Besides, I live more out in the country, so to speak and although I don't let the house cat outside, she has been known to sneak out and I just can not stand the idea of a clawless cat trying to run, climb or fight with no 'backup'.
To protect furniture and walls from claws, use stratigically placed scratch posts. You can experiment with different textures and placement of them to find what your kitten prefers. I have noticed that my cats seem to prefer scratch posts that lay down so they stand on them and stretch lengthwise instead of upright. There is one upright post by the water bowl, but everyone seems to prefer the post that lays down (does that make ANY sense?). Also, I have found that they seem to want one by their food bowl, one by the water bowl and another by the litterbox. It's a lot, but my walls look better now that I figured that out. lol |