None of my cats are declawed ... I don't understand why one would go against what is natural to an animal. Just my personal opinion though.
The others beat me to it on the explanation for scratching so I can't add more to that part of the discussion.
However, I will say that I have 4 cats, 3 are true siblings (same mom and dad) .. and all 4 have their own scratching preferences.
A comment about the sisal ... if you have the rope sisal scratching post, have you experienced them easily unraveling? All of ours do so within the first month. Pet supply companies do not make things (scratching posts and toys) durable for cats. All my cats are naturally strong and easily tear and pull at things will playing or scratching. So, we'll have to switch to carpet scratching posts.
Another problem I have is that the pure black cat (not related to the other 3) likes to scratch/pick at things she knows she isn't supposed to. We've had her for almost 11 years now ... she knows what NO means and yet is obstinate enough to do what she wants. She loves to pick at the leather chairs we have in the TV room. I've used the water bottle on her, tapped her on the nose with a strong "NO", and have used all the anti-scratching sprays. I've even used cayenne pepper rubbed onto the chairs. Absolutely nothing stops her from picking at the chairs. We can't have any nice furniture because of her. Even though we've provided and encouraged a scratching post from kittenhood, she still insists on picking at furniture (she does occasionally use the post when she feels like it though).
pffft! Sometimes cats are worse than the terrible twos and teenagers put together! LOL
