I think the best thing is if your cat is able to go outside in the yard, and then they can actually do their scratching on a tree, instead of on the furniture. I agree that declawing a cat is it a good thing, and is hard for the cat to ajust to not having claws, although I have had cats before that someone had declawed, and they were healthy, happy cats, with no real problems abut being declawed.
One cat even was a great mouse catcher. He would grab the mouse with his paws, and then get his teeth into that mouse FAST ! He had probably been declawed as a kitten and lived that way all his life, so he really didn't know anything different.
