I just lost ma precious Persian last night. He died in his sleep so I am greatfull he didn't suffer. He was on heart medicine for over year and half. I found him when I got home,curled up as he would sleep, all stiff w/eyes partially open. So I am very sad and crying.....
Sorry I had to tell the whole world about this.
I used to have Aussie and I still have himmie kitty too. Both of my cats were adopted when they were about year old. One was already de -clawed and my Persian boy had his claws. I could never ever cut their paws just b/c I worry about my furniture. Thats like when you have kids w/all white interior. You will get some mess and damage. My persian was pretty good at not shredding things. He found a chair he liked to claw on so I moved it in my office and he even slept on it too and as he got older, he stopped the clawing. Since I got him he was a climber more than shreder. I got the tall kiddie condo and he used his claws on it. I even had to re-carpet it for him.
However I had very expensive custom leather sofa and he loved to lay on it and chased his tail and so I have lots of tiny scratches on it and lots of pin holes from his claws. First couple of years I had to have it covered w/ big sheet of clear plastic, as he got older he just laid there sometimes.
From my experience, cats are easier, more independend. You don't have to walk them. I used spray bottle when my persian tried to claw things and he stopped. There is also spray on the market (some hormone things)I tried and it did keep him off. My persian also peed and pooped few times too in places in the begining and I was eventualy able to keep one spot for him that he kept "marked" all his life well hidden so nobody knew about it.He was fixed but for some reason he had to do this. It was another chair, I put folded towel on it and fuzzy throw over it. Every so often when he peed on it I washed it but his scent was on it and he was happy w/it and so was I.
I grew up w/cats,dogs and barn animals and I love them all.I think regular cats are different. Persians are more independent and Himmies are dog like. They just need more brushing than regular cat.And they don't really need baths.I would recommend to find older kitten or you can adopt retired kitty from breeder. They are usually fairly young 4-5 years old and in good health w/good care. They would make great pet. And they can still be trained too. My himmy knows she is not allowed on one side of the kitchen counter but the other side is like her perch. Little squirt bottle works but gentle training without yelling works. Just removing them from places they did bad things works too. After using spray bottle few times just let it sit in the spot and she will eventually learn.Dogs do need time to train properly and so I thing you would be happy w/kitty. Even though I love Persians more than Himmies I would recommend a Himalayan, you will love it, you can teach her tricks too.

Bellow is some info on declawing. I hope this will give people an idea how horrible it is . My Himmie has defformed front paws/partially missing the tips b/c someone worried more about furniture than well being of the cat.

http://maxshouse.com/facts_about_declawing.htm http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/
http://declaw.lisaviolet.com/declawpics.html

I'm so glad you answered. I think I will run by the animal shelter Monday and take a look at older cats and see how that works out. I wonder how long it will take for he/she to train me.

Definately he/she will be your boss but let her settle, just show her around,give her time. When I got my Persian at year old,I actualy knew him from the breeder-I use to help him w/kitties.Benja lived under the beg for couple of months. He ate during the night and used litter box at night too. Eventually he came out but it was years before someone could even take a look at him. I was the only one to be able to pick him up and brush him etc. He turned out to be very loving cat just very shy. My boyfriend of two years was able to teach him "speak"(he meowed) when he wanted treats.It was too cute.
Good luck w/your new kitty!

My cat doesn't scratch the furniture. He never has for some reason. My other two did. He does scratch on the carpet (which is good for me as I have countdown on to hardwoods). Unfortunately, the dog does all the damage once the hardwoods are in:(. I, personally, am not a cat person but once in the house for awhile they do grow on me - husband and kids are. Keep their nails clipped and it does a lot less damage plus it's very easy to do on cats.
PS sorry about losing your cat.

I have trained my cats to use a scratching post. If they have claws they need to scratch somewhere. I got one as a kitten and adopted another one who was about 3 yrs old and used furniture. First to break habit I pinned heavy plastic on all corners of furniture. Then I sit on sofa and just wait for a furniture scratch and squirt w/water bottle. I also pick up cat and "show" then how to use scratching post and give them a treat. (I use a sissel rope wrapped post) They now run to post and scratch to get a treat. I don't give them one everytime, sometimes just a scratch on chin and praise...they still want their treats though. Have also used catnip rubbed on post and pinch of catnip as treat so they don't get too fat.