I am also against declawing. I have adopted 3 cats, all with their claws. We had an old couch which they ripped apart, along with the bed ruffle, the hopechest, the leather chair and more. We were buying new couches and started to get nervous that they would be ripped apart - but we did not want to declaw. We used everything recommended to us in order to lessen the scratching - the sprays, the nail covers, sticky paws, etc. Nothing worked for too long.

Our cats were not vertical scratchers either. We had a 3 foot post that they rarely used. We bought a 7 foot scratching post/cat tree. I was hoping that they would use it. Well, they live in it - they can jump, scratch (not just vertically). And if you spray catnip on it - that's a big help. :-) We also bought a smaller post and put it by the couches - and they use it, not the couches.

Another thing that seemed to help. When we first got the new couches, we were always watching the cats out of the corners of our eyes. When they did try to scratch (it is natural), we would say no and stop the paws before they started (gently of course). It seemed to work because they hardly ever scratch anything except the scratching posts and we can trust them without having to always keep an eye on them.