Ah wicker... my desk chair is made out of wicker, which I had purchased in my pre cat days. I initially attempted to keep them off of it, and they were pretty good when I had a scratching post right next to it, but I've since moved the post to a more convenient location and my chair has been torn to shreds (and is now very scratchy on bare legs or back... ).. Too bad I didn't think of bubble wrap sooner!

In any case, I'm 100% against declawing. Although I can understand the argument that declawing a cat to live in a safe home is better than putting it to sleep, I still think there are just too many other options. Soft paws seem like such a perfect solution and are sooo easy. I used them for a while on my cats when they were kittens and were destroying everything in sight. Although it was a little tricky at first, after doing a few nails I was fine. They were squirmy little things too- I had to wrap them in a towel like babies to give them medicine orally. And... soft paws are soo cute and attractive too.