Good morning,

I have no words of wisdom on cutting Amber's claws, but I might be able to provide some advice on the scratching "thing". I have two non-declawed cats and have not had problems with any of the furniture. I am supplied them with a scratching post and extra carpet around the post. To train them to use it I rubbed in catnip (there is also a spray available) and concurrently put the "cat away" stuff on the things I didn't want them to use as scratching posts. Then this was "re-enforced " with the occasional squirt of water (when I caught them). I found after a few weeks they only used the scratching post. I don't know if it will help with Amber since she has already started to scratch the furniture, but it might be worth a try.