Dear Noah's Mommie:

Here's what I do.
1.) each morning, we all three, the two cats and I, go to the nearest sisel scratching post and start scratching... I too, scratch on it. Really. They love it. I have four posts throughout in the main areas of my house (not my bedroom) and they usually use it to get my attention. It seems to be working. I scratch on the posts quite often. I think the cats like to compete with me. 2.) I keep their nails trimmed, weekly. 3.) I reward them with lots of praise when they use the posts - and that is often 4.) I yell at the top of my lungs when I catch them scratching something important - but I let them have at a couple of household items, such as my ironing board cover (go figure) and one old chair on the porch. 5.) For awhile I had to put double sided tape on one chair in the living room (you can get the tape at a hardware store... it is used to hold down carpeting)... Good luck Noah's mommie! By the way, I just love all of Noah's pictures. He sounds like quite the kitty!