Originally posted by Chinadoll
Adding my 2 cents...

I would highly recommend other alternatives before declawing. Declawing is solely for the benefit of humans and not in the best interest of the cat.

It isn't very hard to train your cat to a scratch post. All it requires is a little time and a squirt bottle. It also helps to have a scratch post/scratching area in every room your cat frequent until they get the hang of it.

It also helps to keep your cat's claws clipped regularly. Clipping/trimming the claws will greatly decrease the damage when your cat does scratch. Soft Paws is also an option.

At 4 months old you kitty is still a baby and learning. You wouldn't remove a dog's teeth because as a puppy he chewed on everything(meaning furniture shoes etc..)? If your kitty started biting as a form of play, you wouldn't remove his teeth, would you? Instead you'd teach the kitty that's not an acceptable form of play.

I have 3 cats all of which came to me between the age of 5 to 12 weeks. With a little effort on my part, they were all trained to a scratch post within the first few weeks. They were all fixed at 6 months and all get their nails clipped every other week.

Please reconsider declawing. There are other options...even for the wildest of kitties, he's still young enough to be trained.
JMHO
I have a foot stool just for my cat to scratch on & so far that has been all she has used.I also have a scratching post for her & with a little catnip in it to start with she loves it . I have not heard of "soft paws
what is "Soft paws" & what do they do to the cat ?