Give me the honest low down on what level of destruction to expect

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Dear all,
I have another thread running at the minute on what type of cat breed might be right for me.
I'd also like to get some honest opinions on how much mess/destruction to expect from young cats / kittens. And whether having a pair will be worse /better / the same.
The house is probably the best we have had it in terms of new furnishings. I can get some throws for the chairs. The only thing I am 'precious' about is the dining table and chairs. Are they likely to be clawed to bits?
Just need honest experiences so I know what to prepare for. Thank you!!

If you get them young, you have a better chance of getting them to use scratching posts IMO. Get them to chase a bit of string along the floor then drag it onto the post and they should feel how nice it is to scratch it. Place it near where they want to scratch - this saved our sofa a little too late (quite convenient actually as I wanted rid of it!) .

Investigate breeds as Burmese are going to be way more active and destructive than some others for example.

Can't advise about two, apart from that I regret not getting two when I had the chance!

Great thank you, I will look at lots of trees and scratching thingys with dangly bits to tempt them away.

Mine scratch upholstered chairs & carpets but not table & chairs, fwiw. they have always had a scratching post/tree & do use that but sometimes they just have to scratch wherever they are right now. Little kitten scratchers are a waste of time really, get a tall one from the start.

Kittens will run up curtains if you have them so make sure the rail is sturdy. Cats generally don't (but some do...)

\link{http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scratching_posts/scratching_posts/281653\this post would be good} - we used to have a similar one & my cats would run up & perch on the top like demented birds.

Currently we have a tree somewhat like \link{http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/scratching_posts/medium/medium_cat_tree_height_120_cm/275212\this} although ours came from Lidl (they have pet weeks occasionally)

Thank you, I am thinking MILs nasty knitted baby clothes might actually serve a purpose 9 years on! I will stitch them all into a lovely scratching rug.

Last sofa, chairs etc was demolished by cat but the new one stays under throws (completely covered) and is unmolested.
One divan bed has been badly clawed.
There is wallpaper hanging off in one bedroom. Cat related.
I think that's it!

Not much at all from my two. The little one tries to claw one of the dining room table legs, but can't see much damage. They never do anything to the soft furnishings. Blankets have some thread damage from claws getting caught.

thanks, I will get cheap throws for leather chairs, sofa is old so not worried about that. Will cover dining room table and chair legs. plus buy tall posts in different materials to encourage scratching of those. Do you find indoor cats scratch more?

Just want to put in a word for cardboard scratchers again - they do get destroyed and need replacing eventually, but you can get them very cheap or even make your own from strips of cardboard glued together. I also stuck a carpet tile on the wall which one of mine uses occasionally.

Think it depends on the cat, to be honest.

We've got two, one of them I have never seen scratch anything in the house, the other occasionally scratches the back of my cord-style upholstered chair when he is not getting his due adoration from me. Second hand leather sofa I wouldn't be bothered about never gets touched. I have recently found that, probably due to the warmer weather, he prefers to go out and scratch the fence posts. I have absolutely no problem with that at all

None of my cats have ever gone after wood inside the house. (The Lodger used to sharpen claws on a young tree trunk outside but generally observed house rules when he was in. (We had a little bit of a battle of wills over the very nice quality stair carpet when we moved him here but he conceded on that one pretty quickly.))

The Siamese invariably settle on an upholstered armchair of some description if there's one available and you might need to choose something like that if a cat nominates one - or buy a cheapish one specially. If there are no upholstered armchairs available then I'll usually acquire some decent quality carpet samples and they'll use those once they're anchored in some way - it's pretty easy to train them to it.

I have never had a single cat that would use a scratching post although I know some posters have had great success with them.

Oh - and I've only ever had one piece of china broken and that wasn't really the cat's fault but more my own. I've experienced far more damage from young dogs.

My two use a short scratch post, a cardboard thing and their barrel. They haven't damaged anything at all so far (since may this year)

Has nobody mentioned crapping and urinating on all the wires coming out the back of the TV...?

Never had that one luckily.

You might like to have a look at this though code. It's American so you'll have to ignore the different shape plugs etc - but it's mostly down to good housekeeping. I think that when you get a new cat or kitten you need to go through your house and 'kitten-proof' it in the same way that you would for an inquisitive toddler.

Thanks very much, we don't have many cords within reach, those that are I'll cover and turn off switches at main when we're out of the house.

Thanks for links to scratching posts too, much appreciated.

Nope, never had that one either fool. Cats only do this when unhappy or unwell in my experience.

Yes, cats are mostly inquisitive. I made a very tall scratching post for mine. They haven't been destructive at all.

We always have a real fir christmas tree. Obviously i'll turn off lights when out of the room, cover the tree water etc and we don't have tinsel. do you find they chew the tree?

They're likely to climb the tree IME

YY, definitely tree climbing.

I know that some cats seem to regard Christmas trees almost as a personal challenge but I've always found mine to be well behaved with them. They're interested (as they would be in any change to their environment) but not destructive in any way - although going out and leaving a kitten to have full range around a tree might just be too trusting.

As I said, good housekeping (including sensible precautions and not putting too much temptation in their way.) My own cats have been trained from kittenhood but I still wouldn't leave a cold roast chicken on the floor of the sitting room with the door open.

I still wouldn't leave a cold roast chicken on the floor of the sitting room

Is leaving cooked meat on the floor a family tradition, cozie?

That's good, climbing ok. Poisoning oneself- not so much.