Originally Posted by LadyMischief

I'm not going to spare the speech, unless there are VERY SPECIFIC circumstances, declawing a cat is cruel. You are smarter to teach your cat to claw in the proper place.. Declawing is mutilation and it will eventually cripple your cat and cause them immense pain (as the muscles they would use when they normally extend their claws atrophe and die), as well as costing you a lot of medical bills to treat the arthritis and subsequent other medical problems that come with amputating a cat's toe to the first knuckle (Imagine someone doing that to you!). You have to socialize them properly to children. Most people aren't willing to put in the time, but if you do, you will have a pet for life that will never lash out. I have three children and two cats and my cats have *NEVER EVER* injured my children, not even when they were babies (but you ALSO have to be willing to teach your children to be kind and gentle to the cat, people who let their kids hurt animals then wonder why the animal hurts the child are fucking idiots). It's a matter of being willing to take a little time to train the cat. Declawing won't prevent child injuries if the kid is hurting the animal, if you think the front claws are bad have you ever had a cat dig their BACK claws into you? The ones that are meant to rip out the soft underbellies of prey? OUCH!!!!!! My cats also NEVER claw stairs or funiture.. get it a proper scratching post that's tall enough (it has to be as tall as the cat is stretched out at least full grown) and make it appealing to them and they will use it.

If you want fluffy, you can go domestic longhair (cheaper easier to find) or Persian or Himalayan (be prepared to pay some thick dollars for these breeds though).

And most kittens come littertrained. It's something their mother teaches them, not neccessarily an person, but when you get a new kitten you simply have to "remind" them frequently (just like any baby) where the litterbox is (putting them in it) for a few weeks.. eventally they just go there when they need to "go".