Thanks for the tips!  I will replace the litter with softer litter tonight.

My son named the new cat "Lobster" (chuckle) and he seems to be doing very
well.  He is goofy and runs over to my feet when I attempt to leave the room
and rolls over onto his back in front of the door.  He is in my
room/bathroom right now because we are in the first stage/week of
introductions to our pre-existing cat, Alex, who is 17 years old.
I have noticed a few things lately...  Alex (my existing cat) is extremely
well-behaved and has been ever since I can remember (I have had him since he
was around 5).  He has never jumped onto a table or counter (I allow the
couch, the beds and anywhere I personally sit on, but if I don't sit or
stand on it, he doesn't either).  He has never scratched the furniture.  He
sleeps under the covers with me all night long.  We "talk" back and forth -
me in english, him in meows.  He knows my name and if someone else says "go
to mommy" or "find mommy" or anything similar, he will find me and meow.  He
always comes when I call him and I hear him on the other side of the door
when I come home from work - he always greets me.  I can bathe him without
protest (well, he whimpers a little) and he will bring me the nail clippers
when it is time to trim his claws.  He also brings me the comb to brush him.
He and I are more like housemates than owner/pet, lol.  The only thing I've
never been successful with stopping is that he LOVES to lick plastic
crinkley grocery bags.  He loves to sit on them and bat at them  and rub on
them and lick them.  He does not chew them. I don't care anymore - let him
have his bags.  In fact, I save all our bags for him to play with when I am
home. He is a himalayan mix.

Lobster, on the other hand, does none of this so far!  I forgot that new
cats do not just automatically "know" my rules.  He couldn't care less about
the crinkley grocery bags but he wants to climb.  He also bites.  I have
been pretty successful in stopping the biting of humans so far.  If he bites
me, I act like it hurt, squeel and withdraw completely.  He did not bite me
or my son (12 years old) yesterday at all, though I could tell he was
thinking about it - he reconsidered and decided that it was better to be
rubbed on the tummy than ignored.  The little guy wants to climb...  I guess
I need to build a cat tree or something - Alex hasn't wanted one for a long
time (arthritis), so I forgot how young cats like to climb.  I found him in
the sink in my bathroom when I went in, so I turned the sink on very
stealthily without saying anything - he jumped down.  I think I'll try
training with upside down carpet runners -- he has already broken 3 glasses
and knocked down water, etc. And this was just in the bathroom.

So all is well so far. :)  Lobster is a joy and seems to be eager to please.
Introductions are going fine so far - tonight I'm going to try propping open
the door a little.

Take Care All!
Jen

No, that's not correct.  Cats can be trained to use a scratching post.  All
of my cats have had their claws except for one that was declawed before I
adopted her.  I have very nice furniture with *no* damage and happy cats
that have a variety of scratching posts.  The posts get shredded; my
furniture does not.  All it takes is a little care and patience to teach a
cat to use a scratching post.

PLEASE do let your cats go outdoors unless you are with them.  You have
already taken their claws; it is now your responsibility to protect them by
giving them an indoor-only environment.

MaryL
(take out the litter to reply)

Photos of Duffy and Holly:      >'o'<
http://tinyurl.com/8y54 (Introducing Duffy to Holly)
http://tinyurl.com/8y56 (Duffy and Holly "settle in")

Declawing IS amputating the last digit! However, it shouldn't involve the
pads. Sometimes the claws grow back If this happened they may have done a
more aggressive amputation. It sucks, doesn't it. The best you can do is
love him and keep him indoors.

One of my cats is declawed and he scratches the post too! It seems funny,
but he seems to enjoy it.