I'm buying 2 kittens this week

[wdeadwyler]

I would reccomend not declawing. I had the greatest cat ever. He was energetic, cute, clever, and just awesome. We declawed him when we moved and he just got fat and depressed. We had to put him to sleep at 4 because he had massive liver damage (not sure what caused this)

My point is he was never the same after we declawed him.

[OrangeCat]

Don't declaw the kitten. You can train them to use a scratching post. The ones made out of sisal (rope or fabric) are the best. Here is a good site :

http://www.purrfectpost.com/html/whycatsscratch.html

You could also learn how to trim their nails. They will resist at first but most kittens will accept it is you start early and pet them a lot when you finish.