For years I kept a whicker hamper. The cats loved it. Every 6 months I had to replace it, the best one I found was at JC Penney's. They liked the texture of it.

I kept "Sticky Claws" on the couches. It's a double sided tape, after a month it looks dirty but it did the trick. Kitties didn't want to touch the sticky stuff.

By the time they were done with it you could see through it.

I've since switched to sisal everything. We have many trees and posts that have sisal rope.

I've used real wood posts but they don't care for that.

Next best thing they like is the double wide cardboard scratcher that you can pick up at the grocery or even WalMart.