Owners should not be so quick to judge their cats, though. Scratching is a natural behavior for felines.
Owners have several alternatives to keep their sanity, their cats and their living room furniture.
Perhaps the most obvious option is declawing, where the cat's nails and nail beds are surgically removed. As Fortney explained, part of the bone gets taken off so the nail will not grow back. Generally, only the front set of claws are removed since the cats do the most damage with them. However, for cats with particularly destructive behavior, both front and back sets may be removed. Fortney suggests that the earlier, within reason, that owners get their cats declawed, the better for their cats.