Big Words and Stuff

I'm an ailurophile. I tell you this for two reasons:

(1) It's a big word, and I don't know too many big words, so when I can use one, I do.

(2) I am wrestling with a moral dilemma.

I have three cats: Oliver, Porkchop, and Applesauce. We have had them for about 5 years, and seriously, my husband and I treat them like they are our children. Furry children. But ever since the babies came home, we have not been able to give them the attention to which they were formerly accustomed, as you can imagine.

While they used to occasionally use our rugs and couches as scratching posts, it was never a huge issue. Their fur (and their tendency to shed it all over my couches) was the biggest problem, but we managed to confine their need to sharpen their claws to scratching posts and mats. However, since the babies have arrived, the cats are completely annihilating our furniture. Our couches are shredded and they are pulling tufts of fabric out of our new, beautiful Oriental rug.

So now, I'm thinking about something that pre-baby I would have described as barbaric. Declawing.

Can anyone put my mind at ease about this? I obviously want to protect my possessions, but I don't want my cats to be in any permanent discomfort.

I should mention that they are completely indoor cats since we live by a busy road.