PLEASE HELP! Advice needed FAST!

Question
Hello, I really need some advice about my two cats. We have one female and one male, and they are going to the vet tomorrow to get fixed. The problem is, my husband is insisting they get de-clawed while they're there. I am opposed to this, and we have had several discussions, and I even showed him pictures of what happens to cats when they are de-clawed, and the psychological and physical effects as well. He is not convinced. The reason he wants them de-clawed is because they are damaging our carpet from scratching it up. We trained them to use a scratching post when they were kittens, and they do use it, but they do all the scratching of the carpet when we are either not home or asleep. We can never seem to catch them in the act to redirect them, so it has been very hard to train them not to do it when we aren't there. We have tried every distraction we can think of to get them to stop, all to no avail. Here's what we've tried so far:
*aluminum foil (they bite and scratch it up until they can reach the spot they want to scratch)
*rubber bath mat (same thing)
*plastic desk chair mat (same thing)
*welcome mat (carpet) (same thing)
*cardboard box (same thing)
*we tried putting their scratching post on the spot, they moved it out of the way
*soft claws (they bite them all off within 24 hours)
*trimming their claws every 2-3 days (I don't know how, but they still manage to rip up the carpet)
My husband is convinced that there is no other way to save our carpet but to get them de-clawed (or get rid of them, but neither of us can bear to do that). PLEASE, do you have any advice or suggestions of an alternative that works, so that I can convince my husband not to do this to our babies!? I'm sorry its last minute, I tried asking other people and have gotten no response. I AM DESPERATE!!
Thanks,
Jodi

Answer
If this were my husband, I would tell him that these are MY cats and I say absolutely NO declawing.  I am a huge animal lover and would pick a cat over a man any day haha.  

To solve this problem, I recommend that you purchase 2 large dog kennels and lock each cat up in its own kennel at night so they never get the opportunity to tear up the carpet even further.  Stick a small litterbox it the back of the kennel, and then hook some food and water bowls to the door of the kennels.  To make it comfortable, put a few old towels in the bottom of the kennel so the cats can have a nice cozy place to sleep.  

They will soon come to love their new "house" and may even retreat to it when they want to go somewhere just to relax and be alone. Put each cat in their own kennel every night before you go to bed.  You will know that they are safe and warm and at the same time not getting into any trouble.

You must also let your husband know that declawing is just out of the question and absolutely NOT an option.


I hope you solve your problem soon!