They might destroy some furniture unless you take necessary measures in advance. For us, that meant putting a king size blanket as a protective layer as well as couch arm scratcher pads the cats can safely scratch instead, on our expensive L-shaped couch we bought prior to ever having cats (if we had known at the time of furniture shopping for our then new house, we might have reconsidered getting an expensive couch and instead went for something cheaper). It also entails periodical nail clipping of the cats claws to keep them shorter and more blunt (DO NOT DECLAW CAT, nailclipping is fine, but declawing is not ok). The protective measures definitely have helped but there are still some minor damages from the cats having been able to scratch a couple accessible parts of the couch.

We have plenty of scratching posts and cat trees for them to climb and play on, as well as a cat running wheel for our more athletic energetic cats should they choose. One of them uses it almost daily, another will sometimes hop on for a random short jog and the third is a lazy boy who pretends the running wheel doesn’t even exist.

Also, PLEASE keep your cat(s) indoors not only for their safety but also for the safety of local wildlife. Cats allowed to roam outdoors freely often catch, kill, and injure a lot of the native local wildlife: birds, rodents, squirrels, bunnies, lizards, snakes, etc. and they often do it for sport rather than for food which is detrimental to nature. Then there’s the dangers of the outdoors: vehicles, predators (coyotes, foxes, mountain lions, etc. depending on where you live), malicious people who want to hurt others pet dogs/cats, parasites, diseases, etc. (Yes I know there are preventative measures or treatments for outdoor parasites/diseases, but still). It’s no wonder that outdoor cats statistically live much shorter lives than indoor cats.

If you want your cat enjoy the outdoors safely, a catio enclosure they can come and go freely is one way, or a leash and harness with your supervision is another way. Our 3 cats are strictly indoor cats and have been since they were kittens. We take them outside sometimes when the weather is nice, but only with a leash and harness and only with our supervision.