BTW, what is the best way to discourage a cat from scratching furniture? Scratching posts everywhere? It's very possible we might choose instead to rescue a cat who has been declawed.
The honest to God truth is that of the... 8? 9? cats that i've had in my life, not one of them was a furniture scratcher. Our Bengal does like to claw at the carpet sometimes, but only in one spot upstairs that's not real noticeable. I've only employed scratching posts with great inconsistency.
That said, my advice would be to get a post and a kitten at the same time and introduce the latter to the former, right after you show it the litter box (which should be set out and full when you get it home).
After you've shown it those two things, then show it the food dish.