This goes out to all you kitty-savy people out there! Help me decide if it would be OK for us to get one....

I've had lots of kitties in the past...growing up. And two when my hubby and I first got married (about 100 years ago or so ). But we have not had the warmth and love of a furry mammal in the house for going on eight years now.

The primary reason is that my hubby is mildly allergic to cats...and he's an aviator in the Air Force. "Flyers" are not "allowed" to have allergies and if it were ever diagnosed as such, he would lose his flight status. But we had our two kitties for about 8 years without any troubles, until the very end. One kitty was killed...and shortly after that, we moved...and the remaining kitty sort of went nuts and my hubby's allergies went haywire. We had to find a new home for her.

Now...so many years later...I do believe I can control the allergy issues, and he's willing to give it a shot because he loves cats, too. Although we do run the risk of having to re-home it if it causes a serious reaction.

Other than the allergies...my main concern about bringing a new kitty into the home is that we recently bought some new leather sofas. Spent a lot of money on 100% Italian leather. How dangerous are kitty claws to quality leather??? I have no idea...

Kitty would be strictly an indoor cat. I do not believe in de-clawing. Kitty would be spayed/neutered as early as safely possible.

Our other kitties stopped clawing on the furniture as soon as we got them one of those carpeted cat-trees to call their own. So I'm hoping a new Kitty would also be so easily trained. But even so...they love to run and leap and dash across the backs of furniture. Would the leather hold up to that? Or can I expect tons of tiny punctures? Would regular claw trimmings help?

Any experience folks have with cats and leather furniture would be greatly appreciated! (And tips at reducing allergy risks without using drugs are always welcome!)