Do you just let it slide when your cats destroy someing expensive and/or dear to you?

Time for kind (not shockpad) traing and some loving handling...As said, get a book to learn how to take care of the cat. Also, cats need to play: is it getting outside and do you play with it? There could also be some territory thing going on as I note you have three other cats. If the kitten is the new-kitty-on-the-block, it could be displaying insecurity so, get the book or give the kitten back!

Cats > possessions.

hahahaha. That's so cute!! My cats never do that. if they get near something I value, I yell at them no or spray them with a spray bottle. If they do it and I'm not there, I show it to them when I find it and yell no and spray them, so they know what I mean. Then I just write it off. It is YOUR responsibility as a cat owner to cat proof your house!!! you've never had cats before or something?? kepp your valuable where they can't get them or knock them over. Designer plates and glasses? keep them in a cabinet. iron? keep them in a closet. furniture and drapes? Teach them to use a scratching post. Don't know how? put catnip on it and toys on it, amke them gt the toy on it and they will learn to scratch it. If they try to scratch your furniture, yell no and spray them with water(yes again). You could also make a "chhhh!!!sccchhhtt!" noise like hissing and scare them away, my husband does that. When i first met him he used to throw things in their direction. I went WHAT are you DOING!!! You can't do that! "I wasn't going to hit them" he says. oh yeah, what if he accidentally did? i got mad and made it known he can NOT do that, and he stopped. especially when I make it known I'll start throwing things in HIS direction too. Also, give your cats some toys. Use disciplinary methods outlined if they jump on counters/tables--make it clear what they can and cannot climb on. If you want to teach a cat TO do something and NOT to do something, give it a treat every time it does what you want it to do. I teach my cats to be so adorable they could be on kittenwar.com and win!! hehe!! :)

our cat has wrecked nearly all the door frames in the house using them as a scratching post as she wont use a proper scratching post. But I would never think of getting rid of her as she is almost 16. She didnt start on the door frames till we got our dog that is almost 6. She has clawed a lot of furniture.

I know someone who bought an expensive leather lounge suite and came home to find the cat had destroyed the back of one of the chairs, they had to shift the chair so the back is against the wall. Yes they kept their cat.

Why do we do this, coz we love them.

Our dogs have destroyed things when they were in the puppy stage too.

Seems you cant have lovely stuff with kids and pets

The cat isn't doing it to be "bad", it's just being a cat. It sounds like you need to invest in some tacky clay - musuem clay, to keep your valuables in place. Or put them under glass if they're absolutely irreplaceable. A living being is more important than stuff.

I would also invest in some noisy toys...crinkly or those balls with bells in them. The kitten has no doubt noticed that when you knock stuff over it makes cool noises.