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Scratching is a normal habit for cats, but when that scratching is directed at furniture or carpets, it can lead people to take desperate measures such as declawing. I know how frustrating it is to have a furniture shredder in the house, but the good news is that you can correct this behavior.
Cover the furniture with a sheet and then put double-sided tape on the areas where your cat likes to scratch. If your cat scratches the entire couch, you’ll need to cover more than just the corners. Smooth plastic carpet runners are inexpensive and make a great scratching deterrent. Provide your cat with a high-quality scratching post. Scratching posts should be covered with sisal or rope, have a wide base, and be tall enough for your cat to get a good stretch. Place the scratching post next to the furniture and rub some catnip on it. Arouse his curiosity by scratching on the sisal with your fingernails. Then get him to reach to the top by dangling a toy. Once your cat digs in, he’ll start to see how wonderful this new scratching surface is. Cat expert and animal communicator JaneA Kelley is the webmaster and chief cat slave for Paws and Effect, a weekly cat advice column by cats, for cats and their people. |
January 11th, 2010
never had a problem with 5 cats scratching furniture. I tell them “”stop scratching the people furniture, that’s what you have cat furniture for!” They stopped and scratch their own – with plenty of choices. The people furniture has no claw marks.
Ah, but mama’s recliner just feels SO good under my claws!! I do like all the scratching posts too though. I just like to spread the love some!! I listen when mama tells me no, but when she’s not here… hehehe!! She can tell I do it when she’s away cuz the recliner keeps looking worse. ^~~^
Tried all of the suggestions but only partially worked
my cat also rejected all scratching posts etc.
Ha! Only one of my cats scratches the couch, and he’s decimated it. Still, I love him and the couch is replaceable so I’m not cross! Just scared to buy the lovely leather sofa I really want, in case he destroys that too! I’ve tried the scratching posts several times – he used one for a few weeks as a kitten, but seemed to get bored and go back to the couch. Maybe it feels better under his claws? Haha. From then on, he made a point of ignoring the scratching post completely!
My other kitty, his brother, only ever claws the stair carpet, which is better as it’s small and much easier to replace. Though I’d rather they both got into the same habit of using a post as they’d be more likely to copy each other? Maybe I can transition Stitch into doing the same instead of butchering my poor chair!
My mommy got me several scratch posts with differant textures so that I have a variety in which to scratch on! Mommy put them in several places though out my house so that should I get that urge to scatch, I have a scatch post handy! I have some that are vertical and some that are horizontal. I still try to sneak in a few scratches every now and then on my mommies furniture, but when she catches me she tells me “no scratch furniture” and then takes me to the nearest scratch post and runs my front paws down the post and pets me and tells me “good Smudge Kitty!”