Training Tips to Stop Cats from Scratching FurnitureProvide appropriate scratching alternatives, such as scratching posts.Make your furniture less attractive to scratch on.Keep your cat’s nails trimmed so they’re not so sharp.Consider a claw cap for your cat, such as Soft Paws, to block damage from scratching.
Why Do Cats Scratch?
Understanding why your cat scratches your couch or other furniture in the first place is necessary before you can teach her not to do so. Cats scratch things for several reasons, including:
- To stretch. A cat’s body’s muscles and tendons, from her toes to her neck and shoulders, benefit from exercise and stretching when she scratches.
- To mark. Scent glands on a cat’s paws release scents when it scratches objects, designating her territory. It’s critical that feline social structures employ this communication technique. She will feel compelled to communicate in this way even if you are the only cat owner in your home.
- To maintain claw health. When necessary, scratching aids in a cat’s periodic shedding of the outer nail husk, maintaining the health of the claw.
- To feel good. Scratching just feels great to cats. It reduces stress and lessens the chance that your cat will pick up additional undesirable habits.
Now that you know why scratching is important to cats, you might wonder if it would be best just to have your cat declawed, so you dont have to worry about ruined furniture. Its important to understand that declawing a cat is an amputation of the digits up to the first joint. Its painful, fraught with possible complications during and after surgery, and changes the way your cat walks, balances, and interacts with her world. You can learn more about why declawing is considered inhumane by many people, is banned in several countries, and may be made illegal in some US cities soon in this article: “Declawing Cats: Banning Declaw Surgeries.”
The surprising reasons cats are destructive — and how to get them to knock it off
(Christina Gandolfo for The Washington Post)
Sarah Everett is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. Her first name was spelled incorrectly in an earlier version of this story; she also prefers to go by her middle name, Ellen, which is how she is currently identified.
First, the bad news: You won’t be able to completely stop your cat from scratching. Cats naturally engage in this behavior, which they do for a variety of reasons. They use it to maintain the best possible condition for their claws and to mark their territory with pheromones secreted through their paws and the visual cue of scratch marks. Additionally, as you have undoubtedly observed, scratching provides a chance for a decent stretch. After all, you must allow your cat to be a cat!
But don’t despair. There are ways to keep your sofa or rug safe. The secret is to reroute your cute little destroyer to a different target. Here’s how.
Put the scratching post in the right location
If you conceal the ideal scratching post, it won’t matter where you find it. Not because your cat has been taking a lot of pleasure in your favorite chair as payback, but rather because you two spend a lot of time in it According to Everett, cats prefer to mark busy areas of the house as their territory because those are “areas where they get good attention from their owners, like petting and cuddling and playing.” (When you put it that way, it’s kind of sweet. ).
According to Everett, “They don’t care about scratching areas of the home that aren’t valuable to them,” so setting up a scratching post in an infrequently used area won’t work. Rather, place the post close to the furniture your cats are damaging so they will be more likely to recognize it as a replacement. For added appeal, you could add catnip to the post.
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