Prevent your cat from scratching furniture

Cat Behavior, Cat Training, Cats — By Signe & Mario Monk on May 4, 2010 7:28 pm

Cat scratching post Is your cat scratching expert and tries to use his claws on anything that is not a scratching post? Coach, carpet, wallpapers. Everything gets destroyed in no time. And if object is new and very expensive it is more likely that your cat will want to scratch it. Is there any way to stop it? Actually it is hard because scratching is a natural behavior of cats. However, it is easy to lower damage caused by it.

Scratching post

If you have a cat – one of must-have things is a scratching post. There are many types of them, starting with small tablets that may be attached to a wall and ending with huge sets of cat trees with lots of “viewing platforms” and tunnels. My advice is – do not start with anything large. You don’t know how your cat will like it and if he doesn’t, it is better to throw away something that is smaller and cost less. Get a smaller one (or two) in the beginning. Place it right next to your cat’s favorite scratching point and there you go. I mean – there you might go, but it is not done yet.

You have to train your cat to love using a scratching post. It is quite easy if you use some magic – a catnip spray. It may be applied on scratching post to make it more appealing than furniture to your cat.

After that put him in front of scratching post, take his paws in your hands and gently rub them against its surface. Do not force, but do it gently – just to get an idea.

However, even if your cat understands how to use a scratching post and he loves to do so, it is still very likely that he will try to scratch other piece of furniture as well. Say “Shh” or “No!” or clap your hands loudly if he is about to do it. Pick him up and put him in front of scratching post.

You may try to block access to his favorite scratching place. Put some kind of object in front of it. This might be a chair in example. You might try to close the door to room where carpet is if he likes to scratch it. You may read how to keep a cat out of room if closing the door is not an option.

And again – there are some magic available. Spray that will repel your cat. Apply it on any surface your cat likes to scratch and he most probably won’t go any near. But try not to mix up it with cat nip spray if you do not want a cat destroying your sofa in euphoria.

Lowering damage caused by scratching

Everything above is about how to prevent your cat from scratching valuable things. Another option is to lower the damage caused by scratching. This may be achieved by “neutralizing” your cat’s claws and there are several methods to do so.
Trimming cat's claws
Trimming cat’s claws is probably one of the best solutions. However, if your cat goes outside I would not recommend to do it. If you do, your cat will face some difficulties climbing trees that is very essential escape route when running away from angry dogs and humans. Another huge drawback is that it has to be done regularly. Yes, once in a week or every other week you lazy human.

If you are lazy (just like anyone on this planet) and do not want to trim your cat’s claws that often, you might try to use some vinyl caps that can be applied on cat’s claws. In this case, your cat won’t be able to do any damage to your furniture. One of most popular claw caps are “Soft Claws”. They are invented by a vet, easy to apply and safe to use. They come in huge variety of colors (including transparent if you don’t want a cat from 80′s rock-band) so you can protect your furniture with a style.

Declawing – another option, but it is very inhuman and I do not recommend that. Declawing is an operation to surgically remove animals claws. This operation may cause some several complications and healing period that may be up to two weeks long is quite painful to animal. Some vets agree to perform it only as an alternative to euthanasia (if owner of cat swears to euthanasia animal if it scratches another piece of furniture) and it is actually illegal in many countries. What you will get after such an operation is a disabled cat who won’t walk properly as cats rely on their claws when walking.

Remember how I wrote “another option is to lower the damage caused by scratching”? You don’t really believe that, do you? Actually it is not another option. It is another necessity. In example, I have a scratching post and I trim my cat’s claws regularly. Okay, actually my wife does that, but that’s not the point. I think in most cases you will have to train your cat to use a scratching post and trim your cats claws or use vinyl caps on them. However, there is still no guarantee that your cat won’t try to scratch here and there time after time.