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Is there any way to prevent my cat from scratching my furniture?
I'm not declawing her EVER. I know there are sprays to stop dogs from scartching, do they work on cats too?
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Member 1075119
on Jan 2nd 2012
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in Behavior & Training
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Some tips to keep your furniture ok:
1 - Is your cat an indoor only cat? If so, you can clip your cat’s nails (catster tips on this www.catster.com It decreases the damage of scratching.
2 – Get a scratch post or a cat tree. It will give your cat a place to scratch. Remember cats need to scratch.
3 – When your cat scratches the wrong place, say firmly “NO!” and put him/her at the scratch post.
4 – Rubber cat nip at your kitten scratch post. Your kitten will love it! ;)
5 – Put the scratch post near by your kitten favorite scratch spots/furniture.
6 – There are in Brazil some “anti-scratch fabric” for sofas. It works, buy it isn’t the most fashion kind of fabric.
7 – Be patient!!! :)
Zape
answered on 1/2/12.
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Zape gives wonderful advice, and I'd just like to add that I learned here on Catster that it's best to use those corrugated cardboard scratch boxes rather than carpeted scratching posts. Apparently, the cat cannot differentiate between the carpeting of a scratching post and the material on a chair or carpeting itself. You can use the catnip on these corrugated boxes too and the best part is, when one is worn out you can purchase a replacement board for it for a few dollars.
Izadore (Izzie)
answered on 1/3/12.
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You can also buy double sided sticky paper to put along the corners of your furniture. Larger strips are available at most pet stores and I can attest to the fact that it works!
The cat doesn't want to scratch any where that his feet are sticking so put it anywhere you don't want him to scratch.
If you are cheap like me, buy double sided carpet tape, it is MUCH less expensive BUT is white instead of clear like the "real" stuff.
I have used this for years...it works for upholstered furniture, leather, and even works on woodwork...basically anywhere the tape will stick and the cat will scratch.
Smokey
answered on 1/3/12.
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Nail trimming and good, sturdy scratching posts or trees are definitely a must. You can't stop her from scratching inappropriately if she doesn't have a safe and satisfying place she is allowed to scratch. We second that carpeted posts are less than ideal, but we've found more of our cats respond well to sisal rope covered posts (often found on inexpensive {$25-150} cat trees, search for "cat tree" on eBay in the Cat Supplies section to see some examples) over those little cardboard scratchers. In addition to luring her with catnip it's good to reward her with treats when you see her use her posts so she knows she's doing it right.
There is also a pheromone spray for cats called Feliway. It mimics the comforting pheromones in cat's cheeks that they don't like to mix with the more aggressive pheromones from scratching (or urine marking) so it helps them change their habits, but it's really secondary support to training her to scratch in better places where she should be scratching.
Cali
answered on 1/3/12.
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