How to Get Your Cat to Stop Scratching The Furniture
by mylifewithpets | Last updated on October 26, 2021
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For me, cats are the perfect life companions.
They love to cuddle (on their own terms), are pretty independent and clean.
However, cats also have a habit that often makes people avoid sharing a home with them: scratching the furniture.
If this is a problem in your home as well, you’ve come to the right place!
I’m about to tell you what I did to stop my beloved cats from ruining my furniture easily and you can do it too!
4 Reasons Why Cats Scratch the Furniture
All cats need to scratch, for their health and happiness.
When cats are scratching the furniture they may be doing it for on of these reasons:
- To stretch and strengthen their upper bodies
- To release their own odor through glands on their paws, as a way to mark their territory, particularly in a multi-pet home
- To keep their claws healthy, by shedding the outer nail husk periodically, keeping the claws sharpen and healthy
- To feel good, by releasing stress and anxiety that sometimes cause unwanted behavior
Why You Should NEVER Declaw Your Cat
It may seem like an obvious solution to this problem but declawing is inhumane and abhorrent.
The procedure consists of removing the cat’s digits up to the first joint, not only the claws.
Not only is the recovery painful and tricky, cats will often develop chronic pain because of it.
It fundamentally changes the way your cat walks, balances, jumps and overall interacts with her world.
Most cats get so traumatized by this, they become aggressive and develop other unwanted behaviors, like urinating outside the litter box and biting.
5 Ways to Stop Your Cat From Scratching The Furniture
We’ve established that scratching is a necessity for cats, so we can’t just expect them to stop doing it.
The key here is finding ways for them to scratch at their heart’s content in a way that’s acceptable to you.
While deterring them from scratching your furniture.
Here’s how to do that.
1 – Give Your Cat Plenty of Scratching Options
If your cat needs to scratch and you don’t want her to do it on your couch, give her other more appealing options.
And by this, I don’t necessary mean to get one of those huge, ugly cat trees and place it in the middle of your living room.
There are other alternatives!
Like nice-looking cat trees. And other more creative options.
Wall mounted cat scratchers are a great option for your home.
They allow your cat to really stretch while scratching, which is something she’ll really love.
If you prefer to leave your walls alone, you can also get your cat a disposable bed/scratcher.
Cats are lazy, so being able to scratch where they sleep is a must.
Also, it’s something you can just replace when you cat has done her damage to it without breaking the bank.
Last but not least, a cat tree.
Cat trees have the advantage of being much more stimulating for your cat than just an ordinary scratcher. It may just become her favorite place to be and scratch!
2 – Use a Cat Deterrent Spray
So while you’re presenting your cat with all these wonderful scratching options, you need to make her rethink her fondness for scratching the furniture.
You do this by making the furniture as unappealing as possible.
First, you change the scent with a cat repellent in the scent she detests the most.
Remember to only use it on the parts she scratches, unless you want your cat to stay off the furniture altogether.
You’ll probably have to spray it a couple of times until she loses interest completely.
Also, you can add an annoyingly sticky tape to your furniture so that her claws will get slightly stuck whenever she tries to scratch.
She’ll absolutely hate it!
The reasoning here is simple enough.
Making the furniture look unappealing while presenting very appealing, available options that won’t get her in trouble.
You can also add a bit of catnip to the scratchers to enhance the appeal.
Either way, cats are very smart (although stubborn) so you cat should get to the obvious conclusion pretty quickly.
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