I have 2 leather chairs and I cannot keep my cat from scratching them. He has a post but prefers the chairs.?
Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at
1:29 pm
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Filed under: Cat Scratching Post
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I have all leather as well. I make sure my cats have more than one stratching post. I also, make sure that they have their own bedding in each room. You can buy sprays but that may harm the leather. You can get what are called "Scat mats" or alarms from a pet website and magazine called Drs. Foster and Smith. They sell a great deal of items for this. Also, it sucks but resort to the spray bottle with water when the cat goes to scatch. Remember, cats have scent pads on their paws and when he scatches he leaves his mark. He will continue to go back to that spot because he thinks it is "his".
spray the post with catnip which can be purchased from local petstores
put catnip on the post and get some stinky stuff that the cats dont like.
There is a double stick tape you can buy and use it on the areas he tries to scratch. Also if you ever catch him trying to scratch the chairs you can get a spray bottle filled with water and squirt at him. He will learn after a time that it is not right to use the chairs as his scratching post. It sounds cruel but the idea of water and a cat don’t mix thats the point.
cover the chairs with plastic covering.
well i suggest to heavily apply some clear tape on each end of the couch. the big roll. apply it thick, but neat. you would rather have tape on the ends, rather than puncture wounds and stuffing sticking out. which looks more unattractive to you?
also, you can clip their nails. if he can withstand being held for about 10 mins, you can accomplish this task and still save the appeal to the couches.
when you clip the nail, its best to use a regular nail clipper rather than the other shaped ones because their nails are too delicate, and you need as much visibility as possible.
grab the cat, placing it paws in the air on your lap. if he gets squirmy, just apply a lil pressure between your legs, or set him up a lil further towards your chest. kinda like how you and a baby would be watchin t.v.
take his paw and retract the claw. turn the nail to the side, flat side up. examine the claw because this part is vital for you AND the cat. look for pink tissue at the base of the nail going upwards. the lighter the cat the better. if your cat has dark nails, just clip to the middle of the hook in the nail, a lil higher. DO NOT GO ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE CUTICLE> there is meat in that claw that will bleed if you clip anywhere close to it. worse case scenario. the closer to the top the better. but if you see that part im talkin about, youll put 2 and 2 together, and know where to take the cut.
i always save the thumb for last just incase they grab my arm, the other nails are trimmed, and the thumb u usually would grab to realase the grip, you can just grab and clip.
when you constantly do this, this will train the nail to make a endentation from the last clip session, and you will know where to cut from now on.
5 claws on each paw and four on the feet. the feet claws you dont have to clip that far down, because these claws help them balance, feel, and grab their toys better.
these fool proof options are the best bet if you want save "the sexy" in the leather, and safely keep your cat from futher harming them, and if hes a scratcher, you.
good luck and please, NO SPRAY BOTTLES. only people that dont wash their cats (wether self groomed or professionally) do this technique. its degrading to the cat’s confidence, and annoying them with their "pet peeve" is not a good way to show the cat you mean business. thats just plain MEAN.
My three cats have destroyed my leather chairs and couch.
Think to yourself. Which is more important. Cats or chairs.
My wife and I chose the cats. Cats only live once. The leather chairs are long dead.
petsmart sells these rubber tips that you glue to the nails. its called soft claws and its 20$ for 40 caps. you could also use stickypaws which is a tape that you put on the furniture. theres multiple things that could help. the catnip thing can also help. use multiple options at the same time. as for the water, it doesnt hurt a cat, ive never seen a cat drown in 1 spray of water. one thing about the water is you’d have to change it everyother day so that bacteria doesnt build up. good luck.