If a cat had a scratching post, does that mean that they would NOT scratch anything else?
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at
3:53 am
6 Comments
Cheap Cat Furniture
Cat furniture, cat trees and cat condos are great additions to a cat lover's home, as they provide hours of good fun for the feline companions and keep your own furniture intact.
Cat scratching is a perfectly normal behavior for a cat, and if your cat is scratching a chair or your favorite couch, then you just need to somehow re-direct his or her scratching to other, more appropriate objects.
The consensus from the various Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) is that de-clawing is cruel and unnecessary. I can only agree with this conclusion. However, if you feel that you must either declaw your cat or give her up, we would rather see your cat stay in her home and be your lifelong companion. I only ask that you do not make this decision lightly and just be absolutely sure that you will not change your mind later about keeping your indoor cat once you have it declawed.
You can use nail caps for the cat's front paws as an alternative to getting the cat de-clawed. This is a much more humane choice and it does work to protect the furniture. Just make sure you do not use nail caps on a cat that goes outside, as it will have no defense.
Most pet shops offer different selections of cat scratch posts from which to choose. Some have carpet or rug material on wooden posts and bases. Others are made of rope which is wrapped around the post or pole.
Then there are cat towers and cat trees which are great for the cat to climb and play besides being there for scratching purposes.
Other people like to design their own and make them themselves. This is another option for you as well. Besides going to your local pet store, you can look online for these different cat trees, towers and scratch posts.
One thing that can work well if your cat is still scratching the furniture is to spray some citrus oil on the chair or the couch that they are attacking. This is a good deterrent that usually works quite effectively.
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Nope, especially if it isn’t the type they like to scratch – mine don’t touch their scratching post, but do like their cat tree and other scratching toys they have.
If you give a cat lots of attractive things to scratch they are less likely to scratch the furniture. You can get the kind you hang off door knobs and lay on the ground, and you can get the cardboard or the carpet or many different types. Put catnip in the scratchers or use catnip spray to attract them to them. Cats like to keep scratching in the same places, it is how they mark their territory, so if you start them scratching in places that are okay they should keep going to those places. If they do start to scratch somewhere you don’t want them to put double-sided tape there and they will not like the texture if they go back.
It also helps to keep the nails trimmed, and if there is a real problem try softpaws or some other nail cap.
No, of course not. It may act as a deterent however, and if they like the scratching post you get, they may scratch other things less. But you cannot make a cat not scratch anything else – scratching is in their nature; it is a biological need for them.
maybe not, my cat never scratches anything else…. when am watching her that is cus am sure she does once am away!
I doubt that very much. I’ve a old indoor cat, had all her claws removed when she was a youngster.
Indoor cats live about 20 years. Outdoor cats need their claws, but life expectancy of a outdoor cat is
only about 3 years due to the hazards of wandering freely.
Nope!!!! They will still scratch anywhere they like, just hopefully the post will be the most popular!
no.
but they can be trained to only scratch there — that is the idea, and many cats catch on to this.
I have plenty of scratching options for my cat — vertical carpet posts, horizontal carpet scraps, corrugated cardboard scratching boxes… he gets to pick, and the variety keeps him off my furniture.