my cat keeps scratching on the furniture.?
Saturday, August 14th, 2010 at
3:54 am
my cat keeps scratching on the furniture. i try keeping her away from it but she wont listen to me. I even have a scratching post for her
Filed under: Cat Scratching Post
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This is how to train your cat to use her scratching post :
http://clawsforever.ning.com/group/anniesbible/forum/topics/scratching-posts-and-training
Everycat has given you a very good answer to which I can’t add much more.
Totally ignore the people who think declawing her is the answer ! It’s a very cruel operation which is the amputation of the cats last toe joints. It’s the most painful operation a cat can endure and it creates a life time of problems far worse than scratched furniture.
The best thing to do if she is an inside cat is to get her declawed this will stop her from scratching. However if she is an out side cat the only get her nails clipped. hope this helps
Declawing a cat can lead to extravagant behavior changes for the worse, I don’t support declawing adult cats. You can buy nail caps that are glued on or trim her nails on a regular basis.
It sounds like your cat enjoys the material of your furniture. There are all kinds of scratching posts (twine, wood, carpet, cardboard) out there, find one that’s similar or try different kinds. You can try to generate interest in it by using catnip either in its loose form or a spray from the pet store. As for your furniture, invest in some double sided tape and put it on your cat’s favorite spots. They HATE stickiness.
First, declawing is ABSOLUTELY NOT the answer. It is inhumane as it not only removes the claw, but a bone in the toe up to the knuckle.
So:
Also, I use this invisible double sided tape I got from the pet store (Petco). I put it on the surfaces in my house my cats most like to claw. People who come to my house can’t tell it’s there and my cats try to claw it and their paws get stuck, which they don’t like.
Cats are very picky about what they like to scratch on. Your cat may really like the material of your furniture. She may not like the material on the scratching post. Try many different kinds. My boy cat likes the rope kind while my female cat likes to claw wood so I got her a piece of a two by four
So yeah, try different things to see what your cat likes and try the tape before you do major surgery on her feet
When she starts scratching something she isn’t supposed to, yell "NO" loudly just once or clap your hands. Then take her over to the scratching post and rub her paw on it in a scratching motion. Put catnip on the post and that will encourage her to use the post as well. Praise her or give her a treat when she uses the post. For your furniture, try anti-scratching spray or double-sided tape where she likes to scratch. Also try a couple of different scratching things, cats like to scratch different stuff. Keep her nails clipped.
PLEASE don’t declaw. This is not a simple surgery it is an amputation it is extremely painful and mutilates the cat. Cats will often turn into biters after declawing and they can have complications which cause them to be in pain and can even change their personality. Plus if they ever get outside they are defenseless; they can’t scratch or even climb trees to get away.
How tall is your scratching post? They need to be at least 4 feet tall to allow the cat to really stretch. When your cat is scratching furniture, she isn’t sharpening her claws, she is exercising her back, neck and shoulder muscles and all the ligaments and tendons in her legs too. She is also scent marking, there are scent glands between each little toe.
Rub catnip or the herb valerian on the scratch post, get some scratch boards/pads too and place them around your home. Praise her gently every time she goes near the scratching places that she’s allowed to use. Praise is really important. Show her yourself (mimic scratching behaviour) how to use the posts and boards.
Some cats have preferences about what texture of material they like best to scratch. Sisal, carpet, canvas? Which does your cat like best?
Dont’ shout at her when you see her scratching something she shouldn’t, it will only scare her and she won’t associate it with her behaviour. Cats have sensitive hearing. Just say "no", pick her up and take her to the scratching post.
Please ignore those telling you to get her declawed – it’s ten amputations of the last bone in each toe and it will cripple her for life. She will be likely to turn into a biter, start avoiding the litter box as the litter hurts her and in later life will develop arthritis, because she has no way of gaining traction to stretch her body properly.
Get some more legal things for her to scratch and place them all around your home, so she has an opportunity to use them wherever she is.
Try a cat tree and to entice your kitty to use it, spray it with catnip spray…you can get the spray at any pet store or even walmarts.
PS, I have declawed my cats because my ex husband made me..it was get rid of the cats or get them declawed. But since we became ex’s I have never had another cat declawed since and I have 11 of them. I don’t have a problem at all with them because I trained them to use their cat tree.
Best of luck to you. If you find you can’t train them to use the cat tree please look into Soft Paws. Those work great too.
You should try using some different types of scratching devices. My cats absolutely love the cardboard scratching pad that go on the floor. They also make the same type of thing but it’s on a diagonal. Also, if your scratching post isn’t tall enough, she may be looking for taller items to help her really stretch out her muscles.
Another thing you can do is try rubbing the scratching posts/pads with some catnip or spraying catnip spray on them. That will make them very attractive for her to scratch. Whenever you see her scratching something she’s not supposed to, just tell her no and gently pick her up and put her by her post. You can even gently take her paw and rub it on the post a few times to help her get the idea.
To help deter her from scratching things that she shouldn’t, try putting some foil or tape on the surfaces so they are not attractive for scratching. There are sprays that you can buy that you spray on surfaces you don’t want her to scratch too.
Your cat will learn eventually. You just need to be patient and kind with her. She understands praise, not reprimand, so be sure to always praise her when she does good but don’t yell at her when she does bad. She can’t associate anger and yelling with doing something wrong. Whatever you do, do not even consider declawing her as some others have mentioned. Declawing is very cruel and disabling. Declawed cats bite and don’t use the litterbox. That’s a whole lot worse than taking the time to train her to only scratch her posts/pads.
Hope this helps, good luck!
You can either train the cat, or get it de-clawed. Some people view de-clawing as cruel, but if done by a professional and done at an early age it isn’t as bad as they make it out to be. Personally I think de-clawing is a little harsh when training the cat isn’t that difficult, it’s cheaper, and it teaches the cat good habits instead of just taking away their toes. To train the cat simply get a water bottle or squirt gun and keep it full of cold water at all times. Carry it around with you and every time you see the cat heading for a scratch make a "psst" noise and spray the cat with water. Cat’s don’t like to be sprayed with water so they will turn away from what they’re doing to get away from the water. After a little while the cat will associate the noise with the water, and eventually you can faze out the water bottle and your cat will respond to the noise alone. You can also pick your cat up and take it to it’s scratching post, pick up it’s paws and make a scratching motion with them on the post, and reward the cat with a treat. It’s not as effective but it will show the cat that the post is a good place for it to scratch rather than your furniture. If that’s all too much work for you there’s a claw capping kit you can get at pet stores that covers the claws to make them soft, but I don’t know much about the product so I’m not sure how well it works. I’ve trained about 6 cats with the "psst" noise and water bottle and never had any problems.