What is the best way to get my cat to stop scratching the furnature?
Saturday, March 20th, 2010 at
11:03 am
My cat has recently started scratching on my boxspring of my bed, also a kitchen chair. Other than that, she uses her scratching post. How do I get her to stop scratching where I don’t want her to scratch and stick to her post?
Filed under: Cat Furniture
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Well… It’s been my experience it’s difficult to get cats not to scratch certain things. With the combination of two things, you might be able to get her to stop. First, use some negative reinforcement: when she scratches things you don’t want her to scratch, such as your lovely boxspring and chair, spray her with water. Then, use some positive reinfocement to get the message across: Rub some catnip on her catpost, this will make her more interested in scratching it and possibly detoure her from your furniture. Also, when you see her using her catpost, reward her with praise, telling her she’s a good kitty and scratching her in all the places kitties love to be scratched. You could even give her a cat treat to really get the idea in her head. One other thing that might help her understand, when she starts scratching on things she’s not supposed to scratch on, spray her with the water and then take her to her catpost and pet her if she starts scratching on it or kneeding on it. With the combination of those tactics, you might just be able to train her not to scratch on your furniture. One thing I can tell you that doesn’t work are those stupid sprays meant to keep cats and dogs away from certain areas or off of furniture. I’ve tried several different brands of those sprays and not a single one worked. Good luck to you!
They sell sprays at pet stores for this. Just go to a pet store and tell them your problem and they can tell you what to get. My husband always yells at our cat for scratching, so she learned the hard way.
Get some fresh catnip and putting some on the post. You can also buy a spray at Wal-mart or a pet store that repells animals from that area. It does work but you must continue using it and often.
Is her post tall enough for her to completely stretch out to her full height while scratching? I recently read in some pet magazine that most cats don’t have tall enough scratching posts. Don’t know for sure if that’ll help or not…
Do you trim her nails? That could help some. If that still doesn’t help. I’ve been hearing a lot about these nail covers you can put on cats to keep them from scratching things up. People are really raving about these things. I’ve seen them advertised in Cat Fancy.
If possible, I recommend blocking access to these areas where she’s scratching, at least for a while. That may help get her out of the habbit.
get a water bottle, squirt your cat every time it does something you don’t like it will train your cat that’s what i did i mean and do it a lot just a little is fine
I bought a thing at walmart that is just a tray with cardboard in it, nothing more, and she hasn’t scratched a thing since! My mom did it with her cats too. She has three.
get a cool scratching post, sprinkle some cat nip, and she will be very happy.
you can get her nails removed or get a spray at a pet store that keeps the pets away from that area
Very simple to take care of. Get a spray bottle and put water in it and spray your cat when he scratches. It totally works for me.
You can go the water bottle route if you would like I do recomend that you get one, they come in handy all the time, I have to cats and they love to play around with each other and get on things they should not like the counters a spray bottle works perfect,
Another options is the have their front claws removed, it costs money at the vet but usually only about 40-55 dollars per cat.
Finally something that works great also is to get a scratching post with carpet or twine on it. you can usually find this at your local petco or your favorite pet store.
Use the magic water S-P-R-A-Y bottle! mix a little vinegar of lemon juice to it. cats hate that citric scent
You can have her declawed or buy little rubber "stick on" covers for her claws.
i have the same problem with my 2 cats i have tried everything and the only solution that worked was to get there claws cut regurally at the vet
get her a manicure =P
PUT IT IN A CAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Use this thing called a Scratch Happy. It is just simple cardboard (looks like a piece of a car radiator only cardboard) box that has cat nip in it. These are small and can be but near where the unwanted scratching occurs. You can also get tips put on her nails that will protect you and your furniture.
spray the furnicher with things cats to smell