Stop Your Cat From Scratching Furniture

Is your cat scratching your furniture or causing other damage in your home? Before you get angry, or even take action on getting your cat to stop scratching where she isn’t supposed to, it’s important to know why cats scratch and claw.

There are several reasons that cats may be scratching different objects around your home. Sometimes your cat is doing it to communicate with you and get your attention. They also may be scratching certain items in the home to mark their territory. Beyond those behavioral reasons, cats need to scratch to keep their claws healthy. It keeps them strong and also removes the dead layers on top of the new ones.

Scratching is an instinct for cats and instead of trying to stop it, the best thing to do is direct your cat to an object that she is allowed to scratch. This should be a scratching post or a scratching pad. Don’t use an old piece of furniture as then she might get confused as to why she can scratch one but not the other. It’s easier if she just has her own unique scratching object.

Once you have something that your cat can call her own to scratch her claws on, take her over to it and even gently put her paws out and do the motion in a friendly manner. Every time you catch her scratching on anything else, just pick her up and bring her over to her scratching object. Once you’ve done this consistently for a while, your cat will understand and change her habit.

As with humans, cats have personality and preferences. There is a chance you might have to switch her post ot a pad, or try a different style before you get one that she loves and actually wants to scratch on. One thing you should make sure of is that the cat can stretch out her whole body to it’s full length when scratching on it.  Scratching pads usually are a hit with most cats and are fairly cheap, but it’s up to you to see what your cat likes the most.

The important part is the consistency during the transition period in teaching your cat that this new object is the only place she is allowed to scratch.