How to stop your Cat From Scratching Furniture?

Think of it as a feline manicure!!

Your cat doesn’t scratch your furniture or carpets to upset you, she scratches to clean the exterior sheath of her nails, remove cuticles and to sharpen her claws. As you can’t stop your cat from scratching, there’s a lot you can do to protect your furniture.

Here are some tips for keeping your cat from scratching your furniture.

Invest in a Scratching Post

When your cat digs her nails into your antique furniture, it’s easy to lose your temper and yell. That will only confuse and provoke your cat. The best thing to do at this time is to pick her up and place her next to a scratching post as a means of redirecting her behavior. 

Scratching posts provide cats with an outlet for their instinct to scratch while saving your furniture and carpets.  You can also choose a scratching post that is similar to the material your cat likes to scratch.

Most cats prefer scratching posts made out of rough material they can shred. Scratching posts are ideal because they are satisfying to scratch and tough enough to stand up to repeated use. You can try variety of scratching posts, cardboard or rope, to find the one your cat prefers. 

Cats that scratch chair legs or the corners of your couch may prefer a vertical scratching post, while cats that scratch rugs and carpets may prefer a horizontal scratching post.

Scratching posts should also be stabilized to ensure that they don’t move or tip over and scare your cat while she is using them.

Cats scratch to leave scent marks that define their territory and tell other cats they have passed through.

In multi-cat households there should be several scratching posts, both vertical and horizontal, located throughout the house.

Few training tips to get your cat used to scratching a post instead of your furniture :

  • Make the post more inviting by rubbing catnip or spray catnip oil onto the post.
  • Every time your cat uses the scratching post, give it a treat.
  • Show your cat how to scratch her post by using your own fingernails.
  • Hang a toy over the scratching post so that it bangs against the post. When you cat swipes at the toy, she may discover the joy of scratching the post behind it.