Cats Scratching Furniture

[pennypinch]

As most of you probably know this can be a nightmare. It's natural for cats to scratch things. It's a way for them to sharpen their claws and mark their territory. It's hell on the furniture though. And it can be really hard to break them of doing it.

One way to try and break them from scratching the furniture is to have a spray bottle of water on hand. If you catch them trying to scratch the furniture give it a quick squirt or two. They hate getting wet and yet it won't hurt them at all. After a while they will associate the actions of scratching the furniture with getting wet and they will quit trying it.

Another good way to break them of the habit is to play heavy duty aluminum foil along where they like to scratch. Most cats hate the sound of crinkling foil and so they will avoid those areas.

Of course you need to provide them with a place where they can scratch all they want. Purchase several scratching posts and place them in different areas of the home. Make sure they are tall enough. Cats like to stretch as they scratch. (Kind of like a guy sitting on the couch rofl)

[dimetime]

OMG I know the damages that cats can cause to a home. I had two kittens at one time and before I knew it there were gouges in my bed posts, couch, kitchen chairs, door frames and so on.

The damage was unreal. They even had a scratching post, though what I did't realize that because there were two cats in the home that one of them would refuse to use the post because the other had used it.

After getting a few other posts in the house and dousing them with a bit of cat nip to attract them. The furniture stopped being damaged and after a while I was able to get everything replaced.

Though to replace everything that they had damaged cost me a almost two thousand dollars. There was a lot of damage and plus I had to replace sections of the walls because they ruined it.

If you have cats make sure that you have things on hand for them to scratch on like the posts for cats, if they tend to turn their noses up at them, sprinkle them with cat nip. That will make them want to use them.

[carol b]

Great ideas there ladies. My cat loves to scratch my office chair. It is the only thing that she is allowed to claw.

Its an old chair and it is something we agreed upon. I myself used the spray bottle of water to teach her to leave everything else alone.

My new issue is my dog raising his leg to my couch. I had him fixed but that didn't help. He knows he isn't supposed to I suspect as I can never catch him in the act.

What do I do I love him but if he keeps it up he's out of here. He is a small dog and putting him out all winter scares me.