My cats wont stop scratching!!

[Kalika]

I have two cats. They are scratching my couches like CRAZY. And the bedspreads, but not as much.. Mostly my three couches and a desk chair I have in the upstairs of my house.

 

I already had to duct tape the corner of one of my couches because they managed to scratch a huge gouge in it over time and the stuffing was coming out - now they are moving onto scratching my other couches!!

 

Any advice?? It's driving me crazy!! I really dont want to have them declawed but I am starting to think this may be my only long term viable option.

[Scorpion Fury]

Spray them in the face with a water bottle.

 

Also helps if they have a scratching post/ tree thingie made of carpet

[jengh]

Can you get a spray bottle and squirt them when they start scratching? This worked for little miss Cairo.

[JadedStar]

Cats love the corners of couches!

 

The way we curbed this habit when my SO and i moved in together and he bruoght his cat was I bought a bunch of scratching posts that i planted all thru the house. She prefers those now to the edges of the couch and chairs.

 

EDIT: What cairo said above is also a good method to encourage them to use the scratching posts! LOL

 

My dog sees me get the squirt bottle and she immediately drops whatever bad thing she was doing. LOL

[redhearts]

Ya having some scratching posts for them to climb on and play, they will focus their attention on that and not your furniture. I remember when my cat did this, we had to put slip covers, then for some reason she wouldn't scratch. But yes the spray bottle works.

[jengh]

my dumb cat can't figure out how to use scratching posts

[redhearts]

Oh that is easy though. If your cat doesn't know how to use a post, all you have to do is:

 

Grab their paws in a light way, and well this is hard to explain. Just basically show them by holding their paws to the post and putting their paws up and down. Eventually they will understand.

[jengh]

Oh that is easy though. If your cat doesn't know how to use a post, all you have to do is:

 

Grab their paws in a light way, and well this is hard to explain. Just basically show them by holding their paws to the post and putting their paws up and down. Eventually they will understand.

 

I'm going to try this right now!

[jengh]

FAIL....she ran away and is now just staring at me.

[Kalika]

I have a bunch of scratching pots everywhere and they won't use them!!!

 

But.. I just put catnip on one of them for the first time.. my one cat won't go near the catnip but the other cat has gone completely crazy..

[JadedStar]

I have a bunch of scratching pots everywhere and they won't use them!!!

 

But.. I just put catnip on one of them for the first time.. my one cat won't go near the catnip but the other cat has gone completely crazy..

 

Try the slipcover route - they have the kind that just go over the arm and down the front of the corner where the cats are likely having at it...that way you don't have to do the whole couch. IT is true that for some reason cats don't enjoy scratching on that as much, probably because it is not taut and they like it to have resistance when they scratch and knead the claws.

[MyheartorHis]

Put plastic over the couch that they have been scratching (and whatever else they shouldn't be) and spray them with a water bottle and say "No" very firm. Once they start using the post, give them treats so they know they are doing something right not wrong.

[KG]

They make a spray that deters cats...it's some sort of scent they don't like. Combined with the water trick, and scratching posts, should do the trick.

 

My cats have learned to destroy the furniture after I've gone to bed!

[Kalika]

Slipcovers wont work b/c htey're trying to scratch the back corners. I just bought some Sticky Paws so I'll report back on how those work.. but there are some things that I can't save this route, like my mattress cover (they like scratching the mattress)..

[BreatheMe]

Put olbus oil on it. They hate it.

[summerpeach]

I have 4 cats and they use the trees outside to scratch so never scratch my furniture. But they used to try

They know who's boss, me!

 

You need to show them who's boss. Ever see that show The Dog Whisperer? It's not only dogs that can be trained.

 

Show your cats who's boss by eye contact and being affimative.

[thejigsup]

Chenille and denim are two fabrics that cats either will not claw or cannot harm if they do. All the furniture in my place is one or the other.

[Kalika]

I can't replace my furniture right now Gahhh they are driving me crazy, nothing I am doing is working as far as training goes. I am seriously considering something like tendonectomy. Has anyone done this to their cats?? I'm at a complete loss.

 

I sticky pawd some things, they didn't like it and just started scratching other areas of the couches. I have four couches in my living room and i can't sticky paw every single part of them!!

[arwen]

Consistent 'punishing' *cat-friendly punishing* only works if you catch the cat red-handed. Have plant sprays with water at several locations in your house, so you can grab them in a second when your cats are scratching.

 

Other methods are loud noises, for our cats a loud clap of the hands near them will startle them enough to run away.

 

They are so trained now that even a raised voice that says Eh-Eh!!! (you know, how you would maybe also use that tone to a child that does something it shouldn't and they KNOW they shouldn't?) will do the trick.

 

And, importantly... offer them a CLEAR place that is intended for them to scratch. Offer both a horizontal and vertical scratching thing and put a toy they like to play with near that. Place it near to the place they sleep on most, because cats particularly like to scratch after they have been sleeping.

 

I understand it's not great, but you know in advance that when you have cats, chances are that they will not value your furniture the way you do. I think it's unfair to have them have tendonectomy, to be honest. And don't forget that this procedure requires a life-long maintenance of their nails:

 

 

 

Information is here from wikipedia (link removed) but you should definitely google for it some more, there are lots of discussions and critical articles online about this.