We all know how disheartening you must have felt when you woke up and found claw marks on your new furniture set made by your cat while you were sleeping peacefully. Your guests are about to visit in a few days, and you probably be thinking that the visitors will wonder why your new couch or sofa is full of stretch marks. Are you thinking of buying a new sofa?
You love your little feline companion, but for how long will you keep buying a new sofa set? For this, you need to think of a permanent solution to stop your cat from scratching furniture.
In this post, we have gathered a brief explanation of why cats scratch furniture and how we can keep them away from scratching furniture.
Why Do Cats Scratch?
There are various reasons why cats scratch furniture. As a pet parent, you not only need to be aware of that, but also you will appreciate the reasons why your cat does this. Read the reasons below!
Cats keep their claws healthy: Scratching helps cats shed the old layers of their claws’ tips. By doing this, the cat keeps their claws healthy and sharp.
To get relief from stress: Scratching allows the cat to relieve stress and ease tension. It prevents the cat from adopting bad behaviors such as excreting carelessly.
Stretch the body: Scratching helps cats do a little exercise of stretching muscles to do regular exercise.
Mark out their territories: Cat’s paw contains scent glands in between. Their gland releases the order to create their territory boundaries whenever they scratch something.
How Can I Stop My Cat From Scratching Furniture?
You now know the reasons behind your cat’s scratching. You will not want to stop her because scratching keeps her stay healthy and calm, but on the other hand, you don’t want her to damage your precious furniture and belongings anymore. Follow the below tips to stop your feline friends from this behavior.
Give Your Cat Scratching Posts and Toys
How about getting some scratching posts and toys for your cat? Offer your cat at least one scratching surface that encourages her to scratch. Ensure that the posts or toys should be stable, strong, and tall, made with sisal fabric material. It is an essential tip because she might ignore it when your cat doesn’t find a friendly surface of scratching posts.
Discourage Your Cat From Scratching Furniture
Tucking a sheet on the scratched areas of the furniture might stop your cat from coming near to the set. You can also use double-sided tape or aluminum tape to cover the area. Moreover, spray the citrus scent on your furniture because cats dislike its smell and avoid coming towards your furniture.
Help your Cat to Scratch the Posts
You can make your cat feel attracted to scratching posts by using spray honeysuckle and sprinkling catnip on the posts. Your little feline will start taking an interest in the post by doing this. You can also play with a wand and then play it on the post; it will allow your cat to discover the post and scratch it.
Put the Scratching Post in Your Cat’s Favorite Areas
You must know the places of your house where your cat loves to play and spends most of her time. Put the posts in your cat’s beloved areas, such as near windows. You can also place a post in the bed of your cat because cats like to scratch when they wake up. Place the post near the furniture. It will make your cat not scratch furniture but post. Ensure to keep all the posts in a conspicuous place of your cat when she can use them to mark their territorial boundaries.
Stop Your Cat From Scratching Indirectly
You can stop your cat indirectly from scratching where she should not. When you catch your cat scratching your favorite sofa, distract her by making a loud voice and redirecting them to a scratching toy or post. You can also start playing with catnip in front of her or offer her treats by positive reinforcement.
Maintain Cat’s Claw
Keep your cat’s claw maintained to stop the scratching limits. When you don’t take care of your cat’s claws, they start growing into the cat’s paw pad, causing severe pain and sometimes infection. Therefore, keep your cat’s claws overgrowing and clip them every few weeks.
Can I Declaw My Cat’s Paw?
We can understand that cat scratching is troublesome, and if you are thinking of declawing your cat, then this is not a good option!
Many cat owners declaw their cats for a harmless fix, but in reality, declawing can cause your cat to have severe and long-term issues. Cat declawing is also opposed by the Humane Society of the United States, except in rare conditions such as cancerous nail bed tumors.
Scratching is a natural behavior in feline animals, and there are many reasons not to declaw your cats, one of them is cats feel safe and secure with their sharp claws. Declawing your cat is just like eliminating the bones of toes, and it feels like cutting off the finger at the last knuckle. Declawing doesn’t offer any medical advantage to the cat; in short, it harms the cats in several ways.
Declawing causes nothing but pain in the cat’s paw. Cats experience constant pain after going through the declawing process, making them unable to scratch muscles due to excessive pain in muscles.
Declawing a cat can cause serious nerve damage and bone spurs to your cat.
Your feline friend will feel unsafe and insecure with no claws because claws help her defend. Cats without claws are more likely to adopt aggressive and self-defensive behavior.
Declaw causes wound leading to a higher risk of infection on each toe of cat. Many cats experience pain and life-threatening infections after they are declawed.
After declawing surgery, the cat’s owner has to replace the litter box with shredded newspaper because the litter irritates your cat and her wound. Your cat will avoid excreting in her litter.
Instead of giving your cat risky and painful procedures, follow the above tips to stop your cat from scratching. Cats need to scratch to stay healthy and physically fit; therefore, introduce her scratching posts and toys to eliminate her bad habit of scratching furniture.
