We love our feline friends (check out my favorite Tumblr blog, Furrocious Forms) but they really know how to wreak havoc on our upholstery with their incessant scratching. While it is annoying, there is unfortunately no way to actually make a cat stop scratching – it’s an instinctive behavior that they do to “shed the outer layer of their claws, to mark their scent, to get attention and to stretch and condition the muscles in their paws” say Doctors Foster and Smith.
If you love your kitty, but want to keep your furniture in tip-top shape, you’ll have to learn to work around their scratching habits.
The most effective way to keep your cat from scratching furniture is to use either an herbal spray deterrent or double-sided tape. The spray deterrent will produce an unpleasant odor (unpleasant to cats, not you) while double-sided tape will annoy them so much they can’t stand the thought of even approaching your furniture. It won’t hurt them, but the tape will irritate your cat enough that it will have to find another scratching spot.
Speaking of which, scratching is an instinctive habit. We mentioned that, right? So if you stop your cat from scratching in one place, it’s probably just going to pick a new scratching spot, which might be even worse than your upholstery (think wooden chairs or furniture with fine finishes). Get your cat a scratching post of his own and he won’t feel so inclined to mess with your toys.
If you just can’t get your cat to stop scratching, you can at least lessen the damage by trimming and dulling your cat’s claws. The behavior won’t subside, but the damage will.
Do you have any special tips for keeping cats from scratching your upholstery? Leave a comment and let us know!
Photo Credit: Hisashi
