How to Stop Your Cat From Scratching the Furniture
Pets can be fairly destructive in our homes, and cats scratch for a variety of instinctive reasons like maintaining healthy claws, helping them stretch, marking their territory, and just because it seems to feel good.
However, you don’t have to live with clawed up, scratched, and torn furniture just because you love cats. There are some ways that you can help discourage your cat from destroying your nice things, without putting them in pain or at risk by having them declawed.
6 Tips to Keep Your Cat From Scratching Your Furniture
1. Provide Better Alternatives
Cats are going to scratch. Period. So, to discourage them from ruining your furniture, provide them with more attractive alternatives that are actually made for scratching. Add a few scratching posts to different areas of your home where your cat tends to scratch. Be sure to provide posts that offer different textures (sisal rope, carpet, cardboard, or turf) and differently angled surfaces.
2. Try Cat Scratch Tape or Spray
Special double-sided tape that sticks to furniture or specially scented sprays can discourage your cat from scratching treated furniture.
3. Homemade Deterrents
You can also try to deter your cat from scratching the furniture by hanging aluminum foil from the backs of your sofa or chairs.
4. Vinyl Guards
You can also purchase specially designed vinyl guards that are designed specifically to protect the corners of your furniture from kitty claws.
5. Nail Caps and Mittens
If your cat still hasn’t given up on the furniture, then we recommend trying nail caps or socks/mittens for your cat. Nail caps are small, plastic covers that fit over your cat’s claws, preventing them from scratching. Mittens or socks are just what they sound like, cloth covers that fit over your cat’s paws to prevent them from scratching.
6. Trim Your Cat's Nails
One of the reasons cats scratch is to maintain the health and length of their claws. If you keep them trimmed regularly, their paws will stay comfortable, and they won’t feel as compelled to scratch as before.
Feline Lifestyle Enrichment Advice From Our Woodland Park Veterinarian
At Compassion Animal Hospital in Woodland Park, we want to help all of our patients live their best animal lives, and this means providing our clients education on the proper ways to enrich their pets’ environments and daily lives. To learn more about discouraging your cat from scratching and addressing other potential behavior problems, we welcome you to schedule an appointment with our veterinarian today.
