How to Stop a Cat from Scratching Furniture: A Detailed Guide

First, the bad news: Your cat will still scratch even after you try to stop it. For a variety of reasons, cats engage in this natural activity. It serves as a means for them to maintain the finest quality of their claws and to mark their territory with pheromones secreted via their paws and the visual hint of scratch marks. Furthermore, scratching provides an opportunity for a good stretch, as you have undoubtedly observed. After all, you have to let your cat be a cat!

Don’t give up though. There are methods for protecting your carpeting or sofa. The secret is to reroute your cute little destroyer to a different target. We are going to discuss how to stop a cat from scratching furniture Here’s how it’s done.

Why Do Cats Rust Things on Furniture?

Scratching is an inherent action that helped the ancestors of modern house cats survive and flourish in the wild, just like all other typical cat behaviors. The following reasons should be known for how to stop a cat from scratching furniture.

Matter of Age

Cats begin scratching as early as eight weeks of age. Cats use the visual clue of shredded material and the chemical cue of a pheromone emitted from smell glands in their feet to mark their territory by scratching surfaces. This pheromone, which other cats can smell, provides details about a cat’s sex, health, and reproductive status.

Nails of the Cats

To expose a new, sharp portion of the nail underneath the old, dull material on the nail’s outer surface, cats also scratch to sharpen their nails. Cats with sharp nails are better hunters and better able to protect themselves from harm.

Release the Tense Muscles

Furthermore, a cat that scratches can fully extend its body and release tense muscles. Cats that scratch also experience a reduction in anxiety and hyperactivity due to the release of relaxing hormones in their brains.

In the wild, clawing at upright tree trunks is the most common way that territorial behavior takes shape. This places the chemical cue of the pheromone from the scent glands at nose level for other cats and the visual cue of the ripped bark at eye level.

Due to their inclination towards vertical surfaces, house cats may frequently use couches’ arms and unfinished wooden furniture’s legs as targets for territorial scratching. Couch arm fabric tears readily, and bare wood can easily splinter if it gets scraped. Consequently, cats are drawn to certain materials.

Why Do Cats Tear Up the Carpet or Floor?

Cats may target horizontal surfaces, like carpets, with their scratching activity. Generally speaking, because they are not at other cats’ eye or nose level, they are not as interesting to cats as vertical surfaces for marking territory. But horizontal surfaces might be nice for relaxing, honing your manicure, and calming down if you’re feeling anxious or overexcited.

Furthermore, cats tend to scratch at solid, stationary objects. Carpet is great for cats because it stays in place and is soft enough for them to fully bury their claws in it. While some cats may love both types of scratching, others may have personal preferences for horizontal vs vertical scratching. Therefore, to put the best possible solution into action to stop your cat from scratching, it’s critical to determine whether your cat prefers to scratch in one way or both.

Never Declaw Your Cat

There’s a craze from the 1990s that should never come back: declaring your cat. It turns out that the process is rather brutal. According to animal behavior expert Zazie Todd, author of “Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy,” it entails amputating the knuckle from the end of the cat’s paw and can result in chronic pain. “The cat does not benefit in any way,” she claims. “If you consider scratching to be a normal behavior in cats, then you shouldn’t interfere with their ability to engage in that behavior.”

According to Ellen Everett, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, an increasing number of veterinary facilities are refusing to declaw cats. Some only do this in dire circumstances, such as when the owner might otherwise have to give up the pet. In addition to New York and Maryland, over a dozen American cities have banned the practice.

How to Stop a Cat from Scratching Furniture?

Here are different ways that help you to answer the question of how to stop a cat from scratching furniture.

Pick a Scratching Board

A scratching post is the best area for cats to use their claws. It can take some trial and error to locate a post that your cat adores, though, as not all of them are made equally. Texture is one important thing to think about. While some cats like cardboard or sisal, others enjoy the knobby sensation of a scratching post coated in carpet. According to Amy Pike, a veterinary behaviorist and the proprietor of the Animal Behavior Wellness Center in Fairfax, Virginia, “You might just have to offer them a little scratching post cafeteria or buffet and see what they select.”

Additionally, there is a debate between vertical and horizontal. Although some cats prefer a surface that is flush with the ground, most cats adore tall scratching posts. Ensure that you have something robust if you plan to go vertical. The fact that furniture doesn’t topple over when cats pull down during extended stretches is one of the things that makes it appealing, according to cat behaviorist and author Jackson Galaxy of “Total Cat Mojo.” You must locate a sturdy scratching post with some weight at the base if you’re trying to replace a couch or chair.

Place the Scratching Post where it Belongs

It won’t matter how great a scratching post you find if you hide it. Not because your cat has been taking revenge on your beloved chair, but rather because you spend a lot of time in it. According to Everett, cats like to identify busy sections of the house as their territory since those are “areas where they get good attention from their owners, like petting and cuddling and playing.” (It’s rather nice when presented that way.)

Therefore, it won’t be effective to put a scratching post in a spot that is rarely used: Everett claims that they don’t give a damn about scuffing up parts of the house that aren’t important to them. Put the post next to the furniture your cats are damaging instead, and they will be more likely to recognize it as a replacement. To make the post even more enticing, you can add catnip.

Never Discipline Your Cat for Scratching.

It’s true—punishment doesn’t always work for our feline friends—that this part seems like it was written by a cat. The only thing you’ll achieve is to worry your cats more, as they are unlikely to associate your angry words or tone with the scratching.

Try rewarding your cat for the behavior you do wish to see instead. According to Todd, if you observe them using their scratching post and you wait until they’re done before giving them a treat, it will encourage them to use the post again.

Keep Your Cat Off of the Furnishings

It’s also important to gently dissuade your cat from scratching things in the future. Placing air spray cans with motion detectors close to furniture is one method of redirection. When the cat gets close to these cans, they hiss. As long as the sound is not too loud or persistent, this can be useful in stopping furniture scratching.

Long-lasting or excessively loud noises might make cats feel more afraid and anxious, which isn’t good for encouraging healthy scratching habits. The idea is to get your cat to quit scratching as soon as possible, focus their attention on the new scratching post, and reward them for utilizing it.

Reduce Your Cat’s Stress

When there is excessive scratching, anxiety can be involved. Calming supplements like Purina® Pro Plan® Calming Care probiotic powder and drugs like sertraline (Zoloft®) and fluoxetine (Prozac®) can help with this. The human-prescribed forms of these drugs should not be given to cats; instead, your veterinarian must prescribe them.

Offer a Wide Range of Enrichment Activities to Your Cat

Enough enrichment can also help reduce excessive scratching in a nervous or bored cat. This could involve buying cat trees for your pet to climb, setting up windowsill perches so your cat can watch wildlife, increasing interactive playtime, training your cat to walk on a leash while wearing a harness, and building a “catio” so your cat can spend some time outside in a covered space.

Collaborate With An Expert on Cat Behavior

Increasing the likelihood of success in decreasing excessive scratching behaviors can be achieved by working with a board-certified veterinary behaviorist or a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist. While your cat’s scratching habit won’t go away entirely, you can manage it to a more acceptable degree with the use of these drugs, vitamins, and behavior modification strategies while your cat is under the supervision and care of a veterinarian.

Conclusion

Carpets and other horizontal surfaces can be managed similarly to vertical furniture scratches in many ways. It can be necessary to try out several horizontal scratching board materials that are similar to the kind of flooring your cat likes to scratch. These ways can help you to get the answer to how to stop a cat from scratching furniture.

Cats who like horizontal scratching generally find fabric-based (carpet) and cardboard-based scratching boards appealing since they are easy to break, give a pleasurable scratch, and give other cats a clear visual cue.

FAQs