Cats and Furniture Scratching
Tips on Training Felines to Use a Scratch Post
There are a number of simple things you can do to redirect your cat's scratching behavior to more appropriate targets and keep your furniture intact.
Scratching is a natural behavior. Cats scratch to mark their territory, to stretch their muscles and for sheer enjoyment. It is impossible to stop a cat from scratching, so the only way to protect the furniture is to train the cat to scratch something more appropriate
Provide an Alternative
All cats should be provided with at least one scratch post, preferably in an upright design that mimics the basic shape of a tree, something that the cat can stretch its body against to its full height. To fulfill this requirement, a post should be a minimum of 28 inches in height.
Whether you provide a home-made or store-bought scratch post, make sure that it is security anchored. If it tips over, your cat will likely be afraid of it afterward and never go near it again.
As for scratch post coverings, veterinarian Christianne Schelling recommends sisal textile scratch posts. Sisal is the ideal texture for shredding, and the rougher it gets, the more your cat is likely to appreciate it.
Scratch posts should be placed in a common area rather than hidden away when you first bring them home. Scratching cats are usually marking their territory, and the areas of the home they value are often those where their humans spend time. Once the cat has adapted to using the post, you may be able to move it to the far edge of a room or tuck it into a corner.
Train Your Cat to Use a Scratch Post
Some cats turn up their noses at scratch posts when they first encounter them. In this case, it is futile to show the cat how to scratch by taking its paws and simulating the motion on the post. The cat already knows how to scratch, and doing this may even create an aversion to the post. Instead, help your cat develop positive associations with the post. Keep the post near the place where your cat sleeps. Play with your cat near it, rub dried catnip into it, attach the cat’s favorite toys to it and give the cat treats when it uses the post. This will help the cat take ownership of the post as part of its territory.
Decrease the Appeal of Furniture
When you first begin training your cat to use the scratch post, it is also helpful to encourage it to give up habitual scratching areas. Covering a favored scratching area with tinfoil, sand paper, double-sided sticky tape or plastic carpet runner (pointy side up) makes the surface unappealing to scratch. Once the scratching habit has been broken and the cat has learned to prefer the post, the covering can be removed.
Because a scratching cat releases its scent through its paws to mark its territory, it’s a good idea to thoroughly clean the areas that the cat once enjoyed scratching to decrease their appeal. If the cat still goes back to scratch these areas, you can pair this behavior with a harmless but unpleasant stimulus. Purchase a spray gun or water bottle and squirt the cat each time it attacks the sofa, or blow a whistle whenever the behaviour occurs. For these deterrents to work, they must be done while the cat is actually scratching. Doing them afterward will simply perplex and upset the cat but will not change the behavior because the cat will not make the connection between the two events.
When attempting to change the cat’s behaviour, never use physical punishment. Hitting rarely changes cat behaviour for the better, and is in fact more likely to create feelings of insecurity and anxiety in the cat that will result in even worse behavior.
Further Reading
Information for this article was obtained from veterinarian Christianne Schelling’s website Declawing and the Ottawa Human Society’s information sheet on Scratching. For more information on cat care, please see The Dangers of Declawing Cats, Cat Nutrition and Home-Made Food and Cat Heroes.
