how do i get my cat to stop clawing furniture????

Answer 1

A very common problem when the cat either does not have a scratching post or pad or does not have one they like. Cats are very particular about where they 'manicure' their nails. Some like the carpeted cratching posts, some like the reverse side of a piece of carpeting. Some prefer a piece of wood or a corrugated box. Again some seem to feel more comfortable with a thick piece of rubber like a rubber tile or the sole of a rubber sandal. Before investing in an expensive scratching post, I would suggest the following. Get a medium sized corrugated box, open the ends and flattten it out. If one end can be held firm under a couch or a bookcase, great. If not, make sure it's big enough for the cat to get on and hold steady with his own body weight while he scratches. Pick up the cat and rub his front paws on it saying 'scratch, scratch'. Anytime you see him reach for the furniture, pick him up and put him on the corrugated box, then again, take his paws and do the scratching motion with him.
If he doesn't like the corrugated box, get several rubber tiles that people use on the kitchen floors. Be sure you scatter several around the house so that one is available whenever he gets the urge. Both the corrugated box and the rubber tiles are cheap and can be easily replaced when worn.
If the cheap alterrnatives don't please kitty, then invest in a fancy scratching post. But I'm sure that with a little patience the cheap scratch pads will work.
It is important to praise kitty when he does the right thing. I would also suggest clipping the sharp tip of the nails with a nail clipper once every two or three weeks. If you still have difficulty, write again.

Answer 2

that is an absolute disciplinary problem.

Cats will claw anything and everything they can sink their claws into, it is ingrained. By a scartching post or pad and a water bottle. spray the cat everytime it attempts to claw furniture. After a month if that cat is still doing the exact same thing. try soapy water. I know, it can be sited as cruel in certain circles, but even the humane society will recommend soapy water. Then show them plenty of love when they get it right. Cats can be trained, they are just like toddlers with a mind of their own.

Also, if your cat or dog is chewing furniture, there is a spray that utilizes bitter fruit acids. Spray the concoction on any piece of furniture that this cat or dog is currently interested in chewing. I guarantee it will slow if not stop all together the progress of teeth marks.

Answer 3

Make sure that you have a scratching post that your cat knows he is allowed to use. Rub catnip on it and show it to your cat. Literally run his paws over it in a scratching motion. I recommend you get Feliway in the spray form. It is a cat pheremone that helps with this behavior. You can buy it online and spray it on the furniture that he is scratching. Also, try clipping your cat's nails on a regular basis. If these things don't work, you can get covers for cat claws...an alternative to declawing. Please, do not declaw your cat. It removes an entire section of finger from the first knuckle, it is painful, expensive and often leads to behavior problems later in life.

Answer 4

The most important thing I can say is DO NOT declaw the cat!!! Declawing is a horrible thing and most people who get it done are never told what a declaw really is. It is a De-TOE. They do NOT simply remove the claw. Look at your hand. The knuckle below the claw is where they cut. The entire toe is removed. Cats walk on their toes.

Many people will get a cat declawed to save a couch rather than train the cat. Then the cat is abandoned because of resulting behaviors. Over half of cats turned in to animal shelters by their owners are declawed cats. The vast majority of these are turned in for behavior problems. Declawed cats often start to bite. The most frequent reason for "dumping" that declawed kitty is the litter box. Many will stop using it. It isn't spite or laziness. It's pain. During recovery from surgery the kitty still has to use it's healing, painful feet to dig in the litter box and walk on. Even after healing many litters can cause pain in the animal. Most declawed cats we have had at our shelter will ONLY use expensive Feline Pine.

Behavior problems are not the only issue. There is also the risk of infection during healing, "accidents" during surgrey and increased risk of arthritis later in life. We have one cat here in the shelter now that is unable to run, jump or climb because she is the victim of a 4 paw declaw that went wrong. The vet took TWO knuckes. Punkin hobbles around on the stubs of her legs and loose flops of what is left of her paws. We're trying to find an alternative for her, but currently any walking is painful for her. Another cat here is Snowy. Snowy is in casts right now from her SECOND declaw. The entire bone was not removed and the claws grew back inside her feet. She already has the beginnings of arthritis and will most likely have to be put to sleep in 3-5 years for advanced arthritis and other bone problems. She's 2.

Cats can be trained. You can purchase an 8 foot floor to ceiling, catnip treated cat tree at Walmart for less than $50. They are in a box and are typically kept on the top shelf in the pet aisle. This will give them excercize and a place they are allowed to scratch. (which cats do need). Also, you can purchase "Soft Paws" which prevent any damage to people or things. Soft Paws are nail tips that you glue and slide on right over the cats claws. They come in clear and in several vibrant colors including green, blue, pink, purple and red. These last about 2 months and are easy to apply. They keep the cat from doing damage and still leave the claws on in case the cat should NEED them in the future when it should accidentally find itself outside and lost. Cats never seem to notice them and some cats actually will come running for a "manicure" if one nail cover falls off.

Answer 5

get a spray bottle filled with water and every time you see the cat start to claw spray it.It would also help the cat if you were to put a scratching post in an area where the cat can get to it.They claw by nature to keep those claws sharp.it is there defense!

Answer 6

We used aluminum foil over the "spots" where our cats liked to claw. RIGHT away, they stopped going there! We also got a scratching post that they liked. It took several types; cardboard, carpeting, etc. before we discovered that they really loved the texture of a hemp door mat. My husband bought one just for the kitties and made a scratching post out of that, and we haven't had a problem since then!

Answer 7

If you really want to bring an end to this kind of behavior with your pets, here is a useful method.

Get some really strong cat nip, a couple of thirty odd shells, a winchester pump and a sixpack of Bud.

Rub the cat nip all over your favorite sofa and the floor surrounding etc.

Get your six of Bud out of the fridge and sit back in a recliner with your loaded winchester and then call to your cats real friendly like.

If there not around then you may have to wait a while, which is why you got the six of Bud.

As soon as they do come around though get real quiet and act real relaxed like your not worried about anything.

After a few minutes they will smell the cat nip and sniff around and paw at the sofa . . . Finally they will go wild and tear into that thing like a crazed animal.

When they do, you rip that Winchester out from behind your recliner, throw the pump and lower it into position all in one smooth motion, and then blow that mother to Kingdom Come. I gaurantee that you will never have a problem with those cats ever again.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Answer 8

you can get double sticky tape and put it on where the cat likes to claw. they don't like the feel of the double sticky tape. you can get soft paw (I think that's the name) they are caps you glue on over their claws.

and the obvious make sure you have at least 1 or 2 scratch posts. you can put a scratch post next to where the cat likes to scrach and if you catch the cat scraching the furnature show them where the scratch post is.

another thing is get a squirt bottle and you catch the cat in the act squirt it.

hope this helps

Answer 9

give him a toy that he can claw with. Cats sharpen their claws by clawing in any wooden thing. So better give him a toy that makes him busy that clawing with your furnitures

Answer 10

Declaw the cat, especially if it really bothers you. But if you do decided to declaw the cat, make sure that the vet uses laser surgery (new technique, more accurate and precise than scalpels, and less painful, and healing is very fast)

If you don't declaw the cat, a piece of furniture at anytime, might be scratched. Before my cat was declawed, he scratched up a friend's leather jacket because he laid it on the couch.