How can I keep my cat from clawing the walls without declawing her?

Answer 1

one option is to keep up on triming her nails, another is getting something called SOFTPAWS available through vets and maybe petstores. softpaws are like a cover which you glue onto their nails (after they've been clipped) which will protect your stuff from your cat. eventually they grow off with the nail and then you just reapply them (you may have to buy a few boxes) but it is a nice alternative to declawing your cat. also provide her with lots of scrathing posts. some vertical and some horizontal to help with the clawing of the walls.

Answer 2

The way I've always trained mine is to "speak cat". If you've ever heard a cat growl, it's a long, low sound. It begins at a normal pitch (sometimes higher if it's an answering growl), and lowers itself into a drawn out sound. So, step one:

"Minnow! Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."

She normally takes a second to look at me like... whoa. DON'T give tons of eye contact when you do this. Cats *can* become confrontational when you do this - though if you're not right up on them when you do, it's ok. They have a way to get away from you and the bad thing you're telling them not to do.

Step two:

"tssst tssst tsssst, Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo."

Step three:

Stand up and walk toward the cat sternly. If they're ignoring you, grab that little butt and hiss while you shake their butt back and forth, then drop into your "nooooooooooooooo."

That being said - get a scratching post and make that the best possible place to be. Catnip sprinkled lightly on the base, a toy, and have a good time playing with your cat. Eventually, you'll be able to tell your cat no and they won't ignore you, and at the same time, they'll learn that the best place to scratch is the post!

I've had many, many cats and that method is about the best I have found. The best is that they learn your no is not to be ignored, but heeded. ;)

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Wow I'm impressed, lots of people know their way around cats - my suggestion, do all of the suggestions. The nails I've never done since I wanted a low cost solution, but the water definatly works - and if your cat does like mine and eventually tells you to take a hike with your water since she'll do what she wants, walmart sells these little green plastic pellets and the guns to go with them - they send a clearer message than the water if you need to and they still don't hurt the cat. Its NOT a BB gun - BBs are metal and can hurt - this gun just shoots a plastic pellet, that would sting your hand good if fired at close range, but due to a cat's protective fur coat, just bounces off the fur - its the crack of firing the pellet that gets the cat's attention, and your reach is farther than with water. However, if you have young kids, be sure to locate the pellets after the cat is disciplined, or vacuume the area so the little ones don't get the pellets.

Answer 4

Squirt gun. Every time you catch her, shoot her, right then otherwise she won't know why. Or, a can sealed with marbles or something noisy inside with the same effect. If she's startled every time she scratches, she soon won't want to do it anymore. Also, make sure she has a scratching post as an alternative. One cat I had could care less about noise or water but every time he scratched at the furniture I would pick him up and physically hold him by the scratching post and move his paws making him scratch the post. Eventually he learned what was okay and what wasn't.

Answer 5

You could buy your cat a scratching post, or some other toy that will distract it from clawing the furniture. You don't want to buy it some acrylic nails because they could tear them off somehow and if they bite them off then they could possibly swallow the nails or the glue and it would harm the cat. If you spray it with water, then that would just show the cat that you don't love her because she will think that you are trying to hurt her.

Answer 6

They make scratching posts for cats but that doesn't always stop them from clawing on furniture. Some people say you can train a cat to not claw on things but that has never worked for me. Even tho' my cat is declawed she still acts like she is sharpening her claws on my furniture. I think it is their nature.

Answer 7

Get a squirt gun. It works wonders. I used it to train my cat to stay out of my newborn baby's room as well as off furniture and out of the kitchen when we're eating. It's a humane way to get your point across without beating the poor thing all the time. The key is that you gotta carry that squirt gun with you all the time at first. Eventually, the cat will stop whatever bad habit when you just pull it out of your pocket.

Answer 8

Buy a good scratching post, and rub it with catnip. Everytime you catch the cat scratching furniture, spray it with water. Also you could check into Soft Paws, they are nail covers for cats, they come in lots of pretty colors, and aren't very expensive.

Answer 9

Seriously I think you need to train her! Or if it doesn't work then just buy her scratching pole. Or do you know what cats like to play with the most? ...balls! She can keep playing the balls and will not even think about scratching the walls! She will keep paying attention on the balls!

Answer 10

They have these little plastic things you slip on your cats nails. They are fairly inexpensive. DON'T SQUIRT THE CAT! That doesn't teach them a thing, just scares the crap out of them. And, when you aren't looking, they will go back to the scratching.