cat scratching?

Question

im thinking about buying a leather sofa , but my cats like to paw my present sofa is there anything i can do to stop them from doing this.

Answer 1

My mom used double sided tape and stuck it to the places the cats were scratching. She would replace it ever couple of days. The cats hated the feel of the tape on their paws and eventually stopped scratching.

When I caught my cat scratching the furniture, I would take him and put his paws on his scratching post. He stopped scratching after I did this about a dozen times.

I have also heard of making a "shake can" by putting a few pebbles into a soda can and taping it shut. Then, when the cat starts to paw you throw the can near (not at) them. I have never tried it though.

Also, do you have tall scratching post? sometimes cats scratch at furniture because they either do not have a place to scratch or their scratching post isn't tall enough for them to get a full stretch.

Answer 2

I notice some people have suggested declawing but you should be aware that declawing hurts a cat. Declawing is equivalent to a person having their fingernails pulled out. Also, right after being declawed it hurts cats to scratch, so they stop using the littler box.

I have faced the problem of sofa-clawing with all my cats and have spent a lot of money buying scratching posts, etc. as well as stuff you spray on the sofa to make it taste bad. Haven't yet found a perfect solution.

So, with the voice of experience, I suggest you either forget about getting a new leather sofa or keep the cats out of the living room!

Answer 3

Funny. I was thinking of getting a leather sofa too since I am redecorating my home. However I have cats and dogs so I have decided against it. My animals are way more important that a bit of furniture which will go out of fashion and look tatty in a few years time in any case.
My cats don't scratch my furniture but the dogs nails might damage the sofa.
Hmmm.....sofa or cat.........cat or sofa.........????
I know which I would choose :-)

Answer 4

I have leather chairs which I bought before I got my cats. My first kitten was handicapped and used her claws to climb as she couldn't jump very well. As she grew older and stronger this wasn't a problem. I trained her to use a scratching post by telling her "No!" when she went near the furniture and by giving her a cat treat when she used the scratching post. I ended up with an unclawed sofa and she ended up with the sharpest claws in Yorkshire, and an unending supply of cat treats. My second kitten is being trained the same way and shows no interest in the leather. Boot polish takes care of the odd scratch mark. If you want leather furniture, you have to make the alternatives more enticing!

Answer 5

Getting a leather sofa wont change a thing, theyll ruin it too. Keep a water bottle near you as much as you can. When you catch them, spray them, theyll run. Eventually, they see that everytime they do it, they get sprayed and they hate it.

Also yell out NO, my cats would run when they heard me yell. I also got a cat tree, and it has scratching posts all over it. My female cat used to scratch everything till we got the cat tree. They love it.

Getting a cat declawed can deform their paws, not always, but it is possible. We watched a program on this, and it was really sad. Cats CAN be trained with a little time from the owner.

Answer 6

HI there! Well, as a dedicated cat owner, who adores her little buggers, I can tell you from experience, they love to sharpen those claws on my leather sofa. its very difficult to stop cats scratching, its a natural thing they need to do to keep them sharp for their hunting predator instinct etc (Although the only things mine hunt are bits of paper!).

I am a strong believer that cats need claws, no matter what, and would never ever consider getting mine declawed. I honestly believe this is cruel, particularly if you have an outdoor cat. They need them to climb etc.

I am afraid if you love your cat, you need to bear in mind they will scratch whatever they bl**dy feel like and put up with it! The only cruel free deterrents I could advise - there are apparently some sticky plastic pad things you can buy which you stick to the arms of your sofa. They are transparent so you wont see them, but the cats wont go near them as wont like the stickiness.

In addition, I have heard that getting a lemon scented soap and gently rubbing it on the furniture (whilst dry!) will also deter them as they hate citrus smells. How long that lasts I have no idea as never tried it.

And the old scratching post thing - well mine have several but still claw most of the furniture too!

Answer 7

The surest way is to have tha cat declawwed.

Short of that, there are sprays, and there are scratching posts.

Spraysthat you can buy at pet stores that are used to repel cats away from the furniture. It doesn't smell to terrible to humans, but it doesn't always work so well,( my experience), either.

Then there are scrach pads and scratching posts, also available at any pet store.Of course some cats can get used to just scratching on a scratching post and will not scratch other places, while others will continue on the furniture.

You might want to try these options out first before you buy the new furniture.

Answer 8

Please do not go for the declawing option, its barbaric. I doubt a UK Vet would do it unless there was a medical reason for it .

This website tells you why you should not declaw and gives you advice on how to prevent them scratching on unwanted areas. Although I cannot see how trimming the cats claws is of any use - surely it will encourage it to scratch more?

A couple of other pages with advice on how to deal with furniture scratching....
http://www.catscratching.com/
http://www.flippyscatpage.com/catsscratching.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2543_stop-cat-scratching.html

Maybe sort the sofa scratching problem out before buying that new leather sofa.

Good luck

Answer 9

Buy them a scratching post. DO NOT declaw, it's barbaric and should be made illegal! Friend of mine has two cats and two leather sofas and they have never scratched it because they have plenty of other things to scratch at!

Good luck

Answer 10

Before you buy that sofa, you can train your cat to use a paw scratcher which you should be able to purchase at your local pet shop. If you are still worrie about the sofa put a throwover cover on it.