How do I stop my cats scratching the furniture?

Question

I will be in the near future buying a new sofa and do not want my cats ruining it, any useful ideas???

I'd like to add that I shout 'no' at them whenever they do it. The is a mat in the kitchen for them to scratch on and yes we have loads of trees in the garden plus woods behind the house. More trees than you can shake a stick at!! It is not possible to shut them out of the lounge as it is open plan.

Answer 1

Buy them a scratching post. Keep them out of that room when you are not there. Stop them from doing it when you are there. Cats are smart. They know when you raise your voice and tell them not to do what they are doing, and they will quit.

Answer 2

If you want to try the conservative method, first get a scratching post. If this does not help, clip their nails. Still not working, then get those caps to put on their claws. They come in fun colors too...good luck betting them on, though;) As a lest resort, you could declaw the cat in the front paws. It's controversial, but if you do it when the cat is young enough, they wont be too sore, and they may not even require sutures. If the cat is older, though, they'll be sore for a while, and will likely require sutures. The two cats we have living in the clinic are both declawed, and they are such a joy to be around;) I've also heard you can put double-sded tape on the furniture, and since it;s sticky the don't like it and will avoid it.

Answer 3

Basic Training of the Puppy - Read here https://tr.im/Wxmdm

The new puppy is certainly one of the most adorable and cuddly creatures that has ever been created. It is the most natural thing in the world to shower it with love and affection. However, at the same time it is important to realize that if you want to have a well trained adult dog, you need to begin the training process right away. The dog, like its related ancestor, the wolf, is a pack animal. One of the features of a pack is that it has a single dominant leader. Your new puppy is going to want that leader to be you, but if you do not assume that role from the very beginning, the puppy’s instincts will push him to become the leader.

The most important thing to remember about training the puppy during its first six months of life is that it must see you as the leader of the family pack. The essential thing is gaining the trust and the respect of the puppy from the beginning. You will not do this by allowing the puppy to do whatever it wants to do whenever it wants to do it. On the other hand, a certain amount of patience is required. Most people err in their early training by going to extremes one way or the other. Although you need to begin the basic training process at once, you can not expect your dog to do too much at first. Basic obedience training is fine and should include simple commands like sit, stay, and come. Remember that trying to teach the dog advanced obedience techniques when it is a puppy is much like trying to teach a five year old child algebra.

It is also important to restrain from cruel or abusive treatment of the puppy. You can not beat obedience into your dog, and it certainly is not going to engender feeling of respect and trust. House breaking is an area where this usually becomes a problem because of the anger that is triggered when the puppy fails and creates a mess inside the home. Although this issue must be addressed without anger, it most be addressed. If you allow the puppy to eliminate inside the house, it will continue to do so as an adult dog. The same thing is true of other destructive or dangerous behavior such as chewing and biting. Do not expect the puppy to grow out of it. You are going to need to train the puppy out of it, but you should do so firmly but with a sense of play and fun using positive reinforcement and lots of love and praise for good behavior.

Answer 4

shouting at them won't do anything as you have discovered. You must wash the place where they scratched to remove the scent. Then you could either attach a strip of carpet or carpet sample, with velcro to the place they scratch, or dab some essential oil like eucalyptus, lavender, orange or olbas oil, in the places they are scratching. Alternatively, since new furniture seems more important than the cats, rehome them.
Do they actually use the scratch mat in the kitchen? If it isn't firmly attached to something or moves when they get a grip, they won't want to use it. It's more than simply putting something down and thinking you have done your bit and expecting them to use it if it isn't suitable for scratching on. It needs to have a certain texture, it generally needs to be long enough for the cat to stretch and get a grip, it needs to be 100% solid and not move as they pull back with their body weight behind the claws and they seem to prefer if it is vertical. I have attached some carpet sample strips to a couple of walls in my home. I get them free from carpet shops and choose a colour close to the colour of the walls. I have used velcro strips glued to the wall and one carpet has been actually glued to the wall. Saves my furniture and with 12 cats in the house I wouldn't have any furniture left if they all started to claw it. How far you are prepared to go depends on how important your cats are I suppose. Mine are more important than furniture.

Answer 5

Deter them from your new furniture: Citronella, bitter apple, Tabasco sauce, sticky tape, whatever. Put covers over the furniture until you're sure your cats will stay away.

Attract them to their scratching posts: Rub a little catnip into the scratching posts; give them posts of all sorts (vertical and horizontal); put the posts near their napping spaces--they like to stretch when they wake. Feed them treats near the posts.

Hopefully a combo of those strategies will keep your cats away from your new furniture.

I agree--don't declaw. You have older cats, and older cats have more problems with declawing than kittens do. They're indoor/outdoor cats, too, so they'd be defenseless if a big dog attacked them... Scary thought!

If it comes down to it, cats' lives are more important than your furniture; but cats CAN be trained and I don't think it will come down to it!

Answer 6

use a water pistol, and squirt them evertime they do it, also the pistols are good for every bad behavior, begging, jumping onto table or work tops etc (i bought mine from a £1 shop) and i absolutly brilliant, half the time i just point it at them and they run cos they no whats gona happen if they dont. mine are 7 mnths old now and are so well behaved and as well if you see them do iscratch the furniture and pistol is not at hand, pick them up and place there claws on the scratching pole, they they realise that thats where you want them to sharpen there claws, dont get me wrong will take quite a few attempts but they'll get the hang of it, good luck

Answer 7

Try spraying citrus smells around the arms of the sofa's as cats do not like the smell. Or likewise sprinkle a bit of pepper. Aswell as saying "no" physically move the cat to the scratching posts( i know its tedious) but eventually it will learn through association.

Answer 8

I had this problem with my rescue cat and got scratching posts for each room he spends time in. To get his full attention I then rubbed them with cat nip - fresh or dried, but if dried best to make tea like solution and paint on. Replenishing the cat nip every 6 - 12 months has meant that he has continued to use them rather than the furniture.

Answer 9

As others have suggested, buy a scratching pole and you can also spray a light mist of something on the sofa edges to deter them. Cats generally don't like orange so we used a surface cleaner with orange in it to keep them away from certain things in the house. I think Mr Sheen or Dettol do one so give it a try!

Answer 10

Tea tree oil! They hate it! Put in on, or near the furnisher. Also get a deodorant can and when they scratch the sofa shake it at them and spray into the air. They hate the smell.

Like humans if they associate sofa with bad small they won’t be so fast to scratch.

Don't do something terrable to there feet! poor kitty's!

Answer 11

I always found carrying a loaded water pistol and everytime you see them do it squirt they soon work it out also a piece of material like what they scratch already is good wrapped around a cat scratching post works good too and distraction works a treat as well ie catnip toys and they don't like lemon scents