How can I keep my cat from clawing the furniture?

Question

Bailey is an eight year old neutered cat with FIV. Because of this compromise I can not use the spray bottle method. He has access to a kitty gym and various types of clawing surfaces but he wants to claw the woodwork around the doors and windows. He also gets supervised outdoor play for about an hour each day.

Answer 1

Cats hate double-sided tape and loud noises. Use the tape and also balloons that will pop and scare them. Neither will harm the furniture like a lot of the sprays. Good luck.

Answer 2

Double-sided tape is always a popular option, as is some scratching posts. Your cat is scratching the furniture to "mark" it as his own. You can allow him the same behavior but offer him a post or two instead of the couch. Most people put their scratching posts in the corner, which just doesn't make sense. The point is to give your cat a place to mark his territory - if no one can see it, then why bother? Put the post NEXT to his favorite scratching areas - rub it down with some catnip, and see what happens. Make sure the post is sturdy enough to be "worthy" - it should not bend, tilt, or move in any direction when he uses it. You can always trim his nails. They can be done with an $8 clipper from any pet store, or even a toenail clipper. You should be able to see the pink Quick - - you just want to clip the hook off before the quick.

Answer 3

Every time he tries to claw something that he is not supposed to, take him to his scratching post to make him use it instead. Praise him vocally and by petting him while he scratches it. [This worked for my cat.] If he is not interested in using his scratching post, put some catnip on it. If nothing else, get him a piece of wood and put catnip on it. Put it with his stuff so that he knows it's his, and he should figure out that he can only claw his things.
He's a bit old to learn, but it's always worth a try. Good luck!

Answer 4

Spray the furniture with citrus deodorizer and SCOLD him. Clipping his nails will make him claw more trying to sharpen them again. And we won't even go near declawing. Just be persistant with the scolding and spray.

Declawing is extremely painful to the cat. unless you are certain you will outlive her, how do you know she'll go somewhere where she won't need her claws. This should be outlawed!

Answer 5

right off paw, i can think of a few answers.
1) double sided tape
2)some vets,pet stores and mail order places sell the nail covers that glue on and eventually will shed off. they are called "soft claws" and you can contact the company at either www.softclaws.net or by calling 1-800-433-7297
3)most people hate this one. declaw . there are two different procedures. the first is where they remove the claw entirely. the second and less severe is they cut the tendon that the cat uses to unfurl those little razors.

our baby girl now13 years old is declawed. not our choice. but where we lived when we got her. managers rules.

Answer 6

Get a scratch post with sisal rope wrapped around it.You can make it yourself with a piece of 2X4 (long enough for the cat to really stretch to reach the top) and nail that on a sturdy base. If your cat does not like it sprinkle some catnip on it....still don't like it? wrap it with and old piece of carpet.Still don't like it get a scratch pad from the pet-shop( They are cheap and made out of corrugated card board ) and lay it where the cat likes to scratch the most....again use catnip on it. When you catch your cat starting to scratch on thing off limit pick it up gently and say no put her on the scratch post and gently rub her front paws over it and praise it all the while. Good Luck,Es

Answer 7

Great question and one I'm too pondering myself as I think of what bringing in a wild cat into my home will do to my leather furniture!

Only advice I can give is something I learned from living with my neutered cat for eight years. I believe 'observation' of your cat is key to your answer and then some.

My cat loved to claw when happy. After eating and let outside, he loved clawing the side of an old picnic bench. Now separated from my cat via a bad relationship, I have encountered a wild cat. Once my wild cat is fed and on certain days in a happy mood due to company with another cat, he claws a tree outside my apartment.

Although clawing too is a necessity for cats, try and take notice to when he does it. Also, if it's wood your cat wants, perhaps you might want to consider bringing into your home a dead tree trunk -- a picnic bench -- whatever, and attempt to teach him to associate his contemptness after eating by directing and encouraging him to 'his' piece of wood.

Just remember one thing...and something my 'x' taught me. You are in control as you are smarter than he. My cat never listened to me -- he walked all over me. When my relationship ended and my cat was left in the care of my 'x' -- I thought the worse.

What an incredible awakening I had when I revisited my cat months later. If people tell you cats can't be trained -- DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. I witnessed my cat who played on my Love, wined for food circling my feet and wouldn't listen to my anger, only to become a cat who now on my 'x's' command waits on a cabinet silently awaiting his food and away from the kitchen!!!

Being the 'mush' I am, I never taught my cat that I was the boss -- not him.

Hope this gives you room for helpful thought...Is your cat in charge of you or are you in charge of your cat? If you're a mush like me -- lose it. My cat loves my 'x' -- like a child, he needed structure and discipline. My 'x' had children -- I didn't. I truly think that's where I went wrong -- I was just too loving vs. what every person and creature needs -- AGAIN, DISCIPLINE AND STRUCTURE.

Best Wishes to you and Bailey from a true cat lover.

Answer 8

there is a product out there call Soft Paws that you can buy at Petsmart or Petco. IT's considered the "humane alternative to declawing." They are little rubber caps you glue on their nails. We put them on my cat so her still "scratches" but doesn't harm anything (aka my couch)

Answer 9

I prefer to declaw cats, especially if they are %100 indoors.

I like the double sided tape method. They don't like the feel on their paws and won't scratch there.

Answer 10

Scold him and keep his nails clipped each day. Make sure he has plenty of scratching posts that have catnip on them.