Stopping a cat scratching furniture?

Question

my cat is lovely, except for her scratching. she's destroyed one sofa, and is on the way to destroying a second, as well as the stairs, and a chair...

she has a scratching post, ignores it, even if i put catnip spray on it.
we've put towels over the offending areas, she moves them aside to scratch.
we stomp and shout if we hear her doing it.
shes even pushed my dad out the way, sat on his feet, and scratched the stairs.

my dad wants to throw out the second sofa and get a leather one, does anyone know if she'll destroy that too? the stairs aren't so bad as it's old carpet and will one day be replaced, but any tips?

i want to try citronella, but i'm worried it will stain.

the cat is approx 8 years old, she was a rescue we got when she was 5-6 years old. i do NOT believe in declawing, and she has the freedom to go outside when ever she wants. (shes shredded a fence post in the garden too...) i don't live with her, i live in the city, but i want to help my dad out!

i'm in the UK, not seen those nail clips about. but i don't think i'd want them on her as she spends 50% of the day/night outside and she wouldn't be able to jump up the fence and out the garden.

as for spraying, shes terrified already of the noise, and even sight of a spray bottle. she had really bad fleas one summer and has been traumatised by flea sprays ever since!

Answer 1

If she hates the spraying noise, then chasing her off with a plant spray or squirt gun will work well! She won't ignore that, likely. Also cover the couch with alu foil or doublesided tape, she wouldn't care about a towel but she probably won't like the foil or tape.

If you're in the UK you won't even be able to declaw, which is a good thing 'cause I fully agree with you that is a cruel thing to do! But still take a look at the anti-declawing site in the source, it has an extensive article on why cats scratch and how to get them to scratch in the correct places (and leave all those other places alone).

Answer 2

First make sure you have plenty of things available that she can scratch. Its also a good idea to regularly clip her claws on a weekly basis but read up on it a bit so you where to clip too because too far of a clip will injure the blood vessels. After that theres a couple products you can get. There are certain sprays you can put on the furinture that will smell bad to your cat and may deter her from scratching. There's also sticky pads you can put on the furinture that the cat will not like the texture of. You can also get a product called safety claws that are like rubber caps for the nails and she wont be able to scratch with those. If your not into buying any products than get a spray bottle with water that you squirt the cat with whenever she starts scratching and afterwards direct her to something she can scratch. This process may take some time so you have to be ready to stick to it.

Answer 3

Cpinatsi has got it, Softpaws are the way to go. They are small hollow shells of rubbery plastic that cover the nail and are held on by a drop of super glue. The cat cat go about her normal business climbing up fences or scratching at the couch, but no damage can be done as the claws are effectively blunted. I worked at an animal clinic and applied these by the hundreds. Theyre about $20 for a six month supply at most pet stores, or your vet proabably has a supply and would be willing to walk you through it the first time. In a package you usually get about 4-5 sets, as the cats nails grow the shells fall off and you stick on new ones, theyre painless, nontoxic and harmless if ingested.

Answer 4

I have dealt with shredder cats before. This is not just a bad habit. Your cat is scratching to mark territory. This is why she doesn't scratch the post.

Almost all animals have territorial behaviors. We have 6 cats and a couple scratched the furniture, a couple spray different things around the house and a couple will aggressively chase off any of the other entering their domain.

For cats that spray or scratch, all you need is a little cyan pepper. if you sprinkle a little cyan pepper on the stair where she is scratching a few time a week for two weeks she wont scratch that area.
On furniture, put two teaspoons of cyan pepper in a nylon stocking. Use the bag a couple times a week to treat the area of the furniture where she scratches. She won't like it and this won't curb the urge she has to scratch, but it will eventually encourage her to scratch on the post.

Answer 5

She will definitely enjoy scratching the leather sofa too. Declawing is definitely wrong, but trimming the end of her claws with a nail clkipper may help.
Also, go to www.softpaws.com. They sell some nail caps, easy to use, cheap, and no problem for the cat (you can remove them whenever you want too).

Answer 6

Try talking to the vet, they make small plastic covers that slide over each claw and are permanently attached. It doesn't hurt the cat and protects the house from clawing. I've never used them, but I think the vet has to put them on and they have to be redone every so often, but would be worth looking into.

Answer 7

Place covers over the areas, they sell plastic covers, it will protect the furniture, but it probably won't look as snazzy. Then work on fixing the problem, by spraying to punish bad behavior.

Answer 8

try putting a old tree limb by the area she is scratching. I found using a sprizer bottle with vinegar and water and spraying in face helpful. Only use small amount of vinegar just for he smell. good luck

Answer 9

Get your cat a scratching post.
They have them at Pet Co. for like $25.00. Show your cat where they should scratch or get them declawed.

Answer 10

clip her nails de nail the cat at the vet