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Help!!!....My Cat Scratches The Furniture

How to Stop Your Cat from Scratching Your Furniture


Things You Can Do To Make Your Furniture Or Carpet A Less
Attractive Scratching Area For Your Cat

You come into your living room and find that your cat has
been scratching at your furniture again. Shredded cloth and filling
is pulled off your couch. The woodwork looks like a beaver has
been at it.

What can you do? Yelling at your cat just makes you angrier
and your cat ignores you. You tried keeping your cat out of
the room but it finds a way in or shreds something else in
the room where you confine it. How can you get your cat to
stop?

One of the best ways to get your cat to stop scratching up
your house is to provide it an alternative, such as a
cat scratching post or board. But you bought one already, you
say, and the cat ignored it and scratched your furniture
some more. Now what?

First, put the scratching post in the same area where the
cat likes to hang out - probably near where you like to hang
out. Scratching is somewhat of a social activity for cats
and your cat is much more likely to use the post if it is
not hidden away somewhere. (Later, once the cat loves the
post, you may be able to move the post slowly to another
less conspicuous area of your home.)

Next, try introducing your cat to the scratching post. Put
catnip on the post or a favorite toy on top of the post,
then take the cat over to the scratching post and let it
sniff it and take a look at it. Don't force it on it or make
it scratch it. You might try scratching it yourself in front
of your cat though.

Consider that if your cat doesn't like the scratching post
you got first, you make try a different one. Not all
scratching posts are created equal. The texture you want is
the same texture they were scratching previously on your
furniture. Soft scratching posts usually don't work.

But what if it still doesn't work? The next step would be to
make your furniture less of an attractive scratching area.
The cat is not only scratching the furniture, it is also
marking its scent. First remove the cat's scent from
everywhere it has been scratching with some spray cleaner
formulated to remove pet scent. Citrus smelling cleaners
usually do the trick, since cats don't like citrus odor.
Clean the area well and let dry. Keep your cat out of the
room for the duration.

Next, place aluminum foil or plastic wrap on the floor
around the scratching area. You can even cover the scratched
area with aluminum foil or plastic wrap and tape it down.
Cats do not like the texture of plastic wrap or aluminum
foil. Double sided tape works well too.

All right, if this still does not work try squirting your
cat with a water gun filled with water every time you see
your cat trying to claw your furniture. Just make sure that
you do the shooting without your cat seeing that it came
from you. Or, if you don't want to use water you can make a
loud noise like a whistle or loud clap, or toss a soda can
full of pennies near the cat. The point is to make this spot
uncomfortable for the cat to go to, and the scratching post
or mat or whatever you have chosen as easy and as tempting
to your cat as possible.




                  "I know what you mean - so much furniture, so little time."


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