Are you losing a lot of sleep trying to find a solution to prevent cats from scratching your furniture? You’re not alone! Many owners find themselves in the same situation, losing money and facing a lot of embarrassment due to their kitties scratching and damaging the furniture. The 5 steps below will help you stop this problem now as they were effective for my multi-cat household.
1. Understand that scratching is a natural behavior for cats. It comes from their ancestors and helps them mark their territory, sharpen their claws, and gives them exercise. So you can’t really stop cats from scratching as it is instinctive behavior for them.
2. What you can do instead is divert their scratching behavior to a more appropriate object, such as a scratching post. This will keep your furniture from getting damaged, while giving your kitty a healthy outlet for his energies.
3. Use positive conditioning to teach your kitty that scratching furniture is not rewarding.
4. Cover your cats favorite scratching object with sticky paper. This will keep them away and prevent further damage.
5. Do not declaw your cat. He is cruel and inhumane and will have lasting physical and psychological impacts on his pet.
These five steps should help prevent cats from scratching your furniture, which in turn will help you avoid a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of embarrassment in front of your home visitors, like I did. Preventing cats from scratching your furniture by following the steps above can also save you some hard-earned money, as replacing or repairing furniture damaged by cat scratching can be expensive.