cats clawing furniture and carpets

Liz33

Hi

I have two long term foster cats with me and try as I might I can't get them to stop clawing the sofa and carpets (the carpet as the top of my stairs in now threadbare) I bought them a thing to claw on (can't think of the name) but only one uses it and even then not all the time.

Can anyone suggest ways I can get them to stop ruining my furniture/carpets?

Claire_Bear

Liz33 wrote: »

Hi

I have two long term foster cats with me and try as I might I can't get them to stop clawing the sofa and carpets (the carpet as the top of my stairs in now threadbare) I bought them a thing to claw on (can't think of the name) but only one uses it and even then not all the time.

Can anyone suggest ways I can get them to stop ruining my furniture/carpets?

Try rubbing catnip into the scratching post, or I think you can buy a catnip spray. A tall post is best as it means cats can stretch out fully when using it and it's more comfortable for them which would be more likel to encourage them to use it. You could try rubbing orange peel over the areas you don't want them to scratch like the carpet on the stairs on the patches on the sofa. You could try clicker training as a positive way to encourage them away from your furniture and onto the scratch post too although this would probably take a little while.

McKneff

Hello there, when my daughter moved back she brought her adult cat with her, within weeks the carpets around the doors where
threabare .

The rug in my front from was being padded to death. I found a pretty good product from Klene Easy called Scratch No More, fabulous stuff and stopped Tinker in her tracks, a spray with it once a week and it just stopped. Couldnt believe how quick it worked.
Its expensive at a tenner but lasts a long time and i think you can buy it online.

JackRichardPT

My cat done exactly the same god rest his soul, the chairs are war torn, and the sofa looks horrendous.

A scratching post wouldnt work, It's best to get a deterence spray and spray it on the prime spots, if this doesnt work, you should try disciplining him after he does it, I've never resulted to that, but if needs be then thats the final straw

lexi

i really symapathise as my older cat does this. The littel horror looks right at you as well - i am guessing he does it more for attention than sharpening his precious claws! Anyway i dont really have an answer..........however i am in the middle of having the feliway plug in/spray to see if this helps. Its not an overnight thing as you have to leave the plug in for 1 month! i have tons of scratch posts in all rooms - so this isnt my theo's problem. i even bought a large rug for him to do his worst on but oh no hes too clever for that & scratches around the rug! his younger brother doesnt do it at all - well he does but on the scratch posts! i think i might try what mc neff said it cant hurt. if not i guess i am just going to have to put up with theo & his morse coding on the furniture as i am way too soft to punish him............

Gloomendoom

My solution was to simply give him some pieces of softwood that he was allowed to scratch... one upstairs on the landing and one in the kitchen. If he scratched anywhere else he got walloped.

I have no scratched furniture or carpets.

blabberwort

The sprays you can buy usually work. The one I bought though I gave up on because the smell was so strong it got down our throats as well as being a deterrant to our cats. Great stuff if you can cope with the smell and the fact it gets down your throat but I had to give up on it.
Also it's not an ideal solution if you have any aquatic pets in the same room as you need to be careful of any kind of sprays being used in the same room.

h007

You can get a scratch mat from pets at home which i have put over the spot my cats scratched at and now they scratch the mat instead of the carpet

Liz33

thanks everyone for the suggestions i'll give some of them a try and see how I get on, i'll let you know.

cyberbob

Gloomendoom wrote: »

If he scratched anywhere else he got walloped..

Hitting animals what a great Idea. :T What do you use a rolled up newspaper or a piece of wood.

Maybe a look at the Animal welfare act

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RSPCA/RSPCARedirect&pg=animalwelfareactadvice

cyberbob

Liz33 wrote: »

thanks everyone for the suggestions i'll give some of them a try and see how I get on, i'll let you know.

Lots of scratch poles in different place just remember they are cats its natural to scratch you can minimise it you will never normally totally stop it