HELP! Cat scratching new sofa !!!!

Muppet81

:eek: :eek: :eek: Aaaargghhhh!

After years of putting up with our tatty old sofa .... you felt as though you were sitting on the floor when you sat on it ....... we splurged and bought a nice new one.

It was delivered on Friday as is gorgeous. Our cat has always had a habit of plucking and we always had old covers on the arms of the old settee. She seemed to have stopped bothering as much in recent times.

Much as it annoyed us to have to do it, we have started to put covers over the arms and edges of the new sofa each evening when we go to bed. Just to be on the safe side.

Came down this morning and the the little monster has managed to get under them though and has plucked one corner already.

Does anyone have any 'humane' ideas for detterring a wayward moggy. She is 14 and therefore pretty set in her ways. We love her to bits and would never get rid of her but I would so love to be able to have the house looking nice for at least some of the time.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Pam

patchwork_cat

HI
There is a pets board on families board. Have you got a scratching post? If not then that would be an idea together with a catnip spray on the post. Cats don't like some smells so you could try spraying the settee with something I don't know if bitterapple would work or orangeglo?

floyd

Is it fabric or leather? My mum used to rub mothballs on the corners of our fabric suite which seemed to work but I would test it on a hidden edge just to make sure the oils don't mark. Wouldn't risk it on leather though.

lolarentt

Muppet81 wrote: »

Does anyone have any 'humane' ideas for detterring a wayward moggy. She is 14 and therefore pretty set in her ways. We love her to bits and would never get rid of her but I would so love to be able to have the house looking nice for at least some of the time.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Pam

If she was used to sleeping on the old sofa then the only way is to keep her away from the new sofa when you're not around

stebiz

I'm ready to be shouted at - but here it goes.

We had the same problem a few months ago. The cat which we had looked after for 8 years put her claws in a brand new leather suite. It took me 1 minute to decide what to do (needless to say we don't have her anymore).

The kids have not forgiven me. The wife agreed (under duress). Now we have 2 guinea pigs which live outside. Wife still has regrets but the cat had already ruined one 3 piece suite and it did go to a nice home.

Stebiz

daphne_descends

You could try Feliway spray. Make sure your cat does have somewhere to scratch. Pieces of carpet around our dining room table legs worked well for us.

Whenever your cat scratches somewhere they shouldn't, pick them up and place them in front of where they can - scratching post or wherever - gently hold their front legs against it if they are not getting the message - they will come to understand the feel of the material and start to use that spot instead. Be patient though and keep using the covers in the meantime.

I couldn't even contemplate getting rid of a cat in favour of a sofa.

mrbadexample

stebiz wrote: »

I'm ready to be shouted at - but here it goes.

We had the same problem a few months ago. The cat which we had looked after for 8 years put her claws in a brand new leather suite. It took me 1 minute to decide what to do (needless to say we don't have her anymore).

The kids have not forgiven me. The wife agreed (under duress). Now we have 2 guinea pigs which live outside. Wife still has regrets but the cat had already ruined one 3 piece suite and it did go to a nice home.

Stebiz

Harsh but fair, I think.

Spaghetti doesn't agree, apparently. :rolleyes:

mrbadexample

Cat's hate orange peel. If you squeeze orange peel, it releases a fairly potent oil (it's flammable!). Can you put some of that on / near it?

squishyclaire

I had a similar problem when I got my cat from the rescue. She pulled at the back of a chair I had spent a fortune having recovered. I read that if you put double sided sticky tape on the corners of chair in strips where the cat likes to scratch then they don't like it because their paws stick to the surface (only a little bit- promise is it not cruel!). It was good for my cat and she doesn't scratch the chair anymore. Perhaps you could combine methods and encourage her to scratch something else and use the tape for a while until the cat gets the idea not to scratch. Hope this helps

Pink.

Hi Muppet,

I've moved your thread over to the Pets and Petcare board where you should get more replies.

Pink

Muppet81

Thanks for moving my message Pink Winged - I'm never sure where to go for the best.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

I should have given the complete picture .... she does have a scatching post which is sprayed with catnip from time to time ... but she prefers the sofa.

I can't keep her out of the room with the sofa as for 14 years she has been able to go through this room to use her catflap to get in and out. I think she is a bit too old to change her routine too much.

I think I will try the idea of double sided sticky tape and also something such as mothballs or orange oil (probably orange oil as mothballs don't appeal).

Alas poor sofa, it was nice whilst it lasted :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: