HELP! Cat scratching new sofa !!!!

Kimberley

Try buying some cat scratching trees and teaching them to use that.

smithyjules

I am afraid i have no advice on how to stop it but i do have one bit of advice on what makes it worse!!!Don't use a throw!we did this and the cats jumped up, the throw slipped on the leather, the cats held on!!!!was not a pretty sight!

Milford_Cubicle

Try 'sticky paws', double sided sticky strips you can buy from Pets at Home etc. They're clear and discourage scratching because obviously they don't like the feel of the stickiness on their paws.

Otherwise, place a scratching post in front of each part they scratch. Or, grab hold of them every single time and place them at the scratching post. They may or may not get the message

ajb69

Hello there,

Kimberley & Milford are right - the cats are scratching because - right now - the sofas are giving the most satisfying response to them.

So what you need to do is get some cat scratching posts - www.zooplus.com are good - and put them next to the sofas (one per sofa unless they are really close together). The idea is that the cat(s) find these more satisfying to scratch and will transfer.

The oher thing to do is to buy some feliway spray (your vets should have it, or you can get it cheaper over the internet if you can wait for delivery). Spray this onto your sofas where they scratch - making sure that you test it first on an unobtrusive area to make sure it doesn't mark! - and this should help the cat transfer to a scratching post. See http://www.feliway.uk.com/ for the manufacturer's info.

One last thing - as much as I hate to contradict the earlier poster, we did find that throws helped protect our leather sofas from the cats (muddy paws as well as scratching). I don't know if it makes a difference, but our throws were huge, heavy cotton rugs - they covered the sofas completely and hung down the back all the way to the floor, which may have helped as our cats were simply not heavy enough to pull them off! They don't protect from a determined cat, and were about £100 each, which is a lot: but they have lasted 6 years so far, and when compared to the cost of the sofa....

PS - edit - sticky paws is *great* on doorways and walls, but it doeas attact dust and fur and can be hell to get off the leather when you want to put a new batch on (trust me, I've tried) - the glue leaves a nasty residue. Could just be my cheap and nasty sofas though :rolleyes:, and it may be worth a try as a short-term measure - give them something else to scratch, and use feliway/stickypaws to make the sofas less attractive.

Cheers

Drew

Kimberley

I have two cat trees in my front room and a scratch mat because the kittens were at first using my rug. I used to pick them up when they went to scratch my rug and take them to either the scratch mat or one of the trees and rub their paws up and down it, they soon learnt what they were meant to use them for and now they don't touch my rug at all.

kazmc

Everytime they jump on the sofas spray them with water.
It doesnt hurt them and they will soon get the message!!

dawnfuller

spray the area with a diluted spray of water and tea tree oil /citronella.... kittens hate the smell. this must be very diluted though.
If they chew electrical leads + phone chargers wipe the leads with surgial spirit.

wolfehouse

my cat used the same(leather sofa)

i yelled at her when she approached to scratch and she stopped as soon as she understood. a water spray will be less noisy but same idea.

now she uses the carpet as she always refused to use the scratching posts provided.

Kimberley

To shout at a cat for scratching is cruel, that comes naturally to them. If you want cats then you have to accept this behaviour and find other ways of trying to stop them. I bought two trees for downstairs and one for upstairs, you can teach even the oldest of cats to use them with a bit of patience and this suggestion about squirting water at them is wicked. It's a wonder your cats haven't left home.

Kimberley

wolfehouse wrote: »

i yelled at her when she approached to scratch and she stopped as soon as she understood. a water spray will be less noisy but same idea.

She probably stopped because she was frightened because you shouted not because she understood. They don't understand that you don't want them to scratch your precious sofa all they understand is that your being aggressive to them. My suede sofa gets scratched to bits when the kittens jump on it to play, but thats what you get when you have cats.