Bad cats...

juliapenguin

My two cats, who are very well fed and loved and want for nothing, have a bad scratching the furniture and carpets habit. I bought some deterrant spray which was so pongy it made us feel ill, but had no effect on the cats.

Has anyone had success with any of these sprays, or any advice about how to stop them scratching? They have constant access to the outside, trees in the garden, and a scratching post which they ignore.

My OH is threatening to clip their claws, but I'm uneasy about that - I think they would still scratch even with short blunt claws and I'm not sure it's very humane.

All advice gratefully received.

Julia

PS I put this on the pets board too, but I think you OSers will have some ideas. Sorry if I shouldn't have duplicated.

whatatwit

No ideas, but do they look over their shoulder just to check you're watching as they are shredding something?

Mine does.

purplecatlover

my sister has had some success with clear double sided sticky tape. it shows on the sofa but the cats dont like it and now use the scratch post instead.
ive had no luck with anything and have resigned myself to scratched to death 3 year old sofas until the old girl dies (shes 24/25ish).
ive tried all the sprays, lemon juice,orange peel rubbed ont he sofa, a squirty bottle of water to aim every time she scratches, actually that worked, but then she just waited til i was out of the room to scratch.

juliapenguin

Thanks to both of you - not what I wanted to hear! - although I'll have a go at the double sided sticky tape. I had a lovely cat for 15 years who didn't scratch at all - and these two are little monsters. They do indeed look over their shoulders and run off just as I reach them...

Anyone else with ideas????

squeaky

Me

We have a board specifically aimed at pets and pet care, so I'll move your post across there and see if the regulars can help you.

You'll also find plenty of other tips that might be of use to you.

Good luck

economiser

Clipping cats claws is simple enough but you need to get advice or read about it first. If you cut them too short it would be very painful. We have to cut out old cat's claws regularly as he doen't get out and about much these days and they don't wear down naturally.

mike34_2

We had problems with our cats scratching; mainly the wallpaper, then we found out about 'Soft Paws' - they're little plastic sheaths that you put (well, glue!) over your cats claws after you have cut them.

We use them on both our cats and once they're on they can scratch away with causing any damage.

SnowyOwl_2

My old dear Tabitha (RIP) destroyed a sofa in the past, totally shredded it. I weaned her off the habit by shouting and yelling at her and making a dive for her whenever I caught her mid-scratch. Eventually she caught on that it was a bad thing to do - and actually learnt to get my attention by going to the sofa and putting her paw on it without actually scratching. I got a new sofa and she didn't scratch that, choosing her post instead.

My current cat Ted doesn't like the scratching post that I had so thoughtfully provided for him. He however adores a rolled up piece of leftover carpet which I was going to take to the dump. It's an eyesore but it's staying as it means my 3piece is unmarked (except from where the new kitten had a bit of a swing).

Maybe you could think of a few alternatives to the scratch post, maybe something a bit softer on their little claws and which they can have a good dig and get a good grip. In the short term you could put some loose sheets or something over the sofas to break the habit. It'd probably be a good idea to wash the already scratched areas down with a weak solution of biological detergent so that the sofas don't emit a "Scratch Here" waft to the kitties. Obviously make sure that the colour doesn't run by testing it first on the back of a cushion or something.

The "Soft Claws" option could sound attractive to you, but TBH it's only got potential if your cats are 100% indoor cats as they would be unable to defend themselves outside. They even cause problems for them jumping up out of the way as they'd be unable to get a grip on whatever they are jumping onto. Some people might consider Soft Claws as cruel and a lazy way of solving the problem. I'd never consider this an option myself TBH.

And now to finish this missive, it'd be a good idea to trim your cats' claws anyway so that they don't grow so long they grow round and into the pads of their paws. It's an easy job, totally painless for the kitties though they will probably hate having it done, so maybe easier with two people. Pet shops have special clippers, usually a fiver or less.

mike34_2

I did forget to say that our cats are both 100% indoor cats (we live on a main road).

I also would'nt say it was cruel or lazy, in our situation they were scratching while we were out of the house at work, they never scratched anything in front of us - if we came home from work saw damage and started shouting or spraying water would they associate it with the damage they'd done or us being bullies??

I would say its definitely an option to consider, if you are unable to train them any other way.

nealallen

Get yourself one of those spray bottles, like the one's you use to spay plants. Believe me, they won't keep going back for seconds.

WeirdoMagnet

Why not train your cats to execute the behavours you do want, rather than use aversives (shouting, clapping, water sprays) to punish them for things you don't want? Clicker Training works well for cats - not only will it help you to untrain them from scratching your furniture, it will also tire them out mentally. Here's a video of Cat Clicker Training In Action. In the meantime, using distraction (with other toys), and providing alternatives that they can scratch as SnowyOwl says.

I think if your cats are outside cats, they probably won't need their claws clipping as they wear them down naturally. I don't think clipping to prevent the scratching will work - they'll naturally sharpen back up once they've been outside. You can also use clicker training to teach them to have their claws clipped if necessary.