Cats are adorable
They are very loving pets
Until they start doing things which annoys you
And one of those things could be
Scratching your furniture to a point where it’s actually destroyed
Don’t worry it’s not the end of the world
Carry on reading to discover why
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Do Cats Destroy Furniture
Yes!
They do and they will
You’re probably thinking
What?! They will?!
It’s true and sometimes no matter how hard you try
Your cat will do something that can annoy you
And one of those things is
Scratching the furniture
Let me tell you
Seeing scratch marks all over your brand new cupboard is not something you would want!
For example
My cat Tigger,
He literally scratched my leather couch
It got to a point where there was no leather left!
And boy was that frustrating!
Leather couches are expensive
But my cat thought it’d be fun to scratch it
Of course for his own benefit
But could I blame him?
No not really
Yep, I can’t blame him
Why?
Because he’s just being a cat
Cats will scratch for all sorts of reasons
It’s not like my Tigger was doing to this to get me angry
For him it’s completely normal
So let’s understand why cats like to scratch
Why Do Cats Scratch?
Let’s look at some of the reasons why cats love to scratch things especially your beautiful furniture
- Removes the dead outer layer of their claws. It’s good for their claws and keeps them healthy. It also keeps them trimmed too
- Marking their territory. Yep, they don’t just mark their territory by spraying, they also do this by scratching. Cat paws have scent glands in them so when they scratch your wall or furniture, they’re actually leaving both a visual mark and a scent. This is a way of telling other cats that this area belongs to me! It’s amazing how cats communicate right? But not so good for your furniture!
- Scratching vertical objects allows your cat to stretch their body and flex their claws and feet. I’m sure you see your cat sleeping right, they’re always curled up like a ball so imagine how it feels for them when they stretch!
- A stress relief! When your cat scratches objects it’s a way of them releasing stress. Cats do get stressed so it’s important for them to release it just as important as we want to let go of stress. As you know stress can lead to problems
As you can see, it’s normal behavior for your little furball
It’s not something you can stop because they are pretty much motivated to do this
So how do you stop this behavior?
What’s the solution?
Does this mean your furniture will never be safe from a cat?
The answer to this is
Your furniture will be safe
Like I said, you can’t stop this
But it doesn’t mean you can’t redirect their scratching to something else right?
So let’s see how we can do this
How To Redirect Your Cat From Scratching Furniture
There are two ways of doing this
It’s that simple
1. Associate scratching your furniture a negative feelingÂ
2. Redirect the scratching to something elseÂ
Not bad right?
Let me get into more detail
Associate scratching your furniture a negative feelingÂ
What you want to do is,
When your cat scratches the furniture make it a negative feeling for your cat
So she’ll think twice if she’ll go and scratch again which most likely she won’t
How do you do this?
Wherever your cat is scratching add double sided sticky tape
The feeling of this on your cats paws is something your cat will hate!
Here’s a good anti cat scratching tape
Anti-scratch Cat Tape for Furniture
You can just stick that on whatever your cat is scratching
And that’s it!
Oh and this is completely safe to use
For your cat and for your furniture
Highly recommend it
Some people say to spray your cat
But I don’t agree with this
That’s going to get your cat scared
And yeah, maybe they’ll stop scratching
But they will associate you with spraying
This could make your cat feel scared of you
Me personally, I wouldn’t want that
With sticky tape, your cat will not be scared of you
I think it’s the best way to stop your cat from scratching
So now that we have associated a negative feeling with scratching
Your cat still needs to scratch
Now the second step
Redirect the scratching to something elseÂ
You need to get your cat something to scratch
You guessed right
A scratching post!
They are designed for your cat scratching
Scratching posts are great for your cat to scratch
You can get many different ones
But me personally, I would recommend getting a Cat scratching tree
This is basically a cat tree that has many scratching posts
Why do I recommend this?
It’s easier to get your cat to use a cat tree than a scratching post
A cat tree is more appealing
Your cat can basically be a cat on the tree
And also use the scratching posts too
It’s also a great way of keeping them entertained
Imagine leaving the house for a little while knowing your cat won’t scratch the furniture!Â
Which cat scratching tree to buy?
You don’t need to do the research because I’ve actually written a top 5 recommendation
You can check it out by clicking the link below
Best cat scratching tree – My Top 5 (Review Guide)
I recommend some pretty awesome ones in there
You’ll be surprised!
Your cat won’t destroy the furniture because they have something else to claw at
Wrapping It Up
If you don’t want your cat to destroy the furniture then you need to redirect their scratching to something else
Cats need to scratch as it has many benefits for them
If they don’t have any place to scratch then your furniture, carpet and couch will be scratched!
That is why I recommend getting a Cat scratching tree
This has many scratching posts which your cat can gladly scratch
It’s all about managing this behavior and to be honest it’s easy
Just follow my two simple steps and by the time you know it, your cat will be using the scratching posts and will never scratch your furniture again!
I actually go into more detail on how to stop your cat from scratching your furniture in my article which you can check out below
How do you keep a cat from scratching the furnitureÂ