How can I stop my cat from scratching up my leather furniture?

Question

She has a scratching post but somehow prefers my furniture. She is an 18 month old cat we got from the sanctuary just over 2 weeks ago.

My leather stools for my dining table has a load of holes because of the cat.

And no I will not hurt her for doing it - just what cats are like. But I don't want shredded furniture either.

Answer 1

kill it....

oh, i'm sorry, what i meant to say was get it a scratching post so it uses that instead of your furniture.  sorry about the 'kill it' comment.  i don't know what i was thinking...   :)

Answer 2

Remember that an important part of scratching is the cat's desire to mark a territory, so a scratching post should be in an area that's used by the family, not hidden in a back corner. After a time you can move the post away to the periphery of the room, but you'll need to do this gradually.

Initially, put the post where your cat goes to scratch. This may be by a sofa, a chair or wherever Kitty has chosen as her territiory, and you may need more than one post to cover her favorite spots. Security is a major factor in making the post appealing to your cat. If it topples or shakes, she won't use it. It should either be secured to the floor or have a base wide enough and heavy enough to keep it stable.

Encourage Kitty to use her post with clever enticements. Feed her and play with her by the post. Rub dried catnip leaves or powder into it. Make all the asssociations with the post pleasurable. Reward her with a favorite treat when she uses it. Have her chase a string or a toy around the post or attach toys to it, which will result in her digging her claws into it. Eventually she will learn to love it and regard it as her own. It's also a good idea to put a post where Kitty sleeps. Cats like to scratch when they awaken, especially in the morning and the middle of the night. If space permits, a scratching post in every room of the house is a cat's delight. The most important place is the area of the house in which you and Kitty spend the most time. I have many sisal posts in my house, yet often in the morning my cats line up to use the one in the living room.

If at first Kitty is reluctant to give up her old scratching areas, there are means you can use to discourage her. Covering the area with aluminum foil or double-sided tape is a great deterrent. These surfaces don't have a texture that feels good to scratch.

Remember too that Kitty has marked her favorite spots with her scent as well as her claws. You may need to remove her scent from the areas you want to distract her away from. You will find pet odor removers in pet stores and many supermarkets as well.

Cats have an aversion to citrus odors. Use lemon-scented sprays or a potpourri of lemon and orange peels to make her former scratching sites less agreeable to her.

If Kitty still persists in scratching the furniture, try squirting her with a water gun or a spray bottle set on stream. Another option is a loud whistle or other noise-maker. You must employ these deterrents while she is scratching for them to be effective. The point is to establish an aversion to the spot you don't want her to scratch.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Provide plenty of cat scratching post,or you can buy flat scratching posts that hang up against the wall or whatever,these are quite good. Or when you see the cat ripping up the furniture firmly tell him "NO",don't shout or lose you temper though,as this will just add to the problem! Is it a kitten? Because these tend to go through a "ripping up" stage,he should grow out of it,if its an adult can why can't he go outside? Or you can buy plastic bits that go on the end of the cats claws these are great they stop cats ripping up stuff,i think they are called "soft paws" or something like that! If no scratching posts etc help or telling him of try the vets they might have an answer.

**EDIT** As your p***y doesn't use the scratch posts,i would suggest the "Soft Paws" as these will hopefully stop this behavior of his/hers.

If you can't find these in pet shops, either search the web or ask your pets vet,as they might know where to buy them.Here is their website:

http://www.softpaws.com/

P.S sorry about your furniture!

Hope this helps. x*x

Answer 4

Ask him to paws his behaviour...

Answer 5

try vick vapor rub, cats cant stand it. also go to walmart, down their cat isle thay have a box of card board edges cats love it..

Answer 6

Scratching posts are AWESOME. I have a cat tree and a post and my 2 boys use it, I was just adopted by another cat, so I have to get more.

But get a scratcing post or a tree, they love cat trees.

You can also try SoftPaws, I think is what they're called. Just bits of plastic that go on their claws. :)

Answer 7

Keep the nails trimed

Rubber nail covers or

Declaw

Answer 8

You can buy certain sprays to keep them off, if that doesnt work you can try plastic covers. But dont declaw it cause i think it makes them unhappy

Answer 9

cover the leather up...thats what i did! Its not worth risking it ! Get a scratching post too...

Answer 10

trim its nails