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All cat house owners love their cats, however one factor that isn’t fairly as endearing is how they scratch up the furnishings. It’s frequent for cats to scratch at family objects, together with couches, doorways, rugs, beds – the checklist goes on. You’ve in all probability already puzzled why your cat appears to like etching their little artistic endeavors onto your furnishings.
Don’t fear, there’s no malice concerned, though people like to assign human logic to animal behaviours. By understanding the reasoning behind the scratching, you’ll be able to start to grasp the way to maintain your cats from scratching the furnishings.
Why Do Cats Scratch?
Scratching and clawing at objects is solely one thing that each one cats do. In the event you watch massive cats corresponding to lions, tigers, and jaguars, additionally they like to scratch. They only don’t do it on family furnishings however on timber. Cats scratch to:
- Preserve their claws wholesome – Cat claws are made out of the identical materials as our fingernails, besides theirs peels away in layers. A superb scratching session is a method for the cat to take away the broken outer layer and sharpen the claw.
- Mark their territory – Like many different predators, cats are territorial by nature. Scratching is a method for them to mark their territory, each visually and by scent. At any time when your cat scratches at an object, the scent glands of their paw pads launch pheromones. These pheromones warn different animals that they’re within the cat’s residence turf.
- Stretch their our bodies – Any cat proprietor is aware of that cats love stretching. Most scratching classes are accompanied by a great stretch. Many cats will scratch whereas stretching, reaching far above or in entrance of themselves. Consider it as a human stretching whereas digging their toes into the carpet.
- Relieve boredom – Scratching is an effective method of releasing extra bodily or emotional power. Feminine cats in warmth might also be stressed, and can are likely to climb and scratch at issues.
How Do You Preserve Your Cat From Scratching Furnishings?
We’ve acquired a few ideas that, when utilized in mixture, will assist with scratching behaviours.
1. Preserve your cat’s nails trimmed
Setting a daily nail-trimming schedule is a good way to maintain your cat’s scratching behaviour beneath management. Most cats will begin scratching at round eight weeks outdated, so beginning younger is a good suggestion. It could be more difficult to get mature cats to take a seat nonetheless as you clip their nails, so a visit to the groomer could assist get them used to it. As soon as they’re extra snug, you’ll be able to try and do it your self. A nail trim each two to a few weeks works for many cat house owners.
2. Make the furnishings much less interesting
There are a few strategies to make your furnishings a less-than-ideal place to your cats to scratch:
- Apply cat scratch tape – You should utilize both cat scratch tape or double-sided tape. Most cats discover sticky surfaces annoying, so it’s a great deterrent to scratching. Nonetheless, this resolution will not be viable for surfaces that aren’t clean, corresponding to couches and different upholstered furnishings.
- Apply a cat scratch spray – There are each business and do-it-yourself variations of cat scratch spray. Most are supposed to make the cat suppose that they’ve already put their scent on the thing that’s been sprayed. This methodology takes a while to be efficient, as you’ll have to make use of the spray each day till the cat stops scratching.
- Apply vinyl panelling – That is the drastic choice for cats that merely gained’t cease scratching. Vinyl panels are not a deterrent, they’re safety to your furnishings. Panels of varied sizes can be found, and most screw on to your furnishings.
3. Present scratching posts
Most cats will scratch objects in the event that they’re appropriate for scratching. You may place scratching posts scattered round the home close to furnishings they normally scratch. Be aware of the sorts of surfaces that your cat enjoys scratching. Scratching posts are made of varied supplies, and it must be attainable to search out some that match your cat’s most well-liked kind of furnishings.
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Generally it takes slightly coaxing to get your cat to make use of the scratching publish as a substitute of the furnishings. Optimistic reinforcement is an effective strategy to get them to make use of the publish – every time they take note of the publish as a substitute of the furnishings, give them reward and a reward.
One other methodology is to sprinkle some catnip round and on the publish itself. Some cat house owners have had success with taking part in with a wand toy close to the publish, then directing the cat’s consideration to the publish as soon as they’ve began chasing the wand toy.
Let Your Cat Be A Cat
Let’s do not forget that scratching is a pure exercise for cats. Most cats might want to scratch not less than a few of the time – so as a substitute of trying to eradicate the behaviour fully, it’s greatest to direct it to things which might be designed to be scratched corresponding to cat furnishings and scratchers. In case your cat has moved on from furnishings to the partitions, now we have an article on the way to cease cats from scratching partitions as nicely.
Creator:
Elsa Smith
