How to get your Cat to stop scratching things?

[Patriarch]

Hi BG,

So I've had a cat for almost 3 years now, and just recently started scratching my all of the things she can scratch. And for the record I know very little about cats. I found her on a construction site as a kitten and I've had her since.

We recently bought our first house, which idk maybe cats dont like new places? But she was scratching stuff a couple weeks beforehand. There is a leather couch that she particularly loves to scratch, and she has tore this thing up. I mean, its destroyed...

I have tried buying her scratching posts, little play pens with the shit cats like to scratch on. But rather than use what I want her to scratch, she insists on fucking my couch up further. BG, what do you recommend? Don't say declaw because that shit is terrible, my house lion needs her talons. Also, I have tried catnip on top on the scratching post. But she just rolls in it and lays on the floor. I bought a large cage that I put her in at night, because that is when she normally does most of the damage. I put her crap box, food, blankets and toys in the cage. But I hate caging her up, she needs to roam. But I need to know she won't shred the house to pieces as I sleep.

Also, here is a picture if you wanted to know what type of cat she is. I have no idea, i refer to her as "Cheester, the house lion"

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41...ps67a0ef8d.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y41...ps77d8e4a8.jpg

[Headspace]

Water bottle, etc

[Grey Jorildyn]

Get those corrugated cardboard cat scratchers and try just leaving random boxes around. Put nip in them periodically. Worked for my coon cat who also scratched my leather couches.

[Patriarch]

Get those corrugated cardboard cat scratchers and try just leaving random boxes around. Put nip in them periodically. Worked for my coon cat who also scratched my leather couches.

I purposely avoided those, thinking the more expensive items would be ideal. I will get a couple of these and give it a shot

[Grey Jorildyn]

That's what they want you to think. We bought all kinds of shit for our two newest kittens and it doesn't occupy them as much as the simple shit. At the end of the day the most entertaining things for my cats are pieces of string, a laser pointer, and those plastic rings you take off gallons of water (my fiancee calls them "squeeze-leez"). They bat those things around like mad...

[Ksandra]

the best scratchers I've found are the cardboard ones where you put catnip in. Put the scratchers near where the cat is scratching your furniture and reward it with a treat when it uses the scratcher (if you catch it doing it to the furniture try and redirect it to the scratcher).


Also, I found this from someone on bg and these are AMAZING.

http://www.softpaws.com/?gclid=CP69q...FWbZQgodVAgARQ

You have to be active about replacing them, but these completely solve the scratching issue. I have a cat btw that is SUPER skittish and even she doesn't seem to notice/mind the caps. Most petco/petsmart sell these, but usually only the clear ones, if you want color you probably need to order them from the site (honestly the same price anyway).

[Manako]

Spray her with water when you catch her scratching and say "no!" eventually just saying no will be enough to disuade her, we had indoor/outdoor cats growing up so most of her scratching was done outside. For my rabbit she only chews on things now when her teeth are bothering her, so we'll toss her something she is allowed to chew on when she starts chewing on bad things... maybe pick the cat up and put her near the post when she starts scratching?

[Ddz]

My cat also did this. She destroyed two pieces of nice furniture and I did not want to get her de-clawed, so I did some research. I ended up trying out Soft Claws for Cats. These are vinyl claw covers that you super-glue onto your cat's claws. They are pain-free and obviously work; the cat is not able to scratch through them and onto your belongings. They naturally fall off with the claw's growth, at which time you put another set. My cat is a little bit of a squirmer, so getting them on was a pain in the ass, but they last for about a month. You might have another person help hold the cat while you put them on, if this is an option you're willing to consider. You can buy these at any major pet store; I believe I have purchased them at both PetSmart and Petco.

[Uzor]

Also remember that not all cats actually react to catnip. It varies greatly from cat to cat. Some don't react to it at all, whereas some goes absolutely batshit insane. More male cats than female cats react to it, as well. None of my cats have every cared for catnip at all, so don't rely on catnip to show her where the scratching post is, she might not care for it.

Whenever you play with her, play with her near a scratching post and put the toy on the scratching post, so that she automatically paws it. And if she scratches furniture, carry her to the scratching post.

And no, cats generally don't like change. Moving most likely made her confused, and as she's not yet familiar with the layout of the house, she probably don't know where the best place to scratch is.

And yes, expensive toys are unnecessary. You can just throw a paper ball on the floor and she'll entertain herself for hours.

That being said, I have a cat related question too. I have a problem with my cat that I just haven't been able to train away, and no amount of water bottles seem to help. She loves headphones, and headphones can not left alone for a single second or she'll chew through them. She stays away if you're using it, since she's well aware that she's not allowed to. It's at the point where we just lock all headphones up while at home, because she's prowling for headphones. She's too smart for her own good, too, as she knows how to open doors, cabins and drawers, so we can't just leave them in a drawer somewhere. They need to be locked away, or left in a jacket or closed bag that's hanging somewhere.

I didn't even know headphones have a distinctive smell, as I can only assume that's how she can find a pair of headphones in a second if left in a drawer. I'm kind of stumped about what to do, I've never had a cat that chews through headphone cords before, so I'm unfamiliar with how to handle the problem. It wouldn't be a problem if you could just put them in a drawer, but since she actually knows how to open drawers, it causes a bit of a problem.

I'm seriously torn, I've never had a cat that actually seem to posses enough intelligence to plan in steps. I once put a chain against the drawer that the headphones were in, and she eventually figured out that if she has her back towards the drawer and then pushes the chair with her paws, the chair will move, giving the drawer enough room to open to jump in and take the headphones out. Once when she got hungry and her food bowl was empty, she figured out how to somehow open the kitchen drawer (the above-sink one, mind you, so quite high up) to pull the food out. How on earth she figures these things out in a matter of minutes is beyond me. Her intelligence scares me. Wouldn't surprise me if she's the first of a race of super cats bent on world domination, one pair of headphone at a time.

[RKenshin]

Three cats in mom's house, all would scratch anything and everything.

I picked up this scratching post:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o06_s01_i00

And, once every couple of weeks, spray it lightly with this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...ls_o06_s00_i00

For the first week, cover up everything they would scratch (couch, chairs, etc) with blankets... So the only thing they have to scratch in the entire house, is that post. Try to give them some positive reinforcement anytime you see them using the post too (petting, attention, treats, etc).

After that, the cats never scratch anything else.

[zoobernut]

Chiming in here that a scratching post and catnip can work great for most cats. The other thing that we did which is ugly but saves your couch is I put clear packing tape on the couch over the parts that the cats were scratching. They don't like the feel of it and have since stopped scratching the couch. That or clear plastic wrap or tin foil also work. Just tools to help guide your cat to understanding that the scratching post is ok to scratch while the other stuff in your house is not.

[Tyrath]

I purposely avoided those, thinking the more expensive items would be ideal. I will get a couple of these and give it a shot

For cats I've generally found the cheaper it is, the more use they will get out of it. They flip out over plastic bags and cardboard and shit but if you buy them expensive toys they will ignore them.

[Bardlet]

I put double-sided tape (thin clear kind) on the places on my couch my cat was clawing, which helped deter her. We also yell "NO" and spritz her with the spray bottle when we catch her in the act. It took awhile before we found a scratching post she liked (she loves sisal), and once she got bigger we bought her a slightly taller one so she can stretch.

If you see your cat scratching somewhere correct, give it a treat. If you do it enough, along with scolding her when she scratches in the wrong part, she'll make the connection eventually. Cats aren't dumb, they're just super independent and a bit stubborn to training.

[Tekki]

Fyi spraying water rarely works.

The vacuum cleaner is my training tool of choice. My cats are scared shitless of it. Ive gotten my cats trained to the point where they will stand at the bedroom threshold, and not go in, because i used it in there every time they came in. (Im mildly allergic, so i wanted to keep one room pet free)

Works for any unwanted behaviour. They do something you dont like. Vacuum around it.

[zoobernut]

Fyi spraying water rarely works.

The vacuum cleaner is my training tool of choice. My cats are scared shitless of it. Ive gotten my cats trained to the point where they will stand at the bedroom threshold, and not go in, because i used it in there every time they came in. (Im mildly allergic, so i wanted to keep one room pet free)

Works for any unwanted behaviour. They do something you dont like. Vacuum around it.

While your experience might indicate this, cats are all so different that is important to try various things. The water spray works for some cats but doesn't work for others. The OP should just keep trying things until a solution is found. My cats don't like getting sprayed by water but do not care at all about the vacuum.

[Salodin]

Just to add to the toys and scratch board thing, playing with your cat is very important too in keeping them out of trouble. If you play with them 30-60min a day youll be amazed how much calmer and undestructive they become.

[Uzor]

Same here, my cat is very curious of the wondrous thing that is the vacuum cleaner. She's also in a romantic relationship with the mop. She doesn't really care for the water bottle, but she ignores it if it's something she really likes (like chewing on headphones...). For my cat, what works best is the air duster. She hates that thing and will run away with her tail between the legs even if I do it from across the room. I think she hates it because it sounds like a really angry cat.

[Rabidelly]

When we got our cat at 2 months old, she was trying to scratch everything. I tried the smelly spray - she liked it. I tried the double-sided tape - she continually tried to EAT it. I tried the cat toys/scratchers and catnip with them - she ignored them.

I eventually tried the SoftPaws (as have been mentioned) and they're awesome. They were easy to put on (and yes a second person is a good idea depending on your cat), and they lasted for a little over a month. After about 3 applications, I kept them off to see what she would do. Surprisingly, she didn't try to tear anything up and actually learned to use a scratching post too at that point. Maybe your cat is just going through a phase due to a new home, and this may help get her past it. Best of luck!

[MaachaQ]

We've been having issues with our cats scratching things as well, and I'm glad someone pointed out those claw cover things; I'm definitely going to order a few sets. I've tried Feliway to help with the scratching and fighting problems (5 cats in 1 apartment means there's frequent fights for dominance), but it hasn't solved the problem completely. My husband has refused to even shop for new furniture until we either get rid of the cats or somehow fully stop the scratching. Now to see if I need to order internationally or if I can find similar things locally...

[Seravi Edalborez]

I don't know if this works as well with a cat already established in the household, but we put a scratching post at one of the back corners of our "primary" couch. Both of our indoors cats scratch that instead of the couch itself. Has worked for years, but they've been training with it for that long too.

If you have the space for it, a cat tower with scratching post "pillars" is also pretty much heaven for them since it's high ground and has tons of viable scratch points.