Cats to get rid of the scratching of furniture
Scratching furniture, carpets and curtains can often be a big problem, especially among kittens. Here are some tips that worked well with our two cats:
Provide enough scratching furniture for cats:
The sharpening of their claws is a natural behavior and basic need for cats. If there are no scratching furniture designed for them, they will look for other places in the apartment / house and satisfy their need there. If you do not have enough space or if you do not like the scratching furniture optically, there are plenty of tips and tricks to offer cats some alternative scratching options (sisal rope around table or chair legs, scratching boards for attaching to walls or doors, carded cardboard, ... ).
Work with positive reinforcement:
Cats do not understand punishment in retrospect - it is therefore all the more important to reward good behavior! Bad behavior is ignored or - if the cat is caught red-handed - it is scared off by the suffering furniture with a clear "no". From the beginning, I have been careful to praise and reward our cats right away when they have scratched at the existing cat scratching furniture. So they accepted their scratching posts and scratching boards very quickly and spared our furniture very soon.
To protect furniture at the beginning:
We protected many of our upholstered furniture in the beginning with self-sewn covers. But there are also throws that are hung over upholstery & Co. As soon as the cat does not feel any resistance and scratch the "emptiness", she will not be interested in it anymore.
If in the first time a control of cats by frequent absence is not easily possible, also help lemon slices, which are placed on kitchen towels on the furniture or put with safety pins on backs or side parts. Cats avoid the scent of lemons and will go for it.
In this way, our cats have come to appreciate their scratching furniture in no time at all. And our furniture has remained intact.
