We're in a rented house and my cat won't stop scratching the sofas! She has also opted to rip the wallpaper, making a huge problem for us! Does anyone have any ideas as to how we can stop her?
One thing is absolutely certain. You will never stop a cat from scratching but you can divert his claws from your sofa, furnishings or carpet to something more appropriate. It is relatively easy to stop your cat scratching your furniture. First you must buy or make him a scratching post.Whenever you see your cat scratching the furniture tell him NO... or AH-AH in a firm voice, then gently pick him up and take him to the scratching post. Do this is a very gentle way so as not to scare him. Place his paws on the scratching post and simulate scratching. Praise him and tell him 'Good Kitty' and stroke him to make it an enjoyable pleasant experience. You will have to be diligent at first and try to catch him in the act of scratching your furniture. Never punish him for scratching inappropriately but praise him well when he does the right thing. It's all about reward and pleasant experiences. Good Luck!
I'm with CutiePie. I had a cat that scratched the furniture for ages, so I made him a scratchy; I bought 3 planks of a softwood from a timber yard and a ?1 mat from a carpet shop. I screwed the planks to the wall near his cat flap and glued the mat on with PVA. Every time I saw my cat scratch the sofa I told him NO! and I would take him to the scratchy and scratch it myself, then put his paws on it and tell him 'good boy' and rub him between his ears. Anytime I saw him scratching the scratchy I told him 'Good boy'. It took a while but he ripped on the sofa far less and could have gotten out of the habit if he'd not been 14yo already.
Ok yes, a scratching post will help. BUT you can do something now that will divert the cats attention elsewhere. You can spray something on the corners of furniture that the cat scratches at. I use either vinegar or a diluted spray bottle of liquid lysol. They hate that smell. Cats don't like foil either so you might come up with an idea for this... and Cat nip always helps direct attention to the more positive behaviors. A spray bottle of just water is not inhumane so I advise to use this as a behavior modification tool.
I can't believe you Joeyjo, recommending declawing that cat ! That is the stupidest reply I've seen man , after all that's been proved lately about the cruelty of it ! Front paws only you blithely say, as if that makes it OK! And letting your own poor crippled defenceless cats go outside,I think you are hardly qualified to give advice to someone else. They may even live in a country where declawing is banned anyway ! It is animal abuse and will soon be banned worldwide ! What a shame someone always has to come along like this, when the asker has already had sensible and humane suggestions like the first 2,which I really agree with, patience with cats always pays off man.
