Scratching Furniture

[Danni1415]

How can I get my cats to stop scratching?? It's driving me crazy! I have had my female Mia for 5 years. She is spayed and never really had too much of a problem with her scratching. We lived with my mom for almost a year. She did not scratch on anything at my moms but my moms car scratched inside the house. A couple months after we moved I got my daughter a kitten named Popcorn. Got him fixed when he was old enough. Now I didn't noticed my female scratching until Popcorn got older and started scratching.. Now they both do it! Popcorn more than Mia.. But I rent and the landlord left a chair with foot rest. The foot rest is what they scratch and are ruining it!! How can I get them to stop ???????  They both go outside but are mostly inside cats. I do not want to declaw because I don't think it's rights and they help with their defenses when outside if needed. PleAse please help!!

[furmomof5]

Hi!  I agree with furballsmom about the sticky tape, used it myself & it help a lot!  If you cant find the tape in the pet store then go to hardware store & get double sided tape, it works just a good.  I also swear by the cat scratchers that are made of cardboard (corrugated cat scratcher).  They look like a box thats been cut into thin strips & glued together.  My cats love them & you can sprinkle cat nip on them to make em even more irresistible!  I have four (one for each cat) and I place them near the things they like to scratch at.  Hope this helps. :-)

[FurballsMom]

Wow, I never heard of that happening.  I guess I got off lucky with Akira and my last cat both.  I would definitely try what you're trying first.  If that's not enough, I would then try the Sticky Paws.  It would be a lot easier to apply than many other homemade types of things.

[Danni1415]

I have tried the claw nail caps.. On my moms cat and my female when my daughter was getting scratched by them. However both cats fought clawed scratched and bit me while trying to do just the front claws.. They didn't stay on very well.. They both basically hid and sat and chewed them off.

[FurballsMom]

There are actually the plastic strips or guards sold at pet stores and online specifically for this purpose.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2543_stop-cat-scratching.html

I tried looking online at the Petco site.  I know they have the stuff I'm referring to, or at least they did at one time, but I'm not finding it online.  So, you could also call them to find out.  It's basically a peel and stick type of stuff.  

I found a wide variety of this type of thing on Amazon.  I haven't had to do this with my cat, but I did know that these things were out there:

http://www.amazon.com/Two-inch-Cat-Scratch-Guards/dp/B006X7SD08

There are other suggestions of things at the bottom, so there is a wide variety of options here, including the one I couldn't find on the Petco site.  It's called Sticky Paws.

There is one other option you can try if these things don't work.  It's a nail cap for the nails called Soft Paws.  I learned about Soft Paws from Akira's previous owner, who was blind.  What you do is trim the nails as you normally would, then you place the Soft Paws nail caps on the little claws.  I've told people about this product before, because I know it works.  I believe Petco only has clear nail caps, but they actually come in a whole range of colors.  Akira looked so cute with pink and purple nails when her previous owner would have her vet cap the nails.  I haven't had to put these on Akira myself, since she hasn't been a furniture scratcher and because she will allow me to trim her nails, but she has worn them before.  They fall off when the outer nail sheath grows and sheds, so they're not permanent.

[Danni1415]

Ok. I have thought bout wrapping it up in plastic but my 3 yr old loves to play on it and put it on the side and use as balance beam.. Think I'm going to try that spray first and scratching post..

[opus88]

yes definately get them some scratching posts.....and put plastic or tin foil on the area's that are getting scratched, cats like the feel of certain fabrics so it maybe necessary to cover the whole chair in plastic if the spray trial doesn't work.
good luck....

[Danni1415]

Yup thanks

[KaylaMarie25]

Hope that helped some =]

[KaylaMarie25]

If they are strictly indoor cats you could get them front paw declawed. If declawing is out of the question, you can get their nails trimmed and keep up on the trimming. Cats scratch to trim their nails. Also, I used a solution of lemon juice, vinegar and water. I sprayed it on things that are "a no zone for scratching" and that seemed to him. You may also want to invest in a couple scratching posts. They usually come with catnip. This shows the cats that the scratching post is where they can scratch without getting in trouble.

[Danni1415]

Bump- someone please help

[Danni1415]

Bump