How to Keep Your Cat from Scratching the Furniture?

Have you ever woken up to find your cat has clawed the family couch? Maybe you’ve come home from work and discovered that your cat shredded the curtains. Cat scratching can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be permanent!

There are several easy ways to keep your cat from scratching or tearing up your furniture, as well as protecting yourself and other animals in the house from getting scratched or attacked while you’re out of the house (or just sleeping). Here are some of the most effective tips to keep your pet happy and your furniture intact.

Hiding places

One of the best ways to keep your cat away from your furniture is by giving her something she loves in another place. Line your walls with cat trees, buy a bunch of potted plants, or give her a safe corner on an unused surface.

The idea is that you want to create an exciting and engaging space for her so that she doesn't see scratching or tearing up your stuff as a good option anymore. Just remember: Don't take away anything she currently uses until you've made sure she likes what you put in its place. A new spot without her favorite toy will only frustrate her—and may even cause problems at first because she'll go back to scratching your furniture out of habit.

Diversions

If you think your cat is doing its damage out of spite, you’re probably right. Cats scratch and claw when they’re stressed or bored. If you own a cat, chances are you can relate—you may tear up a pillow or two while watching a moving.

You can take some simple steps to prevent your cat from chewing on what’s yours: Provide scratching posts in multiple areas around your home, so your cat has places other than your furniture to scratch and sharpen its claws. Buy toys that it can play with—and chew on—in place of snagging an end table leg for a good tugging.

Sprays and Deterrents

There are a number of ways you can try to deter your cat from scratching your furniture. One option is putting old t-shirts or socks around areas you don’t want scratched. Cats have scent glands in their paws, so if they smell something familiar, it might prevent them from using that surface as a scratching post.

You can also try spraying an area with lemon juice; cats generally dislike citrus smells. Finally, you can use commercial sprays that contain natural ingredients like hot pepper or bitter apple; cats don’t like these smells either and will be less likely to scratch where sprayed.

Training through Love

If you’re not sure how your cat is going to react to being trained, take it slow. The old phrase slow and steady wins the race really applies here—the last thing you want is a scratched-up family member. Using positive reinforcement training , reward your cat when she’s good and correct her with a firm no when she misbehaves.

When she starts clawing at furniture or other objects, firmly rub her head until she stops, then pet her and give her a treat afterward as an additional reward for understanding what you are trying to teach her.

Training through distraction

If your cat's scratching up your furniture, it's not because they're malicious or trying to get your attention. (Well, maybe sometimes.) It's probably just a bad habit. One way to break them off it is through positive reinforcement training techniques.

This basically means you reinforce good behavior with praise and treats whenever you catch your cat doing something right—like when they decide not to scratch your couch for once. If you can get them interested in what else is going on, they might stop clawing away at things that don't interest them.

Make them work for their treats!

When your cat sees a new toy, they have no problem going crazy trying to get it. But a lot of cats don’t know that once they’ve caught their prey and killed it, they can stop playing with it. Think about it—if you threw a ball and missed every time, would you keep throwing it over and over again?

Probably not—you'd either give up or find something else interesting to do. The same logic applies for cat toys, so put them through their paces by hiding treats around your house that are both appealing and hard for them to reach. This will encourage your kitty to stretch out those paws and flex those claws! After all, what good is owning a hunting cat if you don't make them work at it?

Protect your Furniture by using Anti Scratch Pads Furniture Protector. It can be used in any type of furniture shape such as sofas, armchair and hard surfaces such as tables, stools, doors or counters.