Cat Scratching Furniture? How to Make Them Stop Faster
Cats scratch for a number of reasons. Here are three tips, one of which is unique to try and change your cat’s behavior. Remember the faster you change their behavior, the easier it is to change it.
1. Make the area stinky to your cat. Cats do not like strong smells, so by putting furniture polish on an object it can make a cat want to stay away. Also, an electric plug in air freshener near the area you want your cat to stay away from can also work. Other smells cats don’t like include garlic, menthol, ginger, and strong perfumes.
2. Place a scratching post. Block the area that they normally mark with a post. Normally these are much more desirable alternatives for cats, so give them what they want. If might be best to buy a couple of these posts to place in different areas of the house.
3. Sticky Paws for claws. These are plastic caps that fit right over your cat’s front claws. You glue them on and they normally stay on for weeks. Cats tolerate them very well after a day or two of getting used to them.
Remember that cats love to scratch and in order to effectively deal with this behavior you have to give them a healthy alternative.
This alternative could be letting them mark an old piece of furniture you don’t care about, or providing them with a scratching post that is either store bought or home made. The next time you have a cat scratching furniture, but these tips to use.
