Can you do anything to stop them.

Our cat is using every bit of furniture in the house as a scratching post. He has ruined some leather chairs which we only got before Christmas.

I'm really fed up about it, can't afford to be buying stuff to be ripped apart in a few months.

| bought mine a scratching post and covered it in catnip - that worked ok.

Secondly cats dont like water. When he is scratching someone should spray the cat gently with water making sure the cat can't see them. This should deter him from doing it, As he can see you, he won't know where the water is coming from

Apparently they don't like sticky tape, so although a bit unsightly, you could put double sided tape on the bits he scratches. It might deter him. You can buy strips from pet shops (I bought some from Pets at Home and then realised it was just thick double sided tape). A squirt from a water pistol should also help. I only have to pick the water pistol up and mine shoots out of the room.

Whenever you catch your cat scratching something he shouldn't, just pick him up mid scratch and put him on the scratcpost to finish. Physically put his front feet on the post, don't just stand him in front of it. Use your own fingertips to scratch the post yourself so he really gets the idea. You may have to do this lots of times but he will eventually get the message.

My cats favourite place to scratch was always the corner at the back of the sofa. I have wedged the base of a scatchpost under the sofa so the post actually stands at that corner of the sofa. They love it and my sofa remains in one piece. I do have other posts around the house but that is their favourite. They still feel like they are attacking my sofa but I know different
Everybody wins

^^ what flakecake said.

Plus scratching posts need to be big and stable enough to let the catch stretch up and scratch vigorously - some of them are ridiculously small. It is well worthwhile teaching them (as flakecake describes) to use a scratching post as cats need to be able to strop their claws and a post can save the rest of your furniture being wrecked.

We've tried everything, can't stop him.

Spraying water, plug in thingies, scratching pole.

How old is he and his he neutered

He's 2 and has been neutered. He doesn't go outside much though, perhaps thats the problem.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have got a water spray out and will try it. Do need to get a new scratching post though, the one we have is useless, it just falls over when he uses it.

He needs the biggest one you can afford. The wider at the bottom its better. I had to give one away once as guinness because he is too big for one, When you get one spray it with cat nip spray he should just go too that then. We have gone throigh so many settees since we first got cats. We are not bothered anymore. We only got one that scratches now and we instanley stop her. Cats do like leather smell as well.

Yep I know exactly what you mean - my cats' post broke a couple of weeks ago and I'm still awaiting delivery of their new one. In the meantime in desperation I bought one from a petshop which is tall but the base is far too small so when they reach up and scratch vigorously it falls over - so it's no use at all because now they're nervous of using it, and have started using the rug (which they never do when they have a proper post).

If you get a proper good post which has a big stable base the cat should be happy to use it - you can 'show' him how as flakecake describes.

Unfortunately though now he has started scratching furniture he has visual and scent cues on the furniture which will encourage him to reoffend. Shutting him out of particular rooms when you aren't there to prevent him may help break the habit.

We got a citrus spray http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Scratch-No-Mor...item3a6351ef8e

Apparently they hate citrus stuff so it puts them off scratching it.

Keep applying until they get the message that that area is not nice to scratch

I remember reading a book about cat. Why Do Cats Meow?

It said cats scratched furniture to sharpen their claws. They also scratched trees. Maybe you adopt wooden furniture so that you can sandpaper the furniture at a regular basis.

Erh...no, not really. We just had to let our kitten destroy most of the house and furniture in it. He grew out of it, but it took about a year and by then the house was ripped to shreds.

The citrus spray might be an idea.

Have you tried a carboard box. My guinness loves them. They can rip it up without damaging anything

i cannot leave sticky tape in my house my cat is an addict to it

Good idea - the more things you can provide which they can legitimately 'wreck', the less likely they are to choose your furniture. One of my cats goes mental for kitchen roll, he clutches it and "rats it" with his back feet. He'll do the same with a newspaper left on the floor. Of course that does make a mess with bits of paper everywhere....

If you do use a 'deterrent' of whatever type on the furniture, you still have to provide a really good alternative for them to scratch - cats have to strop their claws regularly.

Apart from providing puss with all the things it can legitimately destroy, the bits you want to save you could possibly rub a tiny amount (and I mean tiny) of rub such as ralgex/deep heat on them. Barely enough for us to smell, but my cat hates it, and will keep away from carpets etc that has that smell.

Put too much down and they'll never return to the house!

This may sound drastic, but if all above suggestions fail try getting his nails on his front paws clipped down by the vet it might work for a while.

There is a blindingly obvious answer to this problem.....

Shut cat out of room with the furniture cat scratches when you are not there?

Tinfoil - cats don't like that much - although covering your sofa in tin foil is not a long term option

Has the cat always been like this OP? Or is it only recent behaviour?

Luckily my girl wont even so much as sit on our leather sofa!

There is a major clue in the OP's own post. The scratching post they have is useless and falls over when the cat tries to use it. Replacing it with a proper sturdy one is the first thing to try.

I speak from experience as I mentioned above. Our new one arrived today, they love it.

This one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canac-Sisal-...981038&sr=8-19

(I removed the daft mouse thing)

Just resurrected this thread for any more advise please.our cat is 2 years ish, neutered and very playful. Problem is he scrathes the interior doors when he wants to go outside. eg scratches at the lounge door (even when it's wide open)to indicate he wants the front door opened. Hence we can't shut him away from the place he likes to scratch. He's wrecked our wooden and glass doors and we are getting new, half timbered doors next week. We're hoping the lack of frames at his lower level will help but any other tips would be good. am getting a squirty bottle today, BTW

Don't use a squirter or any other type of punishment, negative reinforcement will only harm your relationship with him, and won't stop him performing the behaviour, he'll just stop doing it when you are around. It's an old fashioned 'fix' akin to smacking a pup on the nose when they've weed or rubbing thier nose in it.

Cats like to mark thier territory, to do this they like to make a long lasting visual cue (the scratches) mixed with a shorter term olfactory cue (from their scent glands in paws), which is why the come back over and over again. The best solution is to redirect the behaviour, every time he scrits take him and put him paws on a scratching post (or an area you are happy for him to scratch), there should be one such post in each room/area at first, to encourage him. Don't buy new posts, they look nice to us, but cats much prefer old tatty ones, especially if they've been marked by so done else previously, a perfect zone for remarking and asserting thier dominance!

Orange is meant to be a deterrent, as is tin foil on the floor around the areas you don't want him to go.


Make sure you don't reward the behaviour by doing anything other than moving him, even opening the door to stop him, will encourage him (as he's got what he wanted).

Bib. Rubbish. He may not 'see' you doing it, but cats are quick enough to work out that something happens not when there are people there, and will associate the negative action with you.