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Whether your cat has been clawing up your furniture, or you have realized that you can't leave anything lying around without your cat tearing it up, you'll find that you may have a real problem on your hands.
Luckily, this problem is one that you can solve with a little bit of thought. It is true that your cat's scratching is a natural behavior, but it is definitely one that you can take care of with just a little bit of time. If you are looking to stop your cat from scratching, make sure that you keep some of the following information in mind.
The first thing that you need to keep in mind is that there are many different reasons that your cat wants to claw, and it has nothing to do with making your life difficult. In the first place, cats claw because they are marking there territory.
While it is most males that will do this, females will do it to a certain extent as well, and you'll find that this behavior can get worse if there are disruptions in their home environment or if they are feeling stressed.
You'll also find that cats will scratch to wear down their claws, or to exercise their muscles. Finally, keep in mind that scratching for a cat is relaxing and natural behavior; they might just do it because they're bored!
When you are looking at ideas as to how to make your cat stop scratching, remember that you will need to give them something else to scratch on. To keep them away from your furniture, make sure that you offer them something that they can really get their claws into.
Some cats will be happy with a post with some carpet wrapped around it, while other cats will be more pleased with a rough log that they can shred to their heart's content. You'll find that providing them with this can give them a lot of pleasure and save you a lot of wear and tear on your home!
After, you get your cat these scratching elements, you will have to persuade your feline friend to use them. Since they scratch in part to mark their territory put the elements in high traffic areas and areas where the human household hangs around. Like in the tv room, or a busy hall way.
You can also rub some catnip on them to make them that much more appealing to your cat. If you want to ensure that they get the idea. Put a citrus or minty freshener on the old cat scratching favorites. Cats are repelled by citrus and mint scents.
Under no circumstances, declaw your cat to prevent her from scratching. Claw removal for cats is an extremely painful and disfiguring operation. While some people will compare it to having fingernails trimmed, the truth of the matter is that the first joint is removed each of your cat's toes. This is something that can lead to many problems later on, so do not opt for this painful and needless operation.
If you want a quick fix to stop go out and get plastic nail caps. This is a painless, and easy way to keep you cat from clawing up your furniture.
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