That candy, cuddly little fur ball that has stolen your coronary heart has abruptly determined to channel her internal tiger and is shredding your furnishings. As a pet father or mother, understanding why your cat scratches furnishings will help you handle this undesirable behaviour.
Scratching is an instinctive behaviour and cats do it for a number of causes: To stretch, to speak, play, search consideration and to keep up wholesome claws.
Listed here are some tricks to stop this behaviour.
Get up name
Cats will typically stretch and scratch after a nap. By offering scratching posts or towers close to their nap locations, you possibly can encourage their use as a substitute for the sofa. Rubbing catnip on the submit additionally helps encourage their use. Observe the place your cat likes to nap and what surfaces they wish to scratch. Present choices shut by. Comply with up with treats and reward once they select the scratching posts over the furnishings.
Reinforce good habits
Kittens have far more power than grownup cats, so making certain they’ve numerous play time may discourage undesirable scratching. In case your kitten begins scratching on furnishings, instantly take them to their scratching submit or tower. Permit them to proceed the behaviour and reward with treats, reward and extra playtime within the scratching space. Utilizing a laser pointer or a wand toy may also assist draw the cat’s curiosity across the submit and may naturally immediate scratching on the specified floor.
The well being of the matter
Cats additionally scratch to keep up their claw well being. Cats’ claws have an outer husk that sheds, so scratching helps facilitate the shedding and helps to maintain these claws wholesome. By trimming your cat’s nails, you possibly can decrease the injury they will do. Some consultants additionally recommend nail caps, however solely as a final resort. This feature would have to be paired with different options for lowering scratching.
Stress will be one more reason your cat is scratching your furnishings. A stress-reducing product based mostly off pheromones, akin to a Feliway diffuser, could calm your cat in order that they not really feel the necessity to scratch the furnishings.
Unsure in case your cat is burdened? Try our weblog on easy methods to acknowledge stress in pets.
Make furnishings much less interesting
If none of those ideas are working, you may make your furnishings unappealing to scratch, or block off the room totally so it’s unavailable to your cat. Cats typically don’t like citrus, so a pet-friendly, citrus-based spray could dissuade scratching. Inserting aluminum foil may additionally be efficient.
By understanding your cat’s motivation for scratching and offering choices for this behaviour, plus numerous play time, reward and treats once they don’t scratch the furnishings, your fantastic feline companion and your furnishings can co-exist..
Assist finish declawing
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society has lengthy labored to teach the general public that scratching is a standard habits for cats and will be managed to assist stop furnishings injury.
Declawing is a mutilating and painful process that may by no means be justified as a remedy in response to a cat’s regular habits. Declawing consists of amputating the final bone on every toe of a cat’s paw, which might trigger a lifetime of ache, discomfort and important behavioural modifications within the cat.
To be taught extra and communicate up towards declawing, go to changeforanimals.ca
