Used to be, it was easy to stop your cat from destroying your furniture, carpet and draperies. You simply had the cat declawed.
The General and I did this to several of our cats. No one, including the vets who did the procedure, suggested to us that it was cruel. The cats’ toes were tender for a few days, but after that, their ability to turn the legs of expensive pine furniture into toothpicks disappeared.
Times have changed. The practice of declawing cats seems to be falling pretty solidly onto the wrong side of history. In March of 2017, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association issued a policy condemning the procedure, although it is still up to the provinces to decide whether to adopt that policy. The operation has been banned in the U.K. and Australia, as well as some cities in the U.S. It is forbidden in the countries which have adopted of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. That covers a lot of Europe.
Assuming you do not wish to have your cat declawed, what are your other options for preserving your house from destruction?
As this is a natural behaviour for the cat, you first have to understand and accept that you will never stop your cat from scratching.
Scratching accomplishes a whole lot of objectives that are important to your cat. It sharpens their claws and gives their legs and bodies a nice stretch and workout. They have glands on their feet that leave a scent to mark the place they scratched as their territory.
That leaves trying to modify the behaviour as our best option, so that when it occurs, as it inevitably will, the damaging aspects are eliminated. As with any other kind of behaviour modification, you have to find ways to discourage the behaviour you don’t want and encourage the behaviour you do want. In practical terms this means deterring the cats from scratching in inappropriate places and providing alternatives that are acceptable to the cats, where their scratching will be harmless. Messy maybe, but harmless.
Scratching posts of some kind are pretty much it for the positive side of this exercise.
Before running out to the pet store to buy the first scratching post you see, observe your cats’ scratching behaviour. This will help you choose the right kind of scratching post; one that your cats will already be inclined to use.
Where do they do it? How do they do it? What kind of surface do they go for? Do they like to stand up on their hind legs when they scratch or do they prefer the horizontal surface of the carpet? Do they scratch the upholstered furniture or the wooden legs of the end tables?
Do they choose the places where a particular member of the household hangs out – that person’s reading chair, or their bed post?
You can buy scratching posts in a variety of shapes, sizes and coverings. If you have a cat who loves to claw up a particular place on the carpet, try one of the flat models. If you have a cat who stands up on his hind legs and extends his front legs as high as possible, get a tall vertical model. There are sloping versions as well. There are jungle gym-like cat trees and structures that combine every possible geometric version.
The main thing to bear in mind, whatever configuration you choose, is that the scratching surface should be long enough (if flat or sloping) or high enough (if vertical), that your cat can extend herself to his full length.
Cat scratching posts most often come covered in carpeting or sisal rope. The flat ones are often made of corrugated cardboard. Sisal is tougher than either cardboard or carpet.
Your cat can get her claws stuck in a loop of the carpet. The cardboard will disintegrate and make a mess around the scratching device. Sisal would be my pick, but your cat may prefer one of the other surfaces.
It’s worthwhile bearing in mind, if you have access to trees, that a long fallen branch, propped against the wall, can also make a simple and cheap scratching post. Like the cardboard, there will be some mess associated with it. But if your cat likes to claw the mouldings or the wooden legs of furniture, a rough branch may make an especially acceptable alternative.
You could try using several different types of posts with different covers in different places until you see which he prefers.
Start by putting posts next to where she typically scratches. Do make sure each post is stable. If it falls over and scares the cat, they won’t go near it. End of experiment.
If you have a cat who gravitates towards places one member of the household habitually occupies, put a scratching post there with a piece of that person’s laundry on it, or have that person rub his or her hands over the new post so it smells like them.
You can also make the new post more attractive and interesting by rubbing it with catnip. Hang an interesting toy from it; maybe one of those little mice or birds that make chirping sounds when it is swatted.
Cats are famously curious. They will probably want to investigate the new post. But if they ignore it, draw their attention to it. Pat them and make encouraging noises when they show interest in it.
You can even mime scratching it yourself.
“So there, Mom. The degree in Fine Arts is useful after all.”
You can try gently putting your cat’s claws on the post, but be prepared to abandon the effort if your cat objects. Many cats instinctively resist being forced to do anything. If they suspect you want them to scratch the post, that may do exactly nothing, just to show you they can.
Cats. What ya gonna do?
At the same time you’re providing fun new ways for your cat to satisfy his urge to scratch, you will want to do what you can to discourage him from his old scratching sites.
Some people will tell you to wait until you can catch the cat in the act of scratching where you don’t want him to. Then shoot him with a water pistol, throw a can filled with pennies near him to scare him away or just clap your hands and yell No”.
But any behaviour modification that depends on negative reinforcement must be consistent to be successful. The problem is that you’re not always there and watching. Cats are famously sneaky.
They’ll just bide their time while plotting to resume their scratching once The Man goes away.
If you have a scaredy cat, you may succeed in scaring her so badly she is afraid to come back into the room.
Physically deterring the scratching at the undesirable location is far preferable. Cats are famously fastidious.
One of the most effective deterrents is to cover the surface of the place where they usually scratch with something they won’t like to feel on their paws. Sandpaper will work, or the nubbly side of a rubber-backed mat. The easiest, if not the cheapest covering is medical grade two-sided sticky tape. “Sticky Paws” is a brand that seems to be pretty well reviewed. You can buy it both as a roll of wide tape or in sheets. Such products are purpose made and shouldn’t mar your furniture.
If you decide to try regular two-sided tape, test it on a small area first to make sure it comes off and doesn’t mar the furniture when it does.
There are also spray-on deterrents on the market which cover the cat’s own scent with one they don’t like. Feliway makes one, for example. They claim it is 96% effective when used once or twice per day for 28 days.
I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the anti-scratch spray, but we have used the Feliway pheromone diffusers and sprays with some success in stopping other undesirable behaviours in our cats, such as fighting with each other and from urinating outside the litter box.
Whatever spray you use, try cleaning the area before applying the spray, to try to remove as much of your cat’s own scent as possible.
Another tool is a motion activated sonic or air spray deterrent device. You place the little box near where you don’t want the cat to be and it shoots air at them when they come near. The Sunbeam Sensor Egg is an example Reviews are mixed, but there are those who swear by it.
Sofa Scram is a mat that emits a loud noise when your cat (or dog) steps on it, so good for flat surfaces, but wouldn’t work on the legs of furniture or wood mouldings.
Catscram Electronic Cat Repellent emits a high pitched electronic squeal, inaudible to humans but which your cat won’t like. It’s motion activated. The product warns that it won’t deter all cats, but claims a 94.7% success rate.
Tattle Tale Sonic Pet Training Vibration Alarm can be placed near where the cat scratches. It will make a sound to alert you that Puss is where she oughtn’t to be, and it should scare the cat away. It is motion activated. Some people say the sound is not loud enough to be scary. Other loves it. One reviewer has a cat who loves it, sits near it, and touches it with her paw to make it go off.
Again, cats. What ya gonna do?
The problem with these devices is that they may stress your cats into giving a wide berth around anywhere the device is. You only want to keep them away from the sofa leg that they scratch. Your’e fine with them curling up on your lap when you sit on the sofa. But you may find that they avoid the living room altogether and just start scratching somewhere else.
You can try clipping your cat’s claws, so they are not sharp enough to do damage when they scratch. You’ll have to do this regularly – at least every two weeks, and quite possibly every seven to ten days, depending on how fast your cats’ nails grow.
You can also try gluing vinyl caps onto your cat’s claws. They are fussy and prone to falling off and will require replacing every three weeks or so.
As with any other attempt to change behaviour, whether our own or our pets’, consistency, determination and patience are required.