How do I keep cat from shredding furniture?
Answers:
Sharpening their claws is an instinct with cats. When they don't have something of their own to sharpen their claws on, they will resort to furniture. Buy him/her a scratching post and put catnip on it to attract to it. Once he figures out it is okay to scratch, then he will leave your furniture alone.
every time it does, spray it with water form a spray bottle and it will eventually stop
Have it declawed.
either declawing (DOESN'T HURT THE CAT) if it's an indoor only cat, or get a scratching post.
Get him something else to scratch.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_d...
Double sided tape works well. The cats hate the sticky tape so they don't scratch it. Make sure it will not harm the fabric before using too much of it...
Put it on the arms of the char or on the corners -- where ever they scratch.
Those sprays they sell at the pet store do not work. Not for me anyway.
get a scratching post!!! That helped out my friends problem it loves its scratching post too.
Get a claw scissors (short, bent blades with a notch for the claw) and clip the claws. Cut all the loose stuff off your furniture so the cat isn't attracted to it. Make sure kitty has a good scratching post at least 3' tall so it is able to stretch out. The base should be at least as wide as it is tall. You can make one easily with plywood and a 4 x 4 and some old carpet or remnants. Rub some catnip on the scratching post to attract the cat. Also, take the cat to the post and put the paws on the post and mimic the scratching to help him/her get the hint. Also, get yourself a squirt bottle and when kitty goes for the furniture say NO loudly and squirt the cat in the face. Doesn't take long before kitty knows this is a no-no. On wood you can rub orange peel on it to discourage the cat. A better thing would be to confine your cats when you're asleep or when you're gone so the opportunity to get in trouble is not there.
what I did was go to the pet store and bought the clear sticky tape for repelling furnature wreckers !
It really helped ! I tried everything and it worked ! cat's don't like the feel of it.
I tried the spray relellent ( 5 different brands) and they discolored my furnature and made it smell !
5 sets of couches I went thru!
when my cat went to do her scratching in her spot boy did she ever jump back! she hasn't done it again!!
I left it there till she got declawed.
Clip your cat's claws every 2-3 weeks. If you don't know how, someone at your vet's office can show you how.
Cats have to scratch. That's normal and what cat's do. You want to train it to scratch where you want it to rather than on your furniture.
Cats like to scratch on a surface that's rough, that's steady and secure, that's tall enough that they can get a good stretch going. Keep all this in mind when your purchase or make a scratching post for him.
Your goal is to make the scratching post more appealing and the furniture less appealing. You can place the post in front of the furniture that he uses the most (and gradually move it to where you want it when he's using it well). You can rub a little cat nip on the post. You can put double sided tape on the areas he likes to scratch on the furniture. You can put a throw over the furniture so that he can't get a good grip with his claws. You can spray odors on the furniture that will deter the cat (sold at pet stores for this purpose).
You can also encourage him to use the post -- give him treats there, use a toy on a string and play with him all around the post, show him with your fingers what to do. Praise him when he does it right.
I would not use any kind of punishment if he goes back to the furniture. Punishment only makes him fear you and makes him only do it behind your back. He doesn't know why you are being mean to him -- he's only doing what nature tells him to do.
Declawing is an amputation of all the toes back to the 1st knuckle -- look at your hand. It's not an operation that should be taken lightly. It should be considered only as a last resort -- after all other measures have failed.
If you will remember to make the post more appealing and the furniture less appealing (to the cat), with a little encouragement and praise, you should have a cat that prefers the post.
Good luck and enjoy your friend.
I know I'm going to be bashed for this: but declawing is actually a good alternative. Sometimes more humane than the constant scolding and squirting in the long run. I have two cats that are declawed, it has improved our relationship as they are more confident by marking their territory everywhere (they will still "scratch" after declawing, it just wont be destructive) and they can scratch my legs and belly while I pet them without getting hurt.
I personally feel declawing is the lazy person's solution - they simply don't want to take some time to train the cat. If you don't want a pet with claws... then get some goldfish. I clip my cats claws once a week and she has a large scratching post she uses. It wasn't hard to teach her to use the post, I put her paws on it and she started scratching away - she has never scratched my furniture or anything besides that post. Don't declaw your cat, it's just cruel - it's actually removing a whole joint and if done incorrectly, the cat will suffer for the rest of its life. Good luck.
Declawing is a cop-out-not to mention it is wrong-people dont know what they are talking about in preious answers-doesnt hurt the cat-let me cut off your phalanges and see if you can function!! Im not the biggest fan of cats but think of this-if you declaw and one day your cat gets out or if you decide you cannot have him/her as a pet-and it is declawed it will not be able to defend itself adequetly-its a surgical procedure. Try some scratching posts and a humane deterent like suggested above-get a plastic spray bottle or tiny water gun and give kitty a few squirts to correct the behavior-this worked with my dog who i use to have trouble walking in the city-after a few squirts all i had to do was shake the bottle and she would stop.
good luck!
shoot it
Declawing is inhumane - butchering your cats paws is an extremely painful operation, after which they are given NO recovery time and must walk on feet that have just had bones removed from them. This can make a lot of declawed cats angrier and meaner than their clawed counterparts and also promotes bad litter-box habits as all of a sudden they go to use the tray and walking on litter -hurts- their stitches. IMO, declawing is never an option.
Find your cat something tall and hard to scratch at. Carpet attached to the wall, or a nice scratching post will go down well. Make it a game, attach toys to it and then make sure you pet and praise your cat every time you catch them using it, and tell them "No" every time you see them scratching your furniture. They'll learn to associate the post with "good" and the furniture with "bad" and boom - one trained cat.
Duct tape does work wonders too as a deterrant, cats HATE sticky paws.
buy a few scrathing posts. the cat wants to sharpen its claws, so buying this post shoudl help cut out the furniture scratching.
YOU NEED TO BUY YOUR CAT A LITTLE HOUSE THAT LETS YOU STREACH ON IT
Related Questions and Answers ...
Sharpening their claws is an instinct with cats. When they don't have something of their own to sharpen their claws on, they will resort to furniture. Buy him/her a scratching post and put catnip on it to attract to it. Once he figures out it is okay to scratch, then he will leave your furniture alone.
every time it does, spray it with water form a spray bottle and it will eventually stop
Have it declawed.
either declawing (DOESN'T HURT THE CAT) if it's an indoor only cat, or get a scratching post.
Get him something else to scratch.
http://www.petsmart.com/global/product_d...
Double sided tape works well. The cats hate the sticky tape so they don't scratch it. Make sure it will not harm the fabric before using too much of it...
Put it on the arms of the char or on the corners -- where ever they scratch.
Those sprays they sell at the pet store do not work. Not for me anyway.
get a scratching post!!! That helped out my friends problem it loves its scratching post too.
Get a claw scissors (short, bent blades with a notch for the claw) and clip the claws. Cut all the loose stuff off your furniture so the cat isn't attracted to it. Make sure kitty has a good scratching post at least 3' tall so it is able to stretch out. The base should be at least as wide as it is tall. You can make one easily with plywood and a 4 x 4 and some old carpet or remnants. Rub some catnip on the scratching post to attract the cat. Also, take the cat to the post and put the paws on the post and mimic the scratching to help him/her get the hint. Also, get yourself a squirt bottle and when kitty goes for the furniture say NO loudly and squirt the cat in the face. Doesn't take long before kitty knows this is a no-no. On wood you can rub orange peel on it to discourage the cat. A better thing would be to confine your cats when you're asleep or when you're gone so the opportunity to get in trouble is not there.
what I did was go to the pet store and bought the clear sticky tape for repelling furnature wreckers !
It really helped ! I tried everything and it worked ! cat's don't like the feel of it.
I tried the spray relellent ( 5 different brands) and they discolored my furnature and made it smell !
5 sets of couches I went thru!
when my cat went to do her scratching in her spot boy did she ever jump back! she hasn't done it again!!
I left it there till she got declawed.
Clip your cat's claws every 2-3 weeks. If you don't know how, someone at your vet's office can show you how.
Cats have to scratch. That's normal and what cat's do. You want to train it to scratch where you want it to rather than on your furniture.
Cats like to scratch on a surface that's rough, that's steady and secure, that's tall enough that they can get a good stretch going. Keep all this in mind when your purchase or make a scratching post for him.
Your goal is to make the scratching post more appealing and the furniture less appealing. You can place the post in front of the furniture that he uses the most (and gradually move it to where you want it when he's using it well). You can rub a little cat nip on the post. You can put double sided tape on the areas he likes to scratch on the furniture. You can put a throw over the furniture so that he can't get a good grip with his claws. You can spray odors on the furniture that will deter the cat (sold at pet stores for this purpose).
You can also encourage him to use the post -- give him treats there, use a toy on a string and play with him all around the post, show him with your fingers what to do. Praise him when he does it right.
I would not use any kind of punishment if he goes back to the furniture. Punishment only makes him fear you and makes him only do it behind your back. He doesn't know why you are being mean to him -- he's only doing what nature tells him to do.
Declawing is an amputation of all the toes back to the 1st knuckle -- look at your hand. It's not an operation that should be taken lightly. It should be considered only as a last resort -- after all other measures have failed.
If you will remember to make the post more appealing and the furniture less appealing (to the cat), with a little encouragement and praise, you should have a cat that prefers the post.
Good luck and enjoy your friend.
I know I'm going to be bashed for this: but declawing is actually a good alternative. Sometimes more humane than the constant scolding and squirting in the long run. I have two cats that are declawed, it has improved our relationship as they are more confident by marking their territory everywhere (they will still "scratch" after declawing, it just wont be destructive) and they can scratch my legs and belly while I pet them without getting hurt.
I personally feel declawing is the lazy person's solution - they simply don't want to take some time to train the cat. If you don't want a pet with claws... then get some goldfish. I clip my cats claws once a week and she has a large scratching post she uses. It wasn't hard to teach her to use the post, I put her paws on it and she started scratching away - she has never scratched my furniture or anything besides that post. Don't declaw your cat, it's just cruel - it's actually removing a whole joint and if done incorrectly, the cat will suffer for the rest of its life. Good luck.
Declawing is a cop-out-not to mention it is wrong-people dont know what they are talking about in preious answers-doesnt hurt the cat-let me cut off your phalanges and see if you can function!! Im not the biggest fan of cats but think of this-if you declaw and one day your cat gets out or if you decide you cannot have him/her as a pet-and it is declawed it will not be able to defend itself adequetly-its a surgical procedure. Try some scratching posts and a humane deterent like suggested above-get a plastic spray bottle or tiny water gun and give kitty a few squirts to correct the behavior-this worked with my dog who i use to have trouble walking in the city-after a few squirts all i had to do was shake the bottle and she would stop.
good luck!
shoot it
Declawing is inhumane - butchering your cats paws is an extremely painful operation, after which they are given NO recovery time and must walk on feet that have just had bones removed from them. This can make a lot of declawed cats angrier and meaner than their clawed counterparts and also promotes bad litter-box habits as all of a sudden they go to use the tray and walking on litter -hurts- their stitches. IMO, declawing is never an option.
Find your cat something tall and hard to scratch at. Carpet attached to the wall, or a nice scratching post will go down well. Make it a game, attach toys to it and then make sure you pet and praise your cat every time you catch them using it, and tell them "No" every time you see them scratching your furniture. They'll learn to associate the post with "good" and the furniture with "bad" and boom - one trained cat.
Duct tape does work wonders too as a deterrant, cats HATE sticky paws.
buy a few scrathing posts. the cat wants to sharpen its claws, so buying this post shoudl help cut out the furniture scratching.
YOU NEED TO BUY YOUR CAT A LITTLE HOUSE THAT LETS YOU STREACH ON IT
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