Those cats! They make wonderful friends, but they can shred your furniture and walls to bits with their constant scratching. Why do they do it, and how can the pet owner cope?
Cats scratch for several reasons. First, they do it to relieve boredom and get exercise. Try having a frisky string game with your cat on a regular basis, and she may not need to scratch so much. There are, however, other reasons cats scratch.
Scratching is part of a cat's deep-seated instinct to mark territory, along with rubbing their gums on you, and for unaltered males, spraying. Scratching also serves to remove the sheath from their claws. A cat needs a safe place to scratch, and a scratching post can serve that purpose. The carpet-covered posts so widely available are, unfortunately, not very good for this purpose. The best scratching posts are wound tightly with sisal rope or woven sisal. Scratching posts can also be made from a natural bark covered log.
A good post is at least 30 inches tall, or tall enough for your cat to stretch out his full length. Unfortunately, most of the posts available at the discount store are only 18 inches tall. If the cat cannot stretch his full length to scratch, he will find another spot, such as the corner of the sofa. Scratching on a tall post is great exercise for keeping your feline supple and flexible. The post also needs to have a sturdy base so it won't topple over easily.
Unfortunately, a cat may not realize that a scratching post makes a better place to scratch than the corner of the sofa! To help her learn to use the post, go to it and scratch your own fingernails on it to make the intriguing sound of scratching. You can lure her with catnip, too. Depending on your cat's temperament, it might not be a good idea to pick up her paw and make it scratch the post to give her the idea. A few cat treats at the top and a string with a toy attached to the top can help your cat get the idea. Couple all this encouragement with a firm "No" when she returns to her favorite off-limits scratching spot. Furniture can also have double-sided tape attached, or clear plastic held on with tacks to discourage scratching while you are training the cat to use the scratching post.
If you wish to experiment with homemade scratching posts, look for inexpensive things your cat tends to scratch, such as cardboard boxes. The back of a scrap of carpet has a rough woven texture that a cat can really sink his claws into. A homemade scratching board that can be used flat on the floor or attached to a wall is easy to make. Fold a carpet remnant over a piece of plywood cut about 18 inches wide and 30 inches tall. Turn the rough side out or choose a carpet texture similar to your cat's favorite scratching spots. Attach the carpet to the board with small nails or sturdy staples.
Some cat owners may consider having their cats declawed to remedy the furniture-scratching problem. Most experts consider the process of declawing to be inhumane. It requires the cat's toes to be amputated at the first knuckle. The results are often psychologically damaging as well as dangerous physically to the cat. Cats normally walk on their toes. Having them damaged in this way will affect all of a cat's movements. The painful recovery period can easily change your cat's personality, making him shy or distrustful. In addition, poorly done surgery can cripple your cat for life.
An alternative to declawing is to train your kitten to let you trim her claws. This can be done with human clippers or special pet clippers. When the kitten is relaxed in your lap, try pressing a toe pad to force the claw to extend. If you look at the claw, you will notice a pink streak up toward the paw. This is the quick, which must be avoided, or the cat's claw will bleed. Only the sharp tip should be removed. Turn the clippers so that you are trimming the claw from top to bottom and not across the claw like a human nail would be clipped. Generally, cats only do scratching damage with their front claws, so the rear claws really don't need clipping. The kitten may not let you clip all his claws at one setting. Just pick up where you left off the next time he is relaxed in your lap. (An older cat probably won't let you clip his claws at all!) The claws can be clipped about every two weeks. A styptic pencil can be used to stop the bleeding if you accidentally cut into the quick.
Most cat owners don't bother with clipping, however, since the cat can take care of his claws by himself with the help of a good scratching post.
