We get asked all the time “How do I I get my cat to stop scratching the furniture?” A cat naturally likes to scratch. Actually they are not trying to sharpen their claws, they are actually shedding the claws. When they scratch your furniture as a scratching post it leaves the outer layer of the claw behind which encourages new growth. A cat’s natural instinct is to jump, climb, hide and chase. In the wild they need to hunt and kill prey to eat. That inherent behavior is still there even though they live inside. So, what should you do to get them to stop scratching the furniture? Give them something else to scratch. There are tons of items that will make your cats life and your life much less stressful. Below are some of our favorites: * Cat trees. Cat trees are a great place for your kitty to jump, hide and scratch. BUT they are not all made equal. Look at the size of the space you are working with. Will it fit? Are the climber platforms big enough for your cats? The climber below is made for larger cats. You do have to assemble it. The tools you need come with it and is easily put it together. Hint, put it together where you are going to put it if you don’t have some one to help you move it. Also if the box is too heavy for you, open it and take the pieces out one at a time to where you need it. The shorter perch would be nice for an older cat who may have some mobility issues. Cats love to reach up to scratch so scratching posts are a good choice if you don’t have room for a climber.

A few more scratchers that are favorites of our cats. The scratch and rest is a real favorite of our cats. You will find them sleeping on them all the time. Hint: It comes with a pack of catnip attached. Do NOT spread it on the scratcher unless you don’t mind that you will have catnip every where. The holes in the scratcher go all the way through and it will be all over your floor. The PetFusion is another favorite of the kitties. They love to sleep on them and they are great for scratching. They are made very well and will last a long time. You will find one of these in almost all of our cats rooms. The cat couch is just too cute! The cats love to sleep on it. Seem to be made well and the cats like to scratch it too.

There are covers you can put on your furniture that have scratchers attached, but personally I would not encourage you to do that. Give your cat their own furniture and teach them to use it. If the cat is scratching your furniture. Pick them up with a very stern loud NO, take them to where you want them to scratch, stand them in scratch position, take their feet and move them in scratch motion. You can not give them a No if you do not give them a Yes. Do this each and every time and they will very quickly stop using your furniture to scratch.