Understanding the reason why cats scratch is the first step in keeping your own furniture pristine and your cat happy 

While temperaments differ between breeds and even individual cats from the same litter, they have one thing in common: all cats scratch.

Scratching is natural part of feline behaviour and is essential to the wellbeing of every cat.

Your cat will seek out opportunities and locations to scratch. If cat friendly furniture is unavailable, you’ll find it is your carpets, furniture and wallpaper, which gets the attention of the claws.

Be assured, it’s not personal and cats do not have any desire to destroy your treasured belongings. Once a cat finds an attractive area to scratch they will always return to it!

Understanding the reason why cats scratch is the first step in keeping your furniture pristine and your cat happy:

• Scratching keeps their claws sharp. It removes the older layers of nail growth, and keeps the claws clean, smooth, sharp, and ready for action.
• Cats are very territorial. Scratching marks a cats territory, both visually and with scent produced by glands between the cats toes. Scent signatures form the main communication between cats, and are used to claim territory and establish rank within a household.
• Scratching provides essential exercise to stretch and tone the muscles of a cat’s back, shoulders, and legs.
• A good scratch reduces stress and just feels good!

 

So, instead of asking: “How do I get my cat to stop scratching?” 
We should be asking: “How can I get my cat to scratch somewhere else?”