Clawing
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Fiyero
Clawing
I do not want to have my cat declawed, but I can't get her to quit scratching my sofa and bedding. I have tried the soft claw plastic tips, which work for a day or so, but she gets them off easliy. She has a scratching post that she loves to play on and roll around, but has yet to scratch it in the 6 months she has had it. Does anyone know of any tricks of the trade or best practices to get her to stop. Please Help!!
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Joe Kitty
Re: Clawing
Hi there,
Well I allow Joey to claw at my bedding so I don't exactly know what to do there. The best advice I can give you is to get a spray bottle or squirt gun and when you see your cat scratching your furniture just spray them from behind. do NOT let them see that you're the one spraying that way she/he will think that it's the furniture squirting them. Also try putting the scratching post in one of the places you see your cat mostly active, like for Joey is favorite place is by our sliding glass door so that is where I have his scratching post. Joey also has yet to scratch his post but he also loves to lay on it. I'm going to be getting Joey a sisal scratching post (instead of a carpeted one) to see if he is more attracted to it. Another piece of advice I can give you is, when you see your cat scratching the furniture, pick him/her up and place her by his/her scratching post and even scratch it yourself. Then praise your cat when he/she scratches it too. It does take a lot of time and patience for I too have been unable to get Joey to scratch his post, but I'm still ready to praise him when he does. I also place his paws on the post and make a scratching motion with his paws that we he can get the feel of the post.
I hope this works for you!!
Well I allow Joey to claw at my bedding so I don't exactly know what to do there. The best advice I can give you is to get a spray bottle or squirt gun and when you see your cat scratching your furniture just spray them from behind. do NOT let them see that you're the one spraying that way she/he will think that it's the furniture squirting them. Also try putting the scratching post in one of the places you see your cat mostly active, like for Joey is favorite place is by our sliding glass door so that is where I have his scratching post. Joey also has yet to scratch his post but he also loves to lay on it. I'm going to be getting Joey a sisal scratching post (instead of a carpeted one) to see if he is more attracted to it. Another piece of advice I can give you is, when you see your cat scratching the furniture, pick him/her up and place her by his/her scratching post and even scratch it yourself. Then praise your cat when he/she scratches it too. It does take a lot of time and patience for I too have been unable to get Joey to scratch his post, but I'm still ready to praise him when he does. I also place his paws on the post and make a scratching motion with his paws that we he can get the feel of the post.
I hope this works for you!!
Re: Clawing
I forgot to say that when I pick Joey's paws up and "make" him scratch the post, I praise him. I've also taken a treat and put it up on top of the post that way he has to climb up there to get it..and I praise him when he does.
Joe Kitty wants his Friskies 
Hi Fiyero-
There are an assortment of things you can try in order to train your kitty to scratch appropriately.
First, offer him a variety of scratching materials in various locations throughout the house. You said you have a scratching post and that's great, but most kitties like to have more than one post, more than one area, more than one style, etc. We have traditional carpeted posts and sisal posts, but another thing our cats love is the inexpensive corregated cardboard scratching pads - these are their favorites!!! We have both flat pads and angled pads for those who like to stretch up a bit when they scratch. Again, these should be placed in various locations throughout the house, particularly in nap zones...kitties love a good stretch-n-scratch when they first wake up!! Also, place a scratching post or pad close to the area where he is inappropriately scratching and redirect him to the post or pad when he starts the inappropriate scratching. If your cat is drawn to cat nip, rub it on the appropriate scratching surfaces to get him interested. Be sure any posts you have are very sturdy and stable; if it moves when he scratches he won't use it, and if it tips over on him while scratching chances are that will scare him into never going near the thing again! I am amazed at how many scratching posts are really unstable in this manner.
Next, make the area where he is currently scratching as unappealling as possible....wrap it in foil, place double-stick tape on it, put a throw blanket (again because the blanket will move when he tries to scractch...they really like to dig in when scratching so a blanket that moves will not appeal to him at all) over it when you're not there to supervise. Remember that these are temporary - once your kitty has learned to scratch in the right places you won't need to have an aluminum foil slip-covered couch!!! You may also want to use something like Natures Miracle on the areas that he has scratched; when they scratch it leaves a scent behind and Natures Miracle will remove that scent.
The squirt bottle is a great tool to deter scratching - a little squirt in the tush while he is scratching will help get the message across. In general, though, cats don't understand negative reinforcement so if you can't squirt him while he is actually scratching then he won't know why he is being squirted. Never smack or flick a kitty for scratching; instead calmly show him the appropriate location for scratching.
Finally, praise your cat when he does scratch in the right places. JaJaJoey has an excellent suggestion with placing treats on top of the scratching post and praising him when he climbs up.
Also, keeping his claws trimmed will help reduce the amount of damage he does when he inappropriately scratchtes.
It can be quite a bit of work to retrain a cat once he has started scratching in the wrong places, but it can be done. We have 5 fully-clawed kitties and none of them scratch anything they aren't supposed to - they have 1 0 or so appropriate scratching surfaces available throughout the house and they are as happy as can be with them!
Good luck to you and your kitty!
~Amy
There are an assortment of things you can try in order to train your kitty to scratch appropriately.
First, offer him a variety of scratching materials in various locations throughout the house. You said you have a scratching post and that's great, but most kitties like to have more than one post, more than one area, more than one style, etc. We have traditional carpeted posts and sisal posts, but another thing our cats love is the inexpensive corregated cardboard scratching pads - these are their favorites!!! We have both flat pads and angled pads for those who like to stretch up a bit when they scratch. Again, these should be placed in various locations throughout the house, particularly in nap zones...kitties love a good stretch-n-scratch when they first wake up!! Also, place a scratching post or pad close to the area where he is inappropriately scratching and redirect him to the post or pad when he starts the inappropriate scratching. If your cat is drawn to cat nip, rub it on the appropriate scratching surfaces to get him interested. Be sure any posts you have are very sturdy and stable; if it moves when he scratches he won't use it, and if it tips over on him while scratching chances are that will scare him into never going near the thing again! I am amazed at how many scratching posts are really unstable in this manner.
Next, make the area where he is currently scratching as unappealling as possible....wrap it in foil, place double-stick tape on it, put a throw blanket (again because the blanket will move when he tries to scractch...they really like to dig in when scratching so a blanket that moves will not appeal to him at all) over it when you're not there to supervise. Remember that these are temporary - once your kitty has learned to scratch in the right places you won't need to have an aluminum foil slip-covered couch!!! You may also want to use something like Natures Miracle on the areas that he has scratched; when they scratch it leaves a scent behind and Natures Miracle will remove that scent.
The squirt bottle is a great tool to deter scratching - a little squirt in the tush while he is scratching will help get the message across. In general, though, cats don't understand negative reinforcement so if you can't squirt him while he is actually scratching then he won't know why he is being squirted. Never smack or flick a kitty for scratching; instead calmly show him the appropriate location for scratching.
Finally, praise your cat when he does scratch in the right places. JaJaJoey has an excellent suggestion with placing treats on top of the scratching post and praising him when he climbs up.
Also, keeping his claws trimmed will help reduce the amount of damage he does when he inappropriately scratchtes.
It can be quite a bit of work to retrain a cat once he has started scratching in the wrong places, but it can be done. We have 5 fully-clawed kitties and none of them scratch anything they aren't supposed to - they have 1 0 or so appropriate scratching surfaces available throughout the house and they are as happy as can be with them!
Good luck to you and your kitty!
~Amy
Re: Clawing
I used double sided tape on my couch corners and dining chairs. You can buy strips from the pet store, but hey are pretty expensive. Target/WalMart sell heavy duty carpet tape for around $3 and you get plenty. Cats don't like the stickiness of the tape.
After taping all of my furniture, I tied a toy to their scratching post and actively played with them. I also put treats on the base and on top of the scratching post so they'd realize it was there for them and not me!
It is a good thing to entice them to play by the post after they have napped since that is when they like to stretch most. And as a warning, do not take kitty's paws in your hands and make them do the scratching motion on the post; this will only make him/her hate the post.
I did this about 3 months ago and my cats have been using the post exclusively for a month. I taped then they did well, but after I took it off they would occassionally scratch the couch so I retaped! Now there isn't tape anymore and they only use the post. I still make it a point to tell them "good boy" in a really nice tone everytime they use it too. I also would give them treats in the beginning as a reward for using it.
After taping all of my furniture, I tied a toy to their scratching post and actively played with them. I also put treats on the base and on top of the scratching post so they'd realize it was there for them and not me!
It is a good thing to entice them to play by the post after they have napped since that is when they like to stretch most. And as a warning, do not take kitty's paws in your hands and make them do the scratching motion on the post; this will only make him/her hate the post.
I did this about 3 months ago and my cats have been using the post exclusively for a month. I taped then they did well, but after I took it off they would occassionally scratch the couch so I retaped! Now there isn't tape anymore and they only use the post. I still make it a point to tell them "good boy" in a really nice tone everytime they use it too. I also would give them treats in the beginning as a reward for using it.
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Beth
Re: Clawing
My kitten, Nanook, loves to claw the couch so it is currently covered with double sided tape. Every time she finds some place new, I add more tape. Well, she has now figured out how to peel the tape off the couch. 
If I put more tape back up, she just peels that off too. When I added more tape a few days ago, she just stared at it for 20 minutes trying to find a way to peel it off. 
[Nanook also stuck her nose to it so now it is red on one side. That should be fun to explain to the vet when I take her in this weekend!] I have just added some foil, but I doubt that will deter her much since she will chew on foil balls or anything metal if given the opportunity.
Nothing works with this cat. Squirting, loud noises, stopping her in the middle of scratching, picking her up and diverting her with her favorite toys, time outs, scratching posts.
Nothing. The couch is the one and only thing she will scratch. She is not interested in carpet, sisel, cardboard, or other fabrics - unless, of course, it is the fabric that covers the bottom of my couch. To solve that problem, I stapled cardboard to the bottom of my couch. You would not believe how irritating the sound of her picking at that is!
In the time it has taken to write this message, she has taken a shine to the foil and started to scratch it with wild fascination. So much for that idea!!!
](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
If I put more tape back up, she just peels that off too. When I added more tape a few days ago, she just stared at it for 20 minutes trying to find a way to peel it off. [Nanook also stuck her nose to it so now it is red on one side. That should be fun to explain to the vet when I take her in this weekend!] I have just added some foil, but I doubt that will deter her much since she will chew on foil balls or anything metal if given the opportunity. Nothing works with this cat. Squirting, loud noises, stopping her in the middle of scratching, picking her up and diverting her with her favorite toys, time outs, scratching posts.
Nothing. The couch is the one and only thing she will scratch. She is not interested in carpet, sisel, cardboard, or other fabrics - unless, of course, it is the fabric that covers the bottom of my couch. To solve that problem, I stapled cardboard to the bottom of my couch. You would not believe how irritating the sound of her picking at that is! In the time it has taken to write this message, she has taken a shine to the foil and started to scratch it with wild fascination. So much for that idea!!!
