Train Your Cat To Stop Scratching Furniture
As an owner of a cat, one of your main priorities will be to train your cat to prevent it from scratching your furniture. This will not only prevent stress for you, it will enable you to form a better bond with your cat.
The first step is to try and understand why a cat will scratch your furniture. It's not a question of your cat not having a taste for your furniture, or that your cat wants to irritate you. Not only do cats like to scratch, they have to scratch. You can't stop a cat from scratching because it is a natural behavior for it. It is not diificult to train your cat to stop scratching your furniture, all you have to do is to provide a substitue for scratching.
It is healthy for a cat to scratch. When a cat scratches, it is exercising its muscles. Cats paws have scent glands and scratching helps them to leave a scent in order to mark their territory. A cats claws are kept healthy and clean through scratching. So you can see that a cat has its reasons to scratch. You need to encourage this behavior in the correct manner instead of preventing it.
When your cat scratches your furniture, don't even think about punishing it. Cats will not respond to punishment and will increase your cats problems. Punishing your cat will only result in your cat avoiding you in the future. Even if you chase your cat away when you catch it scratching furniture, all it will do is to wait until you have gone, and then continue to ruin your furniture behind your back. The one way to prevent a cat from scratching furniture is through the use of effective training methods.
A scratching post is an important requirement when you are thinking of buying a cat. Even better would be to have more than 1 scratching post, as this gives your cat plenty of options. Cats can be trained at any age, but the earlier you can start, the quicker and easier it will be.
The scratching posts should be in places that your cat likes to go. Placing a post near where your cat sleeps is advisable. There is nothing better a cat likes than a good scratch and a good stretch after waking up. I think we all share this particular trait. Using a scratching post soon becomes a habit, and your cat will happily continue to use the post in the future.
The area of the house where your family sits is also a good place for a scratching post. Cats do want to spend time with their owners, even though at times it seems that they are not really bothered. If your cat chooses to have a nap on your lap, a nearby scratching post will come in handy.
The only way to train your cat to use a scratching post is to make your cat familiar with it. Make the post a plaything by waving some string around it so that your cat makes contact with the post with its claws. You could tie some of your pet's favourite toys onto the post, this will encourage your cat to make contact with the post with its paws. These easy techniques will allow you to train your cat so that it no longer uses your furniture for scratching.
Embed the scratching post firmly so that it cannot fall, and make it a reasonable length. Cat training is not difficult if you use the right methods, and it is easy to train your cat to stop it from ruining your furniture.
