How to Get Your Cats to Stop Scratching the Furniture

Do you love your cats, but hate it when they scratch up the furniture? Here are several tips, and a product recommendation to help your cats stop scratching!

1

Provide appropriate areas for them to scratch

  • Scratching is a normal habit for cats, so rather than trying to teach them to not scratch, you should focus on teaching them where to scratch
  • Provide safe and attractive places for them to scratch, like a scratching post
  • Make sure your cat scratching post is tall enough for them to fully extend when scratching
  • Ensure the scratching post is sturdy - cats won’t be interested if the post wobbles
2

Provide a Variety of Scratching Posts

  • Different cats have different preferences, so try giving your cat a variety of posts made out of different materials, shapes, and positioning
  • Cardboard, carpet, wood, or upholstered scratching posts are all good options but sisal covered posts have been shown to be a favorite of many cats
  • Test out both vertical and horizontal scratching areas - once you figure out what your cat likes, get more!
3

Place a Scratching Post Near the Problem Area

  • Make sure to place scratching posts near where the problem scratching has been happening
  • Place a scratching post near where your cats sleep - they love to scratch and stretch after a nap, so providing an appropriate outlet is important
4

Incentives Cats to Use the Scratching Posts

  • If you scent their scratching post with catnip, or attach a toy to peak their interest, it will incentivize your cat to give your scratching post a try!
5

Discourage Scratching in Unwanted Areas

  • If there is a certain item your cat loves to scratch, temporarily remove it (if possible) while they get used to the scratching posts
  • If your cat is scratching furniture, you can test putting double sided tape, or sand paper in the areas where your cat would have to stand in order to scratch, which should discourage them from scratching
6

Try out ThunderEase® for Cats - Calming Diffuser

  • ThunderEase® for Cats is the vet recommended, drug free, calming pheromone diffuser that mimics the natural feline facial pheromone. Cats use this to mark their environment as safe by rubbing their cheeks on objects. The pheromones helps the cats feel calm and confident in the environment and helps reduce signs of stress
  • Scratching is a common way for cats to de-stress, so if you can help to reduce stress, it can help to eliminate problematic cat scratching
  • Place your ThunderEase® diffuser in the room(s) where you are having the biggest scratching issues
  • Owners often see results within the first 7 days
  • We realize that no product works for 100% of animals, so we offer a 100% money back guarantee if ThunderEase® doesn’t work for your cat
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Success Stories

"I'm so happy with this. My incredibly anxious cat has become MUCH more calm after just a few days of use. He used to keep me up all night and now he sleeps through the night. He was going outside of the litter box which has also stopped. We are much more calm! Absolutely worth the money."

Tiffany
CAT OWNER

"Am amazed at how well this product (and the pheromone collars) works! Mine ran out one time, and the dispenses was on the floor, unplugged. My cat was laying down with her nose against the device, self medicating!!! I highly recommend this if you have psycho cats!"

LINDA
CAT OWNER

"I used this to stop my 6 year old cat from scratching the carpet and it worked wonderfully from the first day that I plugged it in. It also stopped her from begging for food - an added bonus."

Lindsey
CAT OWNER

How to Get Your Cats to Stop Scratching the Furniture

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What Not to Do:

  • Make your cat use the scratching post by force by dragging their claws on the post 
    • This could really frighten your cat, and make them want to avoid the post (and even you!)
  • Throw away tattered looking posts - cats love to really get their claws into the material, so shredded and torn objects are great for them 
  • Yell at your cat for scratching furniture or other household items - this could cause them to be afraid of you, and increase their stress level 

 

So, why do cats scratch?

 

While stress and anxiety can cause your cat to scratch unwanted areas in our home, overall, scratching is a normal behavior for cats.  Here are a few reasons why they are scratching! 

 

  • To Destress 
    •
        • There are a lot of reasons why your cat could be feeling stressed, and scratching is one way for them to cope.  ThunderEase for Cats helps cats to feel less stressed, which is why it is so effective for helping to reduce unwanted scratching
  • To stretch their bodies 
    •
        • Similar to humans, cats need to stretch!  That is why it is so important for your cat to be able to fully extend on their scratching post.
  • To mark their territory
    •
        • Scratching leaves both a visual mark, and a scent behind (cats have scent glands in their paws), so this is a way for cats to mark their territory
        • To maintain claw health
        • Similar to how we need to clip our nails, scratching is a great, natural way for cats to maintain their claw health 
  • Is “it feels good” a bad reason?
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