Tips to Stop Cats From Scratching

Tips to stop cats from scratching

Cat scratching is an essential and natural need for your cat, but you obviously do not want them scratching items in your home. Cats need to scratch to stretch their back, legs and paws, file/sharpen/clean their claws to keep them in the best shape, as a form of exercise and they also use it as a way of communicating to others that this is where they live. But cats can also scratch due to feeling anxious and stressed.

Here are our tips to stop cats from scratching

Where they live is their territory and your cat will feel happy knowing their home is theirs. Cats like to feel relaxed in their own space, and use a number of methods to communicate their territory to other cats. Scratching is one way for your cat to make their mark on their home, signal their presence to other animals, and feel happy knowing that their territory is safe.

If nothing suitable is provided for your cat to scratch on or they’re not taught where is a good location in the home to scratch, or even the fact that scratching in your preferred place is fun then your cat will find something in the house that is scratchable and enjoyable to scratch of their own accord!

Therefore you shouldn’t try to stop your cat from scratching completely, just stop them from scratching in the areas you don’t want them to.

 How to help your cat’s inappropriate scratching?

  • Clean the area – if your cat has scratched somewhere in the house already, then clean the scratch mark with soap and water or enzymatic cleaner to remove the scratching deposits. Then move your scratching post or buy another post to add to this area.
  • Have enough – make sure you have at least one scratching post per cat and make sure this is always available, accessible and interesting to your cat.
  • The right post – most cats like to stretch their whole body out so have a scratching post as long as their arms can stretch. Your cat will prefer sturdy, high, vertical scratching posts– think mimicking tree trunks.
  • Place the scratching post in the right place – usually cats like to scratch after waking up, so putting a scratch post near their bed may be something they’ll like.
  • Use FELIWAY Optimumto provide serenity messages around your house, this can help reduce stress-related behaviours such as scratching and help cats calm better than ever in more situations than ever. FELIWAY Optimum includes the brand new pheromone discovery to provide cats with serenity messages. Calming cats better than ever and helping them in more situations than ever before.

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