Keep Your Scratch-Happy Cats Off Your FurnitureKeep Your Scratch-Happy Cats Off Your Furniture
Scratching is a very instinctive behavior for cats. They scratch when they are stressed, they scratch when playing and they scratch when they want to mark their territory. However, there are also high chances that your cat is going loco on your furniture and destroying all fabrics that come in its way for no reason. If it's going beyond control and they're doing it on your furniture all the time, you can take a few steps to control them.
Discourage the cats
The first thing that you can do is to make the scratch-friendly surfaces less inviting. In order to do so, a simple herbal spray deterrent would make the surface less appealing. Whether it be the leg of a couch, or its seat, the cat scratches to mark its territory. If you replace its scent on the couch with a rather unappealing scent, you can discourage its repetitive scratching.
Offer it alternatives
Provide the cats a toy that they can dig their claws in. You can give them scratch poles, an extra cushion that they can scratch all they want or other such products. It could even be dangling toys that are a bit above their heights. Give them the alternative of their choice. Do consider if they want a soft or a hard surface. If you are unsure, try giving it a couple of things and experiment to see what they really like. In order to encourage them to scratch, sprinkle a little catnip on the toys. However, don't try to force the cat on to the new surface; it might only scare the poor creature and it might never go in that area again.
Dull the claws
You should maintain your cat's health and hygiene by cutting its nails regularly. If you do not do so, you might be calling upon some serious danger on your sectional sofas and other household items. It might even scratch your skin through your clothes if it feel like it. You can even put on plastic claws on the nails to make them less damaging. These claws often last around five weeks. Some people even have their cats declawed. The term is pretty misleading as it implies only removal of claws, however, it involves amputation of its toes. Another surgery called the Tendonectomy, implies the removal of tendons in the cat that disable it to extend its claws permanently. However, depriving the poor thing of its claws sounds evil. It is better if any of the other choices solves your problem.
Every once in a while we come across adorable photos and videos of animals and think of owning them as pets. One such species of animals are the cats. With their magical and colorful eyes in which one can get lost staring and with their fur so soft to cuddle and hug, cats and kittens do make for an adorable option for having as a pet.
However, before taking the plunge one needs to know about the whats, hows and buts of everything related to cats right from cat food, cat breeds and even cat toys. Questions to answers like what is the best kitten food or what kind of cat feeding bowls would be ideal for serving food to the cat's need to be known before a cat is brought to one's home as a pet and a family member.