How Can I Protect My Furniture from Cat Scratching?

You can protect your furniture from cat scratching with protective barriers, such as corner guards and no-scratch tape, but teaching your cat to scratch in appropriate places is a longer-term solution. Since it can take a while to break your cat’s bad scratching habits, the barriers will prevent the shredding of your favorite sofa in the meantime.

Getting a Cat to Scratch Where You Want 

Cats need to scratch, so the goal isn’t getting the behavior to stop. Instead, you just need to provide more attractive options than your furniture. Here are a few top tips to protect your furniture from cat scratching.

Provide Scratching Posts

This doesn’t mean a single scratching post stuck in a corner of a room. Instead, provide several options and place them in all of the locations where your cat hangs out. Posts covered in rough material, like sisal or burlap, are best. Also, be sure some of the posts are a minimum of three feet tall to allow your cat to fully stretch out. 

Entice Them to the Posts

The simple act of placing a scratching post in a space may not be enough to tempt your pet away from your furniture. Make the post more attractive by sprinkling it with catnip and spending time playing with your cat nearby. As you add a new post, show it to your cat and, for kittens, rub their paws on the post in a scratching motion. 

What about Declawing?

In a word: inhumane. Declawing isn’t simply trimming your pet’s nails. Instead, it’s akin to cutting off your fingers at the first knuckle. It’s so problematic in fact that it’s illegal in many countries, including most of the EU. In June of 2019, a New York bill passed that would make the state the first in the U.S. to ban declawing.  

As an alternative to declawing, consider having nail caps put on your cats. Each application lasts about six weeks.

By providing attractive alternatives, your cat will learn to scratch in appropriate places, and your furniture will be safe from those impressive claws!