If you're a cat owner, chances are you also have some furniture that's been scratched up thanks to your furry child. Politely communicating with them to quit damaging your interior decorations won't work, so you buy toys and scratching posts to sate their clawing needs. Yet they persist regardless, leaving you with even more scuffed bookshelves and a bunch of money down the hole.

So what gives?

Let's first get the most important thing out of the way:

Scratching is a Natural Instinct

Like we explained in one of our earlier blog posts, cats scratch things as an outlet for their physical and mental health. We all know the frustration of dealing with damaged furniture, but it's how your cat makes itself feel safe within your home. Do not force your cat to quit scratching! This can agitate and stress your cat, and you've already invested too much into this issue to want to deal with frustrated feline on top of it.

While it may be tempting to think that your cat simply prefers vandalizing human property over specialized cat goods, it is important to realize that this behaviour can be rehabilitated - it's just an involved process that takes time and patience.

Spend time pampering your cat

Scratching can be a sign that your cat is bored or in need of stimulation. Likewise, it could also be a sign that it is stressed. Find time in your day to play with it, and if money allows, buy puzzle toys to keep it curious and active.

If your cat shows signs of stress, try setting up additional food bowls and litterboxes, as well as spaces for your cat to be alone. Calming pheromone sprays can also help to lower stress levels.

Positioning your scratching post

If you're still reading this post, chances are you already own a scratching post that's going unused by your cat. By placing it close to the furniture your cat is already scratching, you are creating positive association and giving your scratching post a better chance at being noticed by your cat.

Picking the right scratching post

It is also entirely possible that the scratching post you bought doesn't match your feline companion's preferences - it's not you, it's them, the scratcher would be a good match for someone else.

Scratchers come in all kinds of shapes and materials. It may seem daunting trying to figure out which one best suits your cat, but observing its behaviour and tendencies for a while can help narrow down your choices.

We make customizable flat scratching posts, which you can find here, but it is important that you get one that suits your cat's needs first and foremost.

Take a look at our scratching posts:

Create positive association

If the name Pavlov sounds familiar to you, you already know that positive association is good for reinforcing behaviour; instead of getting your cat to quit doing something, it might be better to incentivize it to do what you want it to do instead. For example, whenever your cat uses its scratching post, reward it with treats or pats.

To conclude, it is entirely possible to teach a cat to quit scratching furniture, but it takes an understanding of why they do it as well as the patience to instill better habits. It should be an expectation that your cat will continue to scratch furniture for the time being as opposed to trying to impose a lifestyle change on it in a short amount of time.