How to teach a cat not to scratch furniture

The cat is a difficult animal to train. Unlike the dog, which in its natural state lives in packs in which there is order and hierarchy, the cat in the wild is a lone hunter which translates into a pet in a domestic state that will not make any effort to adapt to the group and that he will learn what interests him. A cat with nails will always scratch: for the cat it is an innate and instinctive behavior of exercise, hygiene and maintenance of its hunting and defense weapons. It is also a way to mark your territory because when you scratch your fingers they give off a smell mark that humans do not perceive but which for him and the other cats is unmistakable. Therefore the cat has to scratch, what we can get is that the cat scratches where we want and does not scratch the sofa or the furniture.

• A scraper for cats (or a log)
• Candies, toys, brush ... for cats
• Cat pheromones
• Repellent pheromones of cats (or citrus skins)
• Refillable spray

one

It is wild the cat usually scratches the trunks of trees, we must buy a scraper that is as close as possible to the wheel of a tree: Large and above all stable. A cat will never get used to scratching on an unstable scraper that moves when you use it. This type of scraper is usually expensive but it is a good investment since what we spend on the scraper we will save on sofas, furniture or carpets.

two

We can make our own cat scraper with a piece of trunk that we will place at home in the most stable position possible. The drawback of this option is that it will leave remains of trunk on the floor every time it scratches. We can avoid it by putting the troco on a mat or in a large pot tray. What matters is that the set is stable, holds the weight of the cat and does not move when the cat uses it.

3

Whether you buy it or if you decide to do it, have the scraper ready when the cat arrives at your house so that it gets used to scratching in that place from a very young age.

4

To attract him to the scraper you can use toys, sweets, caresses ... if it is a cat that enjoys brushing, brush it close to the scraper so that it becomes a pleasant place for him.

5

The spider cat always in the same place: they are animals of customs and also the same fragrant mark that they have left attracts them to scratch the same place. This vicious circle is very difficult to break in an adult cat. We can try it by spraying with pheromones (you can buy them in veterinary stores) the place where we do not want you to scratch and sprinkle with citrus aroma the place we do not want you to scratch. Also in veterinary stores we can find repellent pheromones for cats to spray the place where we do not want to scratch but we can save this purchase by regularly rubbing citrus skins in places that we do not want the cat to scratch. It usually works and also leaves a pleasant smell for humans.

6

Put the scraper in the place that the cat has begun to scratch and remove it very little by little, half a meter every day more or less.

7

Whenever the cat begins to scratch in the unwanted place, spray it with a spray of water (or anything you do not like) without the cat seeing you. The goal is for the cat to relate the scratching in the forbidden place with an unpleasant result that is why it is very important that the cat does not see that you are the one that sprayed him since then he will relate the spray with you and scratch in that place when you are not .

• We must be realistic with our objectives. We will hardly get the cat to get used to scratching a scraper that we have put on the other side of the house. As far as possible we should leave the desired scraper as close as possible to the unwanted scraper.