How to prevent your cat from clawing at your leather furniture

Scratching is part of what cats do, it’s just part of their behavior. One of the reasons why they scratch surfaces and items is so they can sharpen their claws and in doing so, they mark lying around. Cat lovers who have leather furniture at home, know that it’s often the target of cats and their claws. So, how do you go about stopping it?

• Keep a couple of scratch posts around the house in places that your cat spends most of her time. The idea is to bring in the scratch posts at the same time you take your cat into your home. Preventing your cat from scratching your leather furniture is a more straightforward task than training them to stop scratching. The good news is that you can retrain your cat.
• Tie a toy mouse on the scratching post as a way to lure your cats over. Use catnip on the post as a way to entice the cat
• Go down on your fours and scratch the post yourself. Your cat might mimic you and join in.
• Use plastic drop cloth on your furniture to make it unappealing to your cat as you train her to place her focus on scratching the post. After she is used to scratching the post, you can remove the plastic cover from your furniture.
• If your cat still scratches your leather furniture despite the scratching post, place plastic caps on the claw of your cat. Typical plastic caps stay on for four to six weeks. They won’t prevent her from scratching, but they will reduce the damage on your furniture.
• Clap your hands together and utter the words “NO” with a commanding voice if she is still insistent on scratching your furniture.

Items needed

• Toy mouse
• Scratching posts
• Catnip
• Plastic cat claws
• Plastic drop cloth

Tips

• Scratching posts come in different materials like cardboard, carpet, and wood. You need to find out which one your cat prefers
• Scratching posts might not add any beauty to your living room, but they have to be there so your cats can make use of them else your furniture suffers for it.
• There is a variety of scratching posts that you can experiment with to find the perfect match for your cats. Your cat might love the ones sitting on the floor or the tall posts. Just experiment on which one she prefers.

Warnings

• Cats are attracted to leather, and their claws can easily tear it open.
• Don’t declaw your cat as it is a highly painful and cruel experience for them. The American Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Animal strongly opposes the declawing process.