How to Stop Scratching and Clawing
You don't need me to tell you how quickly they can make your belongings look like something the cat dragged in , in next to no time.
And cats aren't picky about whether they are messing up a valuable antique, a treasured heirloom passed down the family for years or the very latest modern trendy stuff. If they can stick their claws into it, it's fair game!
To a cat of course this is perfectly normal, natural behaviour, something he was born to do. He's not deliberately being naughty or mean. This means that it will be impossible to stop him altogether. What you have to do is to choose his permitted scratching areas for him.
You must train him to scratch on something that doesn't matter. Scratching poles, or posts, made of rope, preferably sisal, wound round a tall-ish column ( tall, because cats often love to stretch out their full length), made of wood, metal or strong plastic are ideal. They are easily obtainable from pet shops, markets and super stores and should be introduced to the cat as soon as possible.
If you have, or are planning to get, a new kitten, get the scratching post at the same time. You don't then have the bother of getting him to un-learn undesirable behaviour. Just introduce him straight away to wherever you want him to go through his scratching routines.
Some cats, especially if they are older and, perhaps, a bit set in their ways(!), are more resistant to being reformed.
If they still prefer their established habit of clawing your favourite armchair rather than the new-fangled scratching pole buy some Nepeta (which is the familiar garden herb known as catmint or catnip) extract and wipe or spray it on the post, all over the rope.
Most cats find the scent of this plant absolutely irresistible, some even seem to go into ecstasies over it, and it should certainly help to make the scratching post a highly desirable object in your cat's eyes.
===>If your cat is still resistant, or has a lapse now and again, get a spray bottle of water to spray in his face.
This is not without its own hazards of course, as if your furniture is highly polished wood it may watermark very easily.
Other methods to try: The rolled-up paper method. Only use one or two sheets of newspaper as the idea is not to hurt or punish the cat, who has no idea that he's doing anything bad anyway, but to teach him new behaviour.
Just tap his face with it, which he will not enjoy, and in time he will come to associate the sound of rustling paper and the feel of that tap on the nose with a certain behaviour and prefer not to risk it!
This also works if the cat sometimes scratches people. After being smacked with the paper a few times, simply hearing it being rolled up will often stop him. Sometimes cats will crouch out of sight and spring out at people. This may well be normal hunting behaviour for a cat but in a domestic situation it could cause a nasty injury so needs to be controlled.
If you hold your cat up by the scruff of his neck at the same time as giving him a light tap on the nose or paws you are making it clear to him that you are the dominant one in the relationship, the Top Cat in fact. This is how his mother would have dealt with him and he needs to learn his subordinate place as far as you are concerned. When he has had his little smack, put him down and ignore him for a while.
Some cats have a habit of sometimes putting out their claws and digging them into you, say, when you are stroking them on your lap. To show that such behaviour is unacceptable while they are being petted by someone, gently push his claws back, until he retracts them.
Buy cat scratching pads
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