Clawing furniture

How do you keep your cats from clawing the furniture? I have one cat that will use the scratching post that we bought most of the time at least, and another who refuses to. I have tried spraying the post, and the little scratching tray, with cat nip spray but they just want to roll on it not scratch it.

I have used the old water in a spray bottle training to try and knock the habit but he is a persistant little snot. What else can I try?

 

I don't. I can't. They've got a special place for scratching but once in a while they claw a couch.

I know there are spreys that daunt cats (like catming but the other way round), maybe try to find one?

 

My cats ripped up my new leather couch! I tried everything to keep them off of it, but one scratch became 5 then it just became hundreds. A lot of visitors say they think it looks cool and "distressed." I think it looks out of control.

 

Either it wanted to be nice or it really looks like it. We KNOW why is it this way so it's hard for us to see it different way. But I know what you feel

 

LOL! I feel your pain. Most of my furniture is hand-me-downs so I am not too concerned about when they decide to scratch. But as it is the only furniture I have, I do try and keep them from doing it. My husband's recliner looks like a pincushion on the corners! I don't know how to keep the little stubborn brats from tearing it up!

 

We don't, heh. She's going to scratch whatever she wants. At this point, we just don't have any furniture that she could really tear up anyway, I guess, so it's not too huge of a deal.

 

My youngest cat went through a stage where she scratched furniture, but as I mentioned, it was only a stage. She outgrew the habit within six months or so, and we have not noticed her doing it since.

However, one of the big problems we have is around the cats' litter box. They will scratch the walls surrounding the box and have ruined the wallpaper. Late last year, we put carpet coverings over where they were scratching to help defer some of the damage. Have your cats ever done that?

 

Yes!!

We ended up just moving it away from the wall so they couldn't reach it. They were trying to "cover their business" and would just scratch and pull from where ever they could. That's a good idea to put carpet up right there, although I'm sure it looks a little funny.

 

It does look very funny! A lot of our guests who use that bathroom where we keep the litter box often comment on it or you can see their puzzlement as they exit the restroom.