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Scratching is instinctive.

You love your cat, and you can understand her desire to scratch, but you want to prevent the destruction of your furniture. Provide alternate scratching surfaces, and take the time to teach your cat to use them.

Your cat needs to scratch, and you love your cat, but you don't want ragged, tattered furniture. What you both need is a compromise. Give your cat a place (preferably several places) where she's welcome to scratch with abandon! This means you need to provide scratching posts, scratching pads, or cat trees that your cat will use and enjoy.

If you are starting with a kitten, consider yourself fortunate. It's much easier to initiate good habit patterns than to correct undesirable ones. From the beginning teach your kitten the appropriate place to scratch. Use the methods already described, especially playing around the scratching post to capture her interest. Take advantage of your kitten's desire to play and attach toys to the post. She will soon "dig in" to catch her toy and discover how good it feels to scratch this surface.

Do not take her paws and make her scratch the post. This is a major turn-off and will only inspire a bratty "you can't make me" attitude. Even at an early age, cats refuse to be coerced into doing what they don't want to do. If she starts to scratch an inappropriate object, immediately place her in front of her scratching post and begin petting her. Some cats will begin kneading when petted, thus digging their claws into the desired surface and establishing this as a fine place to scratch. Cats are creatures of habit. Start them off with good ones.

Cats and their concept of territory:

Respect for territory is fundamental. Period. This is the feline way of life. Let's compare and contrast a cat with a dog, for the sake of illustrating this key point.

Dogs respect social order; there is a chain of command in the world of a dog. Mother Nature designed dogs for community living; one dog emerges on top to lead the pack, and the others contribute to the survival of the group from their own particular place on the ladder. This is all as it should be for dogs, and if you share your home with a dog, then by all means, make the most of this canine instinct, and set yourself up as "top dog".

Domestic cats, however, don't do the "pack thing." For cats, it's all about "my space." Cats are keenly aware of what and where and who is part of their territory. Property, ownership, and boundaries MUST BE staked out, respected, and defended. This behavior is absolutely necessary for the survival in the wild (to establish hunting areas for food and safe places to bear and care for offspring). The feline in your home truly needs that same, secure sense of territory.

By the way, cats may not behave and respond like dogs, but they still want and need YOUR love and attention. Your cat accepts and appreciates your presence in his territory. Cats depend on us to nurture their emotional health (with your tender brushing, petting, and even your "conversation") and to interact with them in physical play for exercise and pure, simple fun.

Reasons why a cat has to scratch:

• Instinct is a powerful motivator! - Good old Mother Nature knows what's best. She wants your cat to survive and thrive, so she's built in that enduring need to scratch that is part of being a healthy, happy feline. Scratching is not a character defect - Scratching is nature's way! Here's why scratching is necessary!

• Exercise - Work and scratch! Pull and tug! Rip and tear! Scratching works muscles and stretches limbs! Whenever he's scratching, your cat is getting a mini-workout from shoulders to back down through the legs and across the chest!

• Scent Marking - Special glands in your cat's paw pads release a scent during scratching, so scratching makes home smell like home! Cats have a sense of smell that is far superior to ours! Your cat LOVES the comforting, familiar smell of his own scent throughout his home. Two purposes are served here:
1) a cat's feelings of well-being and security are reinforced, and
2) your cat's place in this world is fortified against intruders! This second point is incredibly important to a cat! Read about cats and territory.

• Visual Marking - You realize, of course, that your shredded-up, scratched-up, tattered couch is something you and your cat each see very differently! You see it as an ugly eyesore ... a disappointment ... damaged goods! Your cat, however, sees every rip and snag as a visible sign that she resides here - that this is her territory. And the more visible, the better. Such a mark is proof of her claim to the property. This mark tells others to respect her place in the world.

• Honing Claws - Cats don't exactly scratch because they are trying to sharpen their claws. What is happening, though, is that the outer sheath that covers each nail is shedding off to reveal a new, sharp claw underneath. This is the way a cat's nails grow and renew themselves. Scratching with the front claws on a rough object helps this process along. Cats use their teeth to bite and pull off the old claw sheaths on their back paws. (The discarded claw sheaths are those little kitty "fingernails" you can find in your rugs and embedded in favorite scratching spots.)

Remember that an important part of scratching is the cat's desire to mark a territory, so a scratching post should be in an area that's used by the family, not hidden in a back corner. After a time you can move the post away to the periphery of the room, but you'll need to do this gradually.

Initially, put the post where your cat goes to scratch. This may be by a sofa, a chair or wherever Kitty has chosen as her territiory, and you may need more than one post to cover her favorite spots. Security is a major factor in making the post appealing to your cat. If it topples or shakes, she won't use it. It should either be secured to the floor or have a base wide enough and heavy enough to keep it stable.

Encourage Kitty to use her post with clever enticements. Feed her and play with her by the post. Rub dried catnip leaves or powder into it. Make all the asssociations with the post pleasurable. Reward her with a favorite treat when she uses it. Have her chase a string or a toy around the post or attach toys to it, which will result in her digging her claws into it. Eventually she will learn to love it and regard it as her own. It's also a good idea to put a post where Kitty sleeps. Cats like to scratch when they awaken, especially in the morning and the middle of the night. If space permits, a scratching post in every room of the house is a cat's delight. The most important place is the area of the house in which you and Kitty spend the most time. I have many sisal posts in my house, yet often in the morning my cats line up to use the one in the living room.

If at first Kitty is reluctant to give up her old scratching areas, there are means you can use to discourage her. Covering the area with aluminum foil or double-sided tape is a great deterrent. These surfaces don't have a texture that feels good to scratch.

Remember too that Kitty has marked her favorite spots with her scent as well as her claws. You may need to remove her scent from the areas you want to distract her away from. You will find pet odor removers in pet stores and many supermarkets as well.

Cats have an aversion to citrus odors. Use lemon-scented sprays or a potpourri of lemon and orange peels to make her former scratching sites less agreeable to her.

If Kitty still persists in scratching the furniture, try squirting her with a water gun or a spray bottle set on stream. Another option is a loud whistle or other noise-maker. You must employ these deterrents while she is scratching for them to be effective. The point is to establish an aversion to the spot you don't want her to scratch.

• Resist the temptation to put their scratchers out of sight, in out-of-the-way places where your cats rarely venture. Cats want their territory markers to be highly conspicuous! Otherwise, what's the point?

• If space allows, put a scratcher in every room, or at least in each room your cat is known to visit every day.

• Try to put a scratcher very near your cat's bed and favorite cat-nap spots. Scratching after awakening from a nap is practically universal feline behavior.

• If there is a particular spot that your cat is already scratching daily, put a scratcher right there! (Try not to be too fussy about mixing cat scratchers in with your interior decor. Just like litter boxes and food dishes, scratchers are just another necessary part of sharing your home with a cat.)

• Observe your cat! Does he scratch vertical surfaces or horizontal ones? Try to find scratchers that will match whichever position he chooses.

• Be wary of purchasing a carpeted scratcher if you are trying to teach your cat not to scratch your carpeted floors. Select a different material like cardboard, wood, or sisal so your cat can be "trained away" from wanting to claw up carpet altogether, whether it's on a scratching post or on your floor.

• When you bring home a new scratcher, bring it to your cat's attention by using a toy of some kind. For instance, drag a heavy shoelace across the scratcher or use fragrant catnip to entice your cat to approach.

• When you bring home a new scratcher, don't grab her paws and place them onto the scratcher. Your cat knows instinctively how to use her claws for scratching. No one has to teach her this. Forcing her up to the scratcher could generate distress and fear.

• If you want to deter your cat from continuing to scratch your furniture, try covering her previously-scratched areas with plastic wrap or double-sided tape. Aluminum foil works well, also.

• Pet repellents that have minty or citrus-y smells are often very effective. Cats find those smells to be rather offensive to the feline nose. Make sure you keep applying the repellent every day for a week or two so that the smell stays fresh and the effect doesn't wear off until your cat has come to believe that your couch is going to smell "awful" forever! Yuck! Then, you can switch to applying the repellent about once a week.

• Don't strike or physically harm your cat as punishment for scratching your couch. Sure, you're very, very frustrated, but hitting your cat or yelling and screaming at him is going to confuse him, make him anxious, and possibly cause him to mistrust you. If it comes down to spritzing him with a water sprayer or making a sudden noise to deter his scratching, then be sure to employ those tactics during the moment he is caught in the very act. Don't do it as he is walking toward the forbidden couch, and don't do it after he has completed his scratching and is on the move away from the couch.

• Don't declaw your cat. There's no need to resort to surgery when there are so many nifty scratching alternatives out there these days. Find an innovative repellent, try double-sided sticky tape, reward him with praise and/or a treat when he scratches on his pad or tree, and make acceptable scratching places easily accessible to him. Learn how to clip your cat's claws at home. Invest some time in teaching and training your cat. Your cat is worth it!

YOU SHOULD REMEMBER THAT

1 - Scratching is instinctive. It's a natural and healthy behavior.

2 - Cats need to scratch to exercise, mark territory, and hone claws.

3 - You can and should train your cat to scratch something besides your furnishings.