Posts tagged "cat scratchers"

Amy D. Shojai is a certified animal behavior consultant and the award-winning author of 23 pet care books, including Complete Kitten Care and Complete Care for Your Aging Cat.

Understanding Why They Scratch and Claw
Kittens and adult cats claw for many reasons. Clawing feels good and provides a great shoulder and leg workout. Clawing keeps feline nails healthy by cleaning off old layers. Clawing marks kitty territory with visual cues (including your shredded upholstery) and paw pad scent.

Your cat's clawing behavior may raise your blood pressure, but it relieves feline stress, sort of like the kitty equivalent to human nail biting. In fact, upset cats often target items that smell like their beloved human (your bed, your favorite chair), not because they're angry or vindictive, but because they love you so much and scent-sharing makes them feel better. Once you understand their motivations, you'll be able to better train them toward less-destructive clawing.

Using Kitten Aptitude Training
These seven tips and strategies can help you redirect your cat's clawing behaviors:

1. Offer Cat Scratching Options That Suit Your Pet: Irresistible choices match the cat's desires for texture and style. Does your cat scratch horizontally or vertically -- or maybe overhead while scooting on her back? Does he target upholstery, carpet, soft fabric or hardwood? Choose cat scratchers accordingly. Scratch objects should be taller or longer than the cat's full-length stretch as an adult (because kittens do grow!) and sturdy enough it won't tip over under a full-out scratch assault.

Like all felines, our 14-year-old cat, Meeko, loves to dig her claws into things, and she has her favorite spots. Unfortunately, for many years, those spots have been couch corners and bar-stool seats rather than her kitty condo or scratching post.

We resigned ourselves to a home filled with torn-up furniture. At her age, we didn't expect Meeko to change her ways. But when these cat scratchers came to us to test, we gave Meeko another chance.

Meeko's Choice: Scratch Lounge
The Scratch Lounge ($25) was the first scratcher we tested, and it delivered. Rather than a vertical scratching post, the Scratch Lounge provides a horizontal scratching surface with short sides. You know how your cat is always stuffing itself into shoeboxes or other small spaces? This provides a similar appeal with the added bonus of being a satisfying surface for scratching claws. Even better, the base flips so you can get double the use. Additionally, the Scratch Lounge came with catnip. Granted, Meeko mostly ate it and then rolled around on it, but she was happy nonetheless.

The only downside: the isn't the most aesthetically pleasing cat scratcher we've seen. The illustration is cute, but it's not something we really want to keep out in the middle of the living room when company comes over.

Meet Mary Burch, American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen Director, and Paw Nation's expert columnist addressing your questions on animal behavior. Dr. Burch has over 25 years of experience working with animals and is one of fewer than 50 Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists based in the United States. She is the author of 10 books, including the new official book on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program, "Citizen Canine: 10 Essential Skills Every Well-Mannered Dog Should Know." As an animal behaviorist, Dr. Burch is happy to answer your questions about cats and dogs.

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I adopted an adult cat recently, and she's using my entire living room as a scratching post. She's made her mark on every sofa and chair I have. I've bought several scratchers – tall ones she can climb, short ones at floor level -- but she prefers to destroy my furniture! I adore her and am committed for the long-haul, but I do want to keep my living room intact. Help!

How frustrating! I'm glad that you 're willing to be patient while coming up with a good solution for your new roommate. To deal with what's going on in your home, it may help you to better understand what's behind your feline's behavior and then evaluate various options to try.

1. Why Cats Scratch
Giving their claws a workout is about more than you may think. Cats scratch to:

-- Exercise. It feels good when they reach up to scratch.
-- Relax. The kneading motion is soothing.
-- File their nails. This is the most typical reason for scratching as it removes old layers of the nails.
-- Mark their territory. Cats have scent glands between their paws that release scent on the furniture. (This may be particularly appealing to your cat now that she's in a new home.)

While you might want to make something like a cat tree when you've got an afternoon to kill and an overactive kitty at home, constructing a cat scratcher -- just a simple, upholstered post, instead of a whole series of steps and levels -- can quickly solve the problem of clawed-up furniture. Here's the simplest way to build your own cat scratcher.

- Your post should be tall enough so that the cat has to reach the length of its body to touch the top (depending on the cat, maybe three to four feet).

- Use a square-shaped post instead of a round one -- it'll be much easier to attach the carpet. You can have wood cut at a home-improvement store or perhaps find some at a furniture recycling location.

- Use hammer and nails to affix a properly sized carpet sample to your square post, but for now, leave a few inches of wood bare at the top of the post.

- Do the same for your flat, rectangular wooden base, which can even be made out of an old cabinet door, if you don't want to purchase the wood.

- Now upholster that bare section at the top of the post in a colorful, contrasting fabric. It doesn't have to be carpet; any old cloth will do. This will help attract your cat to the post. Some people also glue or nail a little cat toy on top.

- To secure the post to the base, first cut a small hole, an inch or two wide, into the base's carpet covering. Inside that now bare section of wood, use a power drill to make four holes. Center the bottom of the post to this hole and use those four holes to screw the post to the base.