Related Links
Submit your link

NYC Animal Shelter & Behavioral Center

Educational support information

To begin, no cat sets out to destroy the couch or the curio cabinet. She simply needs a place to exercise her nails. Providing that place is where you come in.

Buy or make your own scratching post, preferably covered with Sisal rope rather than carpet, which might send the cat mixed messages (it's okay to scratch this carpeted post but not the living room carpet). A scratching post need not be a post at all. There are several inexpensive corrugated cardboard types that cats seem to love. Purchase some additional cat nip to spread on either the post or box to make the scratching area even more enticing.

Trim nails regularly. Have a friend hold the cat or kitten (it's best to start young, getting your kitten use to having its paws handled and its nails clipped). Gently press on the pads of the paw and the nail will extract from its protective sheath. With a nail clipper (like the one you use to trim your nails) clip the end of the nail. Do not clip beyond the darken area that is a vein) Only the front nails require clipping.

Provide constant, positive re-enforcement. Each and every time the cat or kitten goes to scratch the couch or whatever, pick her up and place here at the scratching post. Pick up her front paws and move them up and the down the post in a scratching motion. Pet her and tell her this is the place.

Hauling Out the Big Guns

Okay, you have found yourself with a rare one. She refuses to use her scratching post. She likes the wood paneling. It's time to take out the big guns. But first of all make a commitment to yourself and your cat that declawing is not an option. This way you will have to find a way to make your cat behave. And guess what, with a little perseverance, it's doable.

Use the following on the furniture or area that cat is scratching.

Reversible tape
Balloons
Bitter apple spray (pet store)

Use the following to deter cat from scratching area.