Cat scratching is an instinct, but why?
Why does my cat scratch? A question asked by so many cat owners.
That’s one of the biggest complaints of cat owners. They love having the cat in the house but the damage to the furniture is a bit much. Usually it’s the legs of your favourite furniture as well. We know someone who’s favourite dining room table looks like it’s had its legs attacked by a chainsaw.
Of course no one knows exactly why cats scratch, however people who study these things have come up with some relatively simple answers. Firstly it’s to sharpen his claws. Actually whilst many maintain that a cat is sharpening his claws by scratching some suggest that it is not actually to sharpen the claws but more to help remove loose dead parts of the nails which come away from time to time. The scratching motion helps these fall away.
- Image via Wikipedia
If you look at the floor at the base of your cat’s favourite scratching post you may see fine pieces of his nails lying there.
As well as that it is also considered that scratching is a part of the process of marking his territory. There are glands in cat paws. When they scratch they leave faint scents behind, and this marks their territory just as it does when they mark in the garden.
This is of course to let other cats know that this is where your cat lives, so stay away. They probably don’t understand that it is unlikely that rival cats would get in your house anyway.
Scratching is an instinctual behaviour. It’s not realistic to expect to get your cat to stop. You would probably spend your life, and his, punishing him for doing it and he would keep doing it. It’s quite natural. However there are a few simple tactics you can use to try and redirect his attention.
The first thing you need is a good cat scratching post. This is a place where your cat can scratch to his heart’s content, doing all the damage he wants, and you’re perfectly happy to allow him to do it. However just buying a scratching post and putting it in the house may not be sufficient to actually get him to use it. He will still probably prefer the legs of the table. However there are some strategies to help redirect his attention.
Put his new scratching pole somewhere he likes to be. You can put a little catnip on it to attract him to it and/or use some of his favourite toys to get him there. Play with him there until he gets the idea, and if you see him heading for the legs of your table gently pick him up and take him to his scratching post.
Another suggestion which will work but which may dampen your furniture is to use a small water pistol and spray his paws when he scratches where you don’t want him to.
And you can use other tactics as well, for instance wrap something around the legs of the table that he may not enjoy scratching, for example plastic. Read the rest of this entry