I am at the end of my rope and my husband is livid. Redecorating with $100+/sq. yard fabric.
My 11 year old cat has already scratched the top of the new chairs 37" up. He has one scratch post which he uses in our presence but secretly scratches furniture when we're not around. He was trained on a scratch post as a kitten but has always secretly scratched the furniture. He is an indoor and outdoor neutered male cat, very sweet disposition. I clip his claws every other week, now every week.
The chairs are now covered with aluminum foil, husband is complaining about the looks of things, I am so depressed.
We've talked about finding him another home, making him an outdoor cat (would be impossible, he loves us). The options I've thought about so far, please tell me what you think:
Have 2 scratch posts custom made 37"+ tall so they'll be as tall as he seems to like to scratch, cover with sisal (heard sisal is better than sisal rope), put a platform on top with notches so that there are 8 corners to scratch, cover with burlap or other cat attractive weave, sprinkle catnip as often as I can on it. Place them right next to scratched furniture.
Put sticky tape on the furniture, I hope not forever.
Spray lemon air freshener on the furniture.
Try Soft Paws.
If these things fail, I'll have to get rid of the cat. There is no way to keep him out of the living room with the open floor plan we have.
Any suggestions? Has anything stopped your cats from scratching furniture?
Hollie
My 11 year old cat has already scratched the top of the new chairs 37" up. He has one scratch post which he uses in our presence but secretly scratches furniture when we're not around. He was trained on a scratch post as a kitten but has always secretly scratched the furniture. He is an indoor and outdoor neutered male cat, very sweet disposition. I clip his claws every other week, now every week.
The chairs are now covered with aluminum foil, husband is complaining about the looks of things, I am so depressed.
We've talked about finding him another home, making him an outdoor cat (would be impossible, he loves us). The options I've thought about so far, please tell me what you think:
Have 2 scratch posts custom made 37"+ tall so they'll be as tall as he seems to like to scratch, cover with sisal (heard sisal is better than sisal rope), put a platform on top with notches so that there are 8 corners to scratch, cover with burlap or other cat attractive weave, sprinkle catnip as often as I can on it. Place them right next to scratched furniture.
Put sticky tape on the furniture, I hope not forever.
Spray lemon air freshener on the furniture.
Try Soft Paws.
If these things fail, I'll have to get rid of the cat. There is no way to keep him out of the living room with the open floor plan we have.
Any suggestions? Has anything stopped your cats from scratching furniture?
Hollie