Help Please

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Clicker training might really help, but that is hard if you are at work, like you mentioned.

Some cats don't like the sisal that's on scratch posts, and some don't like the typical shag carpeting on other posts. Using a different yet tough fabric or even getting some car carpeting (low pile) and screwing or stapling that on over the sisal can sometimes get a cat to scratch the post.

I have (1) a chaise lounge sacrificed to the cat -- the only piece of furniture we let her scratch on (she doesn't scratch the other pieces of furniture), (2) one of those tall SmartCat posts (we also lay this horizontally at times, to provide a flat or slanted scratching surface), (3) a post with some sisal on just part of it, and (4) we bought a sturdy scratch post with new sisal but covered the sisal (for now) with a thick twill fabric for scratching. She likes scratching on that fabric, it's softer on the paws. And when she has ripped the fabric off, we will still have the brand new sisal underneath to try on her once again.

It also helps to put the scratch posts near the furniture or at least where they might like scratching (like, a few feet from wherever they wake up after napping, or after eating, or even a location where they normally greet you when you come home from work).

 

[jefferd18]

Have you tried Soft Paws?

 

[Bloom_Z]

Hi - litle update. I put foil on a lot of my furniture and that same day and the day after, I would see her using her post! So I thought, Horay!! I did it! Well, turns out, it must have been a fluke. Since then, she is finding new spots (not covered in foil) to scratch on my couches. The post is placed in front of where she scratches, and is coated with cat nip. I'm trying to introduce her to the sisal rope scratchers available on the cat tree (which she no longer uses since being placed in my bedroom), to see if she likes that texture more, but so far no luck.
I'm continuing to run out of options. I'm not going to cover my furniture in foil and I looked up the hideous couch covers that would have to be removed every time I have guests over.
I can't seem to find the right texture for her.....

 

[Uncled]

Have you tried cardboard type scratching posts? One of my two prefers cardboard over sisal. I have also heard some cats prefer wood as in a log for a scratching post. Just some suggestions

 

[Caspers Human]

Something I learned about scratching posts is that it's not just "what" but also "where."

Getting the cat a scratcher is good. Getting the kind that the cat likes is even better. The other thing to think about is location.

Cats need to scratch in order to shed their claws.
Their claws grow in layers like rings of a tree. As new layers grow in from beneath, the old layers, above, come loose and fall off. A cat's scratching and clawing behavior is, partly, an attempt to shed those old, outer claw layers.

However, scratching is also a territorial behavior.
When a cat scratches on something, they leave a scent behind from glands in their paws. That scent is one way cats mark their territory. Also, the items that get clawed up are a visual cue that some cat has been here and is taking ownership of that item and the territory around it.

This territorial behavior is key.
You need to look around your house on the cat's level and, through its eyes and think with a cat's sensibilities.

If YOU were a cat, how would you want to mark your territory? Where would you leave your signs?

Watch your cat as it moves around the house and see what places the cat frequents and what priority the cat gives those locations.

As I was watching our cat, Casper, I noticed that he would run up the stairs at top speed and sort of climb the wall at the top of the landing. He would, sort of, claw at the wall as he slid down.

I realized that he was rubbing his paw pads on the wall, leaving his scent.

I put a scratching post there and he took to it almost immediately... within an hour of the time I put it down.

We put another one in the living room, next to the television, near his play area. He likes to play in front of the TV while we are sitting and watching TV shows. He probably wants to be there because that's where he sees us hanging out and he thinks it part of the "family area."

I had also seen him climbing and sliding down the wall, there. Turns out, that's his favorite of all his scratching spots.

The third place we put a combination cat tree and scractcher is in a corner where he "dead ends" after his post-litter box "victory lap."

As you know, cats often sprint from their litter box and run around the house. We call it the "victory lap."

When we put the cat tree at the place where he ends his victory laps, he started climbing up the post of the cat tree and scratching the hell out of it before going up the tree and hanging out on the platform.

Casper has never been one to scratch furniture. He only used to do it when he wanted attention from us humans.

Now, that behavior has been 100% transferred to his scractchers.
No scratching furniture at all.

It's really common for people to buy a scratching post for their cat and simply plunk it down in a corner, out of the way. People will wonder why the cat doesn't use the thing.

It just might be because the scratching post is in a place where the cat doesn't like it.

I don't know but I bet if you watch your cat and look for areas of most activity, you'll find some better places to put scratchers that the cat will like and use them more often.

 

[IronHippo]

Just in case you missed it, try putting her scratching posts in front of the spots where she likes to scratch (get more if necessary) and praise and reward her when she uses the right spot. Also, I don't know if the couch covers are that much uglier than aluminum foil, but YMMV. Like I said before, a blanket would do, too.

 

[Bloom_Z]

Something I learned about scratching posts is that it's not just "what" but also "where."

Getting the cat a scratcher is good. Getting the kind that the cat likes is even better. The other thing to think about is location.

Cats need to scratch in order to shed their claws.
Their claws grow in layers like rings of a tree. As new layers grow in from beneath, the old layers, above, come loose and fall off. A cat's scratching and clawing behavior is, partly, an attempt to shed those old, outer claw layers.

However, scratching is also a territorial behavior.
When a cat scratches on something, they leave a scent behind from glands in their paws. That scent is one way cats mark their territory. Also, the items that get clawed up are a visual cue that some cat has been here and is taking ownership of that item and the territory around it.

This territorial behavior is key.
You need to look around your house on the cat's level and, through its eyes and think with a cat's sensibilities.

If YOU were a cat, how would you want to mark your territory? Where would you leave your signs?

Watch your cat as it moves around the house and see what places the cat frequents and what priority the cat gives those locations.

As I was watching our cat, Casper, I noticed that he would run up the stairs at top speed and sort of climb the wall at the top of the landing. He would, sort of, claw at the wall as he slid down.

I realized that he was rubbing his paw pads on the wall, leaving his scent.

I put a scratching post there and he took to it almost immediately... within an hour of the time I put it down.

We put another one in the living room, next to the television, near his play area. He likes to play in front of the TV while we are sitting and watching TV shows. He probably wants to be there because that's where he sees us hanging out and he thinks it part of the "family area."

I had also seen him climbing and sliding down the wall, there. Turns out, that's his favorite of all his scratching spots.

The third place we put a combination cat tree and scractcher is in a corner where he "dead ends" after his post-litter box "victory lap."

As you know, cats often sprint from their litter box and run around the house. We call it the "victory lap."

When we put the cat tree at the place where he ends his victory laps, he started climbing up the post of the cat tree and scratching the hell out of it before going up the tree and hanging out on the platform.

Casper has never been one to scratch furniture. He only used to do it when he wanted attention from us humans.

Now, that behavior has been 100% transferred to his scractchers.
No scratching furniture at all.

It's really common for people to buy a scratching post for their cat and simply plunk it down in a corner, out of the way. People will wonder why the cat doesn't use the thing.

It just might be because the scratching post is in a place where the cat doesn't like it.

I don't know but I bet if you watch your cat and look for areas of most activity, you'll find some better places to put scratchers that the cat will like and use them more often.

Hi there!
Thank you! So, what I see of her when I am home, is that she is scratching the things right in my entry way - I have a small apartment so my post is in the middle of the dining room chairs and the couches (both of which she scratches, and both of which are in my entry way). She will use it one time, then go right back to the furniture. She's started to scratch the cushions on my couches (which is weird because I thought cats preferred hard and sturdy items). She doesn't have a particular pattern of scratching, at least none that I've noticed. She will do it at random, with or without me (so I feel that using scratching as a way to get my attention ins't super accurate for my kitty - plus she's vocal when she wants something).
My next plan of attack is to find some cheap carpet tiles, like the thin carpet found in offices, and attach that to my current post. I was also thinking about searching for similar type feeling fabric at Joanns and stapling that on my post as well.
But other than that, I am seriously OUT of ideas.....

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Something I learned about scratching posts is that it's not just "what" but also "where."

Getting the cat a scratcher is good. Getting the kind that the cat likes is even better. The other thing to think about is location.

Cats need to scratch in order to shed their claws.
Their claws grow in layers like rings of a tree. As new layers grow in from beneath, the old layers, above, come loose and fall off. A cat's scratching and clawing behavior is, partly, an attempt to shed those old, outer claw layers.

However, scratching is also a territorial behavior.
When a cat scratches on something, they leave a scent behind from glands in their paws. That scent is one way cats mark their territory. Also, the items that get clawed up are a visual cue that some cat has been here and is taking ownership of that item and the territory around it.

This territorial behavior is key.
You need to look around your house on the cat's level and, through its eyes and think with a cat's sensibilities.

If YOU were a cat, how would you want to mark your territory? Where would you leave your signs?

Watch your cat as it moves around the house and see what places the cat frequents and what priority the cat gives those locations.

As I was watching our cat, Casper, I noticed that he would run up the stairs at top speed and sort of climb the wall at the top of the landing. He would, sort of, claw at the wall as he slid down.

I realized that he was rubbing his paw pads on the wall, leaving his scent.

I put a scratching post there and he took to it almost immediately... within an hour of the time I put it down.

We put another one in the living room, next to the television, near his play area. He likes to play in front of the TV while we are sitting and watching TV shows. He probably wants to be there because that's where he sees us hanging out and he thinks it part of the "family area."

I had also seen him climbing and sliding down the wall, there. Turns out, that's his favorite of all his scratching spots.

The third place we put a combination cat tree and scractcher is in a corner where he "dead ends" after his post-litter box "victory lap."

As you know, cats often sprint from their litter box and run around the house. We call it the "victory lap."

When we put the cat tree at the place where he ends his victory laps, he started climbing up the post of the cat tree and scratching the hell out of it before going up the tree and hanging out on the platform.

Casper has never been one to scratch furniture. He only used to do it when he wanted attention from us humans.

Now, that behavior has been 100% transferred to his scractchers.
No scratching furniture at all.

It's really common for people to buy a scratching post for their cat and simply plunk it down in a corner, out of the way. People will wonder why the cat doesn't use the thing.

It just might be because the scratching post is in a place where the cat doesn't like it.

I don't know but I bet if you watch your cat and look for areas of most activity, you'll find some better places to put scratchers that the cat will like and use them more often.

That's kind of what I was saying, but you said it better!