? How to prevent cat from clawing furniture

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Tina and Gracie (GA)

Tina and Gracie (GA)

Member Since 2017
My sweet Gracie loves to claw my couch and bed. o_O
If I catch her, I clap, but it takes typically takes several claps before she stops.

I'm also gone a lot--therefore she essentially gets away with murder half the time.
I have ordered a few new pieces of furniture which would replace my badly clawed current stuff.
Any tips on how to prevent her from destroying my new stuff?
She has scratching posts, but she doesn't use. I have purchased several different ones, and she has zero interest.
My new vet suggested soft paws, but it sounds like you need glue for that. Not sure how I feel about that.

My friend suggested spray her with a water bottle, but again not sure if that is the best option.
 
try double sided tape….cats HATE it.....it's not a great fashion statement, but hopefully once she figures out she doesn't like it, she'll turn to something else and leave the furniture alone
 
Besides what's been suggested so far...
Aluminum foil
Bitter apple
Squirt gun
They have pet alarm thingees, but they're more for keeping animals off the furniture, counters, etc.
(Very expensive) proximity alarms that sound loudly if the cat gets too close to the furniture (adjustable distance) Supposedly after awhile the cat becomes conditioned to stay away from the furniture and the alarm is no longer needed. But it also messes up lap/cuddle/pet time on the couch, chair, etc.
Cat nip rubbed into scratching posts and reintroduce to cat
Get a cat tree/scratching post. Feed and groom the cat in/on it exclusively. Possibly also rub in cat nip. Lots of positive reinforcement for using for anything.
Keep the cat's claws trimmed... once or twice a week (easier than learning how to do BG poke in the ear)
Use furniture covers. Maybe add bitter apple.
Get those heavy clear fitted covers like great grandma had on the "good couch" for company.
Depending on the material and finish, there might be a coating that would discourage/repel a cat/make scratching uncomfortable/not satisfying.
Turbo Scratcher cat toy with lots of positive reinforcement for using (including food, praise, petting, etc.) Can be a little noisy at night for light sleepers, but better than the noise of ripping/shredding furniture. Keep extra cardboard middles and catnip on-hand.
If you have a herding type dog like a German Shepherd, he/she can be trained to herd the cat away from specific items/furniture. Or bark when the cat claws anywhere other than cat tree/scratching post. Or remove the cat from furniture when clawing.
Pray...

Lots of luck :rolleyes:
 
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I've used the Soft Paws on occasion and had no problem, and I have a friend who's been using them continuously for years.
 
I taught my 10 year old cat to stop scratching the couch and the chair by showing her how fun it was to scratch the scratching post. I held her legs and made her scratch. I dangled a toy above the post so she would jump and hang onto the post. It worked.
 
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Mandy & Rex said:
I taught my 10 year old cat to stop scratching the chair and the chair by showing her how fun it was to scratch the scratching post. I held her legs and made her scratch. I dangled a toy above the post so she would jump and hang onto the post. It worked.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, she isn't the slightest interested in those posts. I've tried and tried . . . and even tried s'more. All of them ended up getting donated. She is also one of those . . . I'd rather sleep on your pile of clothes than the tempurpedic cat beds I bought for her.

I bought a few items suggested above. We shall see what happens.
 
Kitty likes sleeping on your clothes because they have your scent in them, even after laundering. That's why he/she especially likes socks, underwear, and sweaty uniforms :) And shoes/boots.
 
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I have one of those cheap (wide) cardboard scratchers in three rooms of my house and the cat does not touch the furniture. She gets to scratch to her heart's content and keep her claws clean, and I just replaced them periodically (after flipping them). jaxa never liked the posts, but she likes sitting on top of the cardboard and stretching to scratch.
 
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