A few tips for training cats from scratching your furniture. I get asked about this a lot. These are my must have items.
1. Scratching post – keep one next to the edge of the furniture so they will be more attracted to the material on that than the fabric of your couch. Put one out right away when you purchase a new piece of furniture. If you are dealing with existing furniture, put some catnip or catnip spray on the post to attract them to it. When they scratch the post, go overboard with compliments and give them a treat!
2. Clear packing tape – this is my absolute go to item for protecting fabric furniture. I place strips along the edges where they tend to scratch. They have no interest in this and can’t really scratch it. Eventually they won’t even go to those areas and I take the tape off. If they start to scratch there again, I put the tape back on. Plus you can’t really see the tape, only if you are up close and low.
3. Spray bottle with water – when training them to stay away from the furniture, a little spritz tells them “NO” if they don’t listen to you.
4. PetSafe SSSCAT Spray Dog and Cat Deterrent, Motion Activated Pet Repellent – this environmentally friendly training sprayer works great when you can’t be there to train them yourself. We use these on countertops, near furniture and other areas that we want them to stay away from.
5. Scratch deterrent training spray – sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t, but worth trying. It does have to be reapplied though.
BONUS TIP:My accidentally found tip for keeping the cats from climbing the Christmas tree was to use a tree collar instead of a tree skirt. Last year was the first time I used one. Apparently jumping into the collar is way more fun than climbing up the tree!
