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So Your Cat is
Scratching?
When your cat is
scratching on your furniture, there is
no doubt that this is a problem.
The important points
to know are:
-
Any cat or kitten
can be trained to scratch on the
right things
-
Cats and kittens
have a physiologic need to stretch
their muscles in their arms, and
scratch to shed their nails, so they
are not “bad cats”.
-
Scratching is
also a way cats physically mark
their environment.
-
All cats need to
have their nails trimmed regularly.
-
Soft Paws plastic
nail caps can help prevent damage.
-
Sticky Paws can
help protect furniture.
-
Declawing is ok
to do as long as proper pain
management is used and the
anesthesia is made as safe as
possible.
 Training
to Scratch:
-
First you need a
proper scratching post of at least
3-4 feet in height (very large cats
need larger posts!).
-
Some cats prefer
sisal (the thick rope).
-
Some cats prefer
textured carpet (such as berber
carpet).
-
Often a large cat
tree with different levels and beds
is preferred.
-
Adding some
horizontal surfaces such as the
cardboard items are also helpful. Often
for kittens the one with balls on
the outside and cardboard on the
inside are best.
-
Small posts that
hang on door knobs are rarely
preferred by cats.
-
Place the
scratching post in a place where the
cat already scratches (once the cat
uses it well, you can move it a few
inches a day until it is a more
acceptable location). *Hint:
Cats like their posts to be near
where their people hang out (put one
in the family room and one in the
bedroom at minimum).
-
Entice the kitty
to the post with catnip, cat treats,
and love. Praise the kitty gently
when she scratches on the scratching
post.
-
Discourage the
kitty from scratching other places.
-
Place sticky
paws, aluminium foil, plastic, tape
sticky side up, etc.
on the areas kitty scratches (this
is temporary for training).
-
Use a squirt gun
or air horn to chase kitty away when
scratching on the wrong things.
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SCRATCHING PROBLEMS
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|
Where
Pets Are Family!
