Many of the needs of cats are based on marking the territory and exercising their muscles, scratches against the sofa can be corrected.
To some extent, living with a cat means admitting that it will have a way of behaving that is difficult to understand at times. Felines, even when they are domestic, behave with atavistic traits that push them to do things that seem incomprehensible to us and even harmful to the home, such as throwing things from above or damaging furniture. What reason could they have to do something like that?
Cats need to sharpen their nails and they do it with everything they find, but it is preferable if it resembles something like the bark of a tree. The sofa is probably one of the pieces of furniture most similar to trees that you can find in your home, as it has enough consistency but at the same time it is not lacquered or solid, like other items in the home, so it is possible to nail the nails in the upholstery, tearing the textile part, which generates a feeling of joy in the animal and helps its nails to be sharper.
When a cat sharpens its nails, it is performing an exercise that is generally similar to kneading, which stretches its muscles, which is pleasurable for it and at the same time is good for its flexibility. When the nails are sharpened, the feline sheds the dead cells. All of this, in short, are necessary issues that cannot be prohibited unless we give them an option to do it in a less aggressive way against our furniture.
But scratching the sofa or a tree is not only a practical matter to sharpen the nails, it also has a territorial warning function , since these marks are his own, they are his footprints, and denote that the space is colonized and controlled by him. In addition, the act of tearing can also be impregnated with hormones, which makes it a key warning point for other cats and alerts them that this place already has an owner, and that it will not be peaceful if they enter space conflict.
Methods to deter the cat
Training a cat is sometimes not an easy task, due to its independent and elusive nature, it is probably necessary to insist on several alternatives. The main thing is to offer him other options to scratch, knowing that he will not give up trying to sharpen his nails and mark the territory, if the object of his scratches is not a piece of furniture, we will have achieved our goal.
A scratching post is the alternative, there are all kinds of these on the market, but a very practical one can be the one in the shape of a cardboard box, since you can move it wherever you want and it takes up little space, but there are some in the shape of a shelter, cat tower or surface with various shapes.
In order for a cat to be interested in a new scratching post, it is important that it is located in a relevant area of the house, it is not useful to leave it at its disposal where it does not bother, but it must be attractive to the cat, because for it it is a symbol of your leadership in the house: the living room is usually the preferred area, a place of passage and concentration of household activityThat is why the sofa is so coveted, because everyone’s daily life is organized around this piece of furniture.
To make this new object more attractive, it will be especially valued that it is stable, that is, that it allows it to be scratched without moving too much (as a tree would do) and if it has a high surface we will be getting a full, that is why the cat towers with scratching post They are so coveted by cats, because they allow them to do two of their most interesting obsessions at the same time: not being at ground level and being able to scratch without limit.
In order for the cat to feel attracted to the scratching post, it is useful that we try to spray it with the pheromones of our animal, for this we will take the cat carefully and pass its front legs over the surface of the scratching post, with this action we can release its own pheromones, and that will help him want to continue with the work started.
Also, it may be necessary to spray with a spray that neutralizes that effect of her pheromones on the couch. When the cat perceives another smell in the furniture, it will feel like someone else’s and will feel a certain rejection, preferring the scratching post, which will already have its mark, even if it is still slight.
Another possible reason for scratching the sofa has to do with you.
If your cat spends a lot of time alone throughout the day, it is likely that he has developed boredom and as a consequence of this he may suffer from stress and anxiety . Cats that live alone, without a companion, and without the constant interaction of other human beings can develop a more intense need to scratch furniture, just for fun, to break the monotony and to release the energy they carry inside.
You must bear in mind that these animals are very active, you know that they are capable of exalted jumps and run at great speed around the house, so the fact of seeing themselves with nothing to do during the day can motivate them to vent their boredom and nerves against the sofa. For this, we recommend that you spend more time with him, as well as that you provide him with interactive toys that can make up for your lack of time and that brighten up his day-to-day life a little.
