A cats scratch walls and furniture for a number of reasons, including to stretch their back muscles after a nap, sharpen claws, leave a back muscles after a nap, sharpen claws, leave a scent/visual mark, and to get a reaction from their owners!
Many cats will have a stretch and a scratch after a nap. They will use the nicest thing to scratch that is close by to where they were resting. The best solution is to provide a scratch post near to each place where the cat rests and scratches.
The surface of the post is important, as it must be something the cat fi nds attractive. Some are perfectly happy with the kind of sisal cord used on many scratch posts, but some prefer carpet, others prefer upholstered fabric, and some really love the posts made from corrugated cardboard.
Claw sharpening is a similar problem. Like stretching after a nap, most cats will need to sharpen their claws regularly. The only way to stop them from damaging our property is to provide a suitable post close to where they currently scratch.
Claw marking to leave a scent mark is more likely in multi-cat households or where non-resident cats are intruding or harassing the resident felines. In these cases, the cat will claw in a number of places that are close to where other cats come and go (for example, close to
entry/exit points). The aim is to leave a message to encourage other cats to stay away. In these cases the social problem must be resolved, either between the resident cats, or by keeping intruding cats out of the house.
Did you know? Scratching leaves a marker to communicate with other cats.The last cause is attention seeking. If your cat often digs his claws into the wallpaper while looking at you, and then seems quite frisky and excited when you chase him away, then it is likely that he is scratching to get a reaction from you.
In these cases, put a scratch post near to where your cat is scratching, and only give him attention when he scratches the post.
Ignore him completely when he tries to scratch the wallpaper.
In all cases, once you have provided a suitable scratching place you should protect the wallpaper temporarily using heavy polythene sheet taped over the top. This will help your cat make the switch to scratching the posts you have put in place. A feline pheromone diffuser will help reduce clawing when it is stress related or scent marking, but the problem will come back unless the underlying cause has been resolved and the cat has some alternative places to scratch.
If cats don’t have suitable scratching facilities, they’ll turn elsewhere.
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