Happy Pets

Damage to furniture, carpets and curtains can be a frequent problem with an untrained cat. Like spraying, it is a means of claiming territory: particular sites are repeatedly scratched and scent marks from the paws deposited at the same time. Outdoors this may occur on trees and posts, indoors on your furniture or perhaps a doorway. Once a particular place has become established as a marking site, it can be extremely difficult to transfer the attention elsewhere. For a cat, scent-marking is like running up a flag to declare one’s territorial rights; and the markings must be continually refreshed.

If a scratching habit develops indoors it should rapidly be redirected to a piece of furniture you are prepared to sacrifice (and to keep around in a mutilated state) or, preferably, to a special scratching- post or panel. For cats kept indoors, one or the other will be essential: in addition to the marking procedure, all cats need to stretch their claws, and the indoor cat must have somewhere to do so. This exercise also removes the old, outer covering of the front claws when it gets worn to reveal the sharp new points beneath.

A scratching-post or panel can be bought ready-made, or made yourself. It should be heavy enough so that the cat cannot pull it over, or fixed to a base on which the cat can stand when stretching. Alternatively, it can be fitted firmly beneath a horizontal surface, such as a work-top or the treads of an open stair. If you make your own, cover it in a coarse material not found elsewhere in the house so that your curtains or fabric- textured walls cannot be confused with it. Introduce a new kitten or cat to the site by holding its front paws against the post or panel and moving them through the scratching motion. The lesson will probably not need to be repeated — just keep an eye open to prevent scratching anywhere else.

It may be that your cat has already chosen a place to scratch — and not one you approve. You will stand a better chance of persuading it to scratch where you want if you cover the post or panel with material of the same texture. If your cat wrecks the carpet rather than an upright surface, you should mount your scratching-panel horizontally on the floor in a fairly damage-resistant part of the house. Do not mount the panel actually on the carpet itself, or the surrounding area will just get scratched to pieces as well.

Some owners finally lose patience with their cat’s scratching activities and ask the vet to de-claw it. This involves removing the claws and the ends of the bones from which they grow, so taking away the cat’s ability to grip surfaces and the weapons it needs for self-defence. No one who even thinks of having such a barbaric operation carried out should keep a cat: it is cruel and unnecessary, and scratching is anyway quite instinctive.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 3:08 am and is filed under Cats, Kittens, Scratching Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.