How to break a cat of clawing furniture?
I have a 5 year old female neutered cat, she will not quit clawing furniture. I dont know how to break her and i need answers, she is destroying my house. She also has a bad habit of sitting on curtain rods.
shes spayed ,sorry wasnt thinking
Miss Maggie Mae jumps on the curtain rods while we are sleeping. She targets the one above my bed and them when she jumps down she lands on my head. I sounds comical but I have some nice scars on my face from this.. i took had to take rods down, they are all ruined now.
I used a water bottle- try not to let her see it so that she associates it with the item at the time she tries to claw. Sooner or later she’ll figure it out, & you can even place sqirt bottles at the sites of the scratching for when you are away if you do let her see it =) With my persistent one, it reached the point where all I had to do was make the sound of it squirting when I saw him eyeing his favorite furniture-stopped him in his tracks & he walked away. Also the foil is good, and a cotton ball wet with lemon juice taped to it is doubly repugnant. I put a corrugated cardboard scratcher right next to the arms of the furniture. As he had to step on it to get near the couch, it caught his attention & became a replacement scratcher. For awhile I put all the soft furniture up against the wall to minmize the surface areas available for scratching. This was just for awhile until the habit was broken. Check out the Q & A section as well as helpful things sold at a web site run by two Veterinarians Dr.’s Foster & Smith.com. They sell a toy called "Da Bird" which is an irresistable disraction from innapropriate behaviors. My cat loved it so much I had to hide it in the garage when not in use or he loved it to death. Just think of her like a toddler & use the same principle of substituting what they can have for what they can’t. Your loving persistence will pay off & "discipline" will become a non-issue. Oh, and contrary to some ideas, cats NEVER need to be yelled at. They are very sensitive, and it will only cause them confusion & fear of you.The curtain rod question I don’t get, maybe you could edit your question to make that a little more clear & I could answer by editing my response. By the way, do you have a decent kitty climber & interesting toys? Is it possible that this could be a result of either boredom or seeking more attention? Just a thought.Keeping her claws trimmed minimizes damage, but then you probably already do that.
June 4th, 2010 at 4:07 am
no way..she has to be declawed or gotten rid of. cats are not trainable…they are what they are..have had some that clawed and a few that didn’t…but they are rare…and the curtain rod sitting thing…weird. sounds like a climber..not good either.
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June 4th, 2010 at 4:16 am
too late to change, remove all furnature LOL
try a scratching post with nip on it
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June 4th, 2010 at 4:36 am
spray her with water
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June 4th, 2010 at 4:58 am
Cat stratchers, toys, and special claw lotion that you can get from your vet or from PetSmart or Petco.
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June 4th, 2010 at 5:21 am
There are a few things you can do.
You could have her declawed but this isn’t the nicest thing to do.
This is not my first choice but with some cats somtimes it is the only choice, just be careful what vet you use, try to get some ref. of pople who have had them do their cats declawing.
You can purchase caps for the cats claws. There just little rubber caps that you replace every couple months.
Place double sided tape on surfaces the cat is scratching, they hate tape.
There are sprays called boundry sprays and they are designed to keep animals out of areas you don’t want them in.
I hope one of these workes for you.
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worked in a petstore for 4 yrs.
June 4th, 2010 at 5:34 am
Try using a spray bottle with water. Everytime your cat starts clawing, yell "NO" and give it a squirt with the water.
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June 4th, 2010 at 5:42 am
get a scracthing post and take its paws and rub its paws up and down its nails will scrach on it and will think it will scracth that instead of furniture.
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June 4th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Cats do not like citrus acid. My cat was scratching the wall and I put some lime juice on it. Also, perhaps buy her a scratching post and take her little paws and show her how to scratch it every time she tries to scratch the funiture. You could also trim her claws, that always gets ‘em.
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June 4th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Scratching post or you could squirt the cat with some water. I recommend the scratching post ’cause cats don’t like water.
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June 4th, 2010 at 7:26 am
Declaw it.
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June 4th, 2010 at 7:41 am
I don’t know about the curtain rods; are they up? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Cats do like to be up high. I think it’s an safety – observation thing. Do you have places they are allowed to go that gives them a good view?
I used two ways to make my cats quit scratching on the furniture: one – a spray is sold that you can use on furniture. It has a smell cats don’t like. Probably can find a good one in a pet store.
Another is aluminum foil: attach it to your furniture so the cats can’t pull it off. Foil is also good to get them off counter tops. It isn’t pretty, but if you leave it there for a couple of weeks, they should get out of the habit.
Also, be sure to have a scratching post of some kind. I have a carpet sample tacked to a wall in the kitchen – high enough for them to stretch – and I scented it with catnip. When I caught them on anything else, I sort of hung them on the carpet and let them figure it out. They did.
If these don’t work, ask your vet.
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June 4th, 2010 at 8:11 am
A lot of orientals (and cats with oriental blood) like to sit on curtain rods and pelmets.
Scratching – put double sided tape on the scratched areas and then spray around the area with citrus spray. Make sure she has scratching a post and to get her to "love" the post put some cat nip on it. Not all cats are into cat nip, though
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June 4th, 2010 at 9:00 am
You have to have something she can claw on. My cat has a square wooden box that she loves to claw. Make sure you give your cat something wooden to claw on with little or no paint on it. It should sit on the floor, where there’s easy access to it.
When she tries to claw something else, pick her up, say "NO" (use the correct tone of voice) and place her in front of her scratching post and physically place her paws onto the post.
If there is a specific item that she likes to claw especially, there is a product called "apple bitter" that you can spray onto the surface. It’s scent is aromatic to humans, but cats hate it’s taste and smell and will steer clear from it. Oppositely, try putting some catnip, or spray-on catnip on your cat’s scratching post.
As far as your curtain rods, do the same. Say "NO". Make sure always to say "NO". She’ll understand this as a bad thing (eventually). Make sure your cat has things and places of her own, though. Place a cat bed or a blanket, pillow, etc. in a high place that she can feel safe that isn’t completely away from everyone else in your house. They want to feel involved with you (and the rest of the family if applicable) and be around you. This will involve you to think as if you were a cat, or when you were a little kid, maybe. Just be creative. Support your cat when she does something good with a treat she likes. Whether it be catnip, or food treats.
As far as what other users have said, absolutely don’t get rid of your cat. This is the craziest suggestion I’ve heard. People just think that pets are disposable, but ultimately they’re attached to you even if they don’t show it. Declawing is not the answer either. They can become spiteful and start biting you instead. Also their paws itch a lot more if you declaw them but they won’t have any way to relieve that itch.
Hope this helps!
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My mom
June 4th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I used a water bottle- try not to let her see it so that she associates it with the item at the time she tries to claw. Sooner or later she’ll figure it out, & you can even place sqirt bottles at the sites of the scratching for when you are away if you do let her see it =) With my persistent one, it reached the point where all I had to do was make the sound of it squirting when I saw him eyeing his favorite furniture-stopped him in his tracks & he walked away. Also the foil is good, and a cotton ball wet with lemon juice taped to it is doubly repugnant. I put a corrugated cardboard scratcher right next to the arms of the furniture. As he had to step on it to get near the couch, it caught his attention & became a replacement scratcher. For awhile I put all the soft furniture up against the wall to minmize the surface areas available for scratching. This was just for awhile until the habit was broken. Check out the Q & A section as well as helpful things sold at a web site run by two Veterinarians Dr.’s Foster & Smith.com. They sell a toy called "Da Bird" which is an irresistable disraction from innapropriate behaviors. My cat loved it so much I had to hide it in the garage when not in use or he loved it to death. Just think of her like a toddler & use the same principle of substituting what they can have for what they can’t. Your loving persistence will pay off & "discipline" will become a non-issue. Oh, and contrary to some ideas, cats NEVER need to be yelled at. They are very sensitive, and it will only cause them confusion & fear of you.The curtain rod question I don’t get, maybe you could edit your question to make that a little more clear & I could answer by editing my response. By the way, do you have a decent kitty climber & interesting toys? Is it possible that this could be a result of either boredom or seeking more attention? Just a thought.Keeping her claws trimmed minimizes damage, but then you probably already do that.
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Animal care-giver
June 4th, 2010 at 10:15 am
The best way to prevent a cat from clawing the furniture, I would say, is getting it declawed. I have had experience with all of my cats (6 total), and there is no better way to do it. Believe me, i have tried everything else!
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June 4th, 2010 at 11:05 am
the best and easiest way to solve ur problem is to keep a scratching post.initially u will have 2 show ur cat by scratching ur nails on it.cats r intelligent,she will quickly get the idea.in nature stary cats scratch their nails on the bark of trees.
regarding her habit of sitting on curtain rods,whenever she sits on a curtain rod,roll a paper and threaten ur cat with it as if u r going to beat her.initially u will have 2 beat her with it(it wont hurt,but she may not like it),but gradually she may come 2 fear a rolled up paper.so when u brandish a paper at her,she will run away.
trust me,i have a naughty cat at home myself.
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June 4th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Put double sided tape on the parts of the furniture she likes to scratch. Cats don’t like to have sticky paws. She will stop once she realizes that the doesn’t like the sensation. It worked for both my cats.
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June 4th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Train her using a spray bottle of water every time she claws something she shouldn’t and heads for the curtain rods. Praise her when she uses her scratching post and when she behaves.
She’ll get the message.
Don’t declaw her. It’s bad for cats.
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Experienced cat owner.
June 8th, 2010 at 1:36 am
year through. Have a beautiful Christmas and a happy New Year.
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