Guest post: Do you own a cat that scratches a lot? Well, this is a normal behavior in most cats and it is fine for us as well until it harms us. Some cats scratch on purpose and try to indicate things but sometimes it becomes a habit. If you could notice that your cat starts to scratch whenever it gets boring or angry then it’s a behavior issue. You need to fix it otherwise you may have to suffer a lot. Cats are already very intelligent animals so training them would be easy for you. The main key here is to understand the behavior of your cat. This would lead you to the reasons behind too much scratching of your cat.
This might take time and a lot of patience but you should not let the hard work go in vain. Scratching is normal for cats but to a limit. If your cat started harming your skin, fabric, furniture, and other important things then it is your time to take a stand. You have to stop the cat from doing excessive scratching so that situation can come under control. Petsnurturing has a few tried and tested ways to train your cat not to scratch:
What are the things your cat scratches the most?
The first thing that you should list up here is the things that your cat scratches the most. See if those things are your cat’s favorite or these are the things that your cat hates the most. You should also check if your cat spends most time of the day around those things or not. This small survey in your home would help you a lot in understanding your cat’s behavior. There can be a variety of reasons behind the excessive scratching of your cat. You need to find a solution by resolving the problem that your cat is facing here. The second thing you should list is that in order to keep your pet with you, you should have an ESA letter online.
Try to figure out why your cat is scratching too much:
There can be a lot of reasons behind the scratching of your cat so you have to observe your cat carefully to figure out the reason here:
Unmaintained claws:
If you don’t maintain the claws of your cat then they would do it on their own and scratching helps in this case. Scratching makes their nails sharp and also keeps the nails healthy. They do this so that they can prepare their claws for attack and defense purposes.
A way of communication and marking territory:
If you have more than one cat in the house then this would be a common reason behind cat scratching. Cats here would try to leave the scent of their gland by scratching things. They do this to mark their territory. Cats are very possessive about their territory so having more cats would lead to the scratching problem. This is also the best way to communicate with other cats. Cats do that to warn other cats about the violence that can take place if any other cat would get into the territory.
Let us know how you can stop your cat from scratching too much:
If your cats are not regular about scratching then please don’t stop them as scratching a bit is needed for them. These steps are for those who scratch too much to destroy things and harm your skin.
Some scratching toys would help:
If you see your cat scratching a surface way too much then replace the surface for them. Give your cat alternative options where it can enjoy scratching. There are some scratching toys available in the market that lets your cat enjoy scratching. This would make sure that your cat leaves your furniture or other important items. These toys are perfect for your cat and it would also keep your cat engaged for a good time. You can get different toys that you can pick according to your choice.
Bring positive behavior in you while training:
If you would yell at your cat whenever they would scratch then this would make your pet upset. This can even make the cat depressed that you might want to avoid. Stress in cats is a very serious matter as that can even cause health issues in them. Changing your approach would be good and the change should start with a positive note. You should keep your approach positive when you would see your cat scratching the surface of furniture. You can sit beside your cat to calm your cat a bit. This would take time but it will be helpful.
Furniture covers are your savior in this case:
If you can’t find any solution for your cat’s scratching problem then you should bring some furniture cover home. If your main concern is your furniture then covering them would stop your cat from harming them. Make sure to bring thick covers so that the claws of your cat could not tear it apart. Even though your cat would destroy the cover sometimes but your furniture would be saved. This is a great and easy solution that you should try at the initial stage of cat training. These are very inexpensive so you can easily buy them online and offline.
Give your cat the time it needs:
Having a pet is more like a responsibility than a passion. If you have got a cat in your home then you have to understand that cats are very affectionate animals. If you would not get involved in your cat’s life then you would end up breaking the bond with your cat. This is when your cat would no more find you a friend. This one step would resolve most of your cat’s behavior issues.
Maintain the claws of your cat:
If you neglect to maintain the claws of your cats then they would start doing it on their own. This is when they sharpen their nails by scratching household items of your home. The only way to stop this problem is by cutting and moisturizing the nails of your cat daily. This would maintain the quality of claws in your cat and it would not even scratch too much.