cats

[chriscarol]

why do cats scratch the settee

[cat woman]

Hi chriscarol, You are lucky! even though mine have a scratching post which is regually sprayed with catnip they scrach the sofa, chairs, door frames, carpets, the bed, walls and my legs,..... which look like I've had a fight with a bramble bush!.............. :-)

[SaxyJag]

As to why - it's their way of clipping their nails. It's to get rid of the dead material on the claws in order to keep them sharp for hunting.

Thing is, they tend to use the same object repeatedly. In the beginning, this is probably something like a tree trunk, which they'll wear smooth with repeated use. I think domestic cats get a bit mixed up and think the table leg is their scratched-smooth tree trunk.

[mccfluff]

on the plus side if you ever need to remove woodchip wall paper i'll willingly let you borrow mine, she's done the hall and now she's onto the bedroom.

[NACL]

okay - please forgive me if this is something i have imagined (it is 1:35 in the morning here), but i think that the kitties have glands in or near the pads in their feet and when they scratch things like furniture, it is another of the ways that they mark territory with their own scent. (like when they rub their head on your leg, they are marking you to tell everyone else that you belong to them.) i really hope this is correct. otherwise, sorry... (need sleep here!)