Has anybody got a suggestion how I can stop my cat, (he's a rescue cat aged about 4) from scratching walls and furniture, I have sprayed with Citronella and put obstacles in his way but he still managed to scratch my wall, at least 48inches from the ground, he must have balanced on the TV stand to do it! I don't know what else I can do, any sensible suggestions please!
Have you given him somewhere to scratch , so he can use it instead of your furniture ?
You can get scratching posts wrapped with thick string, which my cat loves, and flat ones made of cardboard which seem to be good aswell.
Cats scratch to remove their old claws, if you don't provide something, they will choose your furniture !!!
Once they start going outside , they tend to use tree trunks, fences etc, but it is still a good idea to have something indoors for them to have a go at.
Argos have the posts for £7.99 no. 724 3509.
The range have the boards for £2.99, I think B&M also have them. X
One of our two cats didn't go near the scratching post to begin with. To encourage it we played with it near the post and would put a few treats down on the base when it did use the post.
It worked, but probably because the cat was cleverer than us and had worked out quickly how to get treats... :-)
My rescue boy would probably be terrified of a scratching post. What does work is old cardboard boxes. Just flattened ones...he let off a lot of steam that way.
You can also get cat scratching mats and boards on Amazon.
He has two scratching posts, both of which he ignores, he does have a scratching box which he does use and plenty of toys, several with catnip in ,he likes screwed up paper and boxes so has quite a lot to entertain him, he also spends quite a lot of time sitting in the window watching birds etc