Homemade Remedies to Stop Cats From Scratching on Furniture

Cats are natural scratchers and use this as a way to mark their territory. Scratching is fine when kitty is in the wild, but not when she is destroying your couch or chair leg or other furniture in your home. Besides declawing your cat or trimming her nails short, there are other ways that can help your feline keep her claws to herself.

  1. Deterrents

    • One way to keep your cat from scratching your furniture is to deter her from going there. Most cats utterly detest the smell of citrus. Therefore, applying lemon or orange juice to the sought-out surface usually keeps the cat away. Test the juice in an area that is not easily visible beforehand, just in case it stains the surface. Consider applying the juice to all vertical surfaces or areas where the cat may be enticed to scratch̵2;she may look for other scratching options when you remove the old one.

      Applying double-sided tape to the scratching area will likely keep your cat from clawing away. Cats do not like the way the tape feels and will typically stay away from it. In addition, taping aluminum foil to the surface or positioning it in front of the surface may help to deter the cat. Also try placing a carpet runner in front of the scratching area. Flip the runner over so that the spikes are facing up. While the spikes will not hurt the cat, they will likely feel a bit uncomfortable to the cat and will prevent her from walking on them.

      If your cat still wants to scratch where she is not allowed, shake a jar of coins when she goes near the area or squirt her with water. She will eventually learn that going near the area will result in these unpleasant treatments.

    Provide Other Scratching Areas

    • Since cats instinctively need to scratch things, they must have places where they are able to do so. Therefore, providing a scratching post is a must. If your cat does not want to go near the post, entice her to spend time there by feeding her treats or meals next to it. Attach her toys or play with a string by the post so that she needs to use her claws in the post. When she eventually uses the post, reward her with treats. If you do not provide her with an appropriate scratching area, she will likely find other household objects to tear up.