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scratching to express emotions..

post #1 of 7
1/31/10 at 1:31am
Thread Starter 
I know that Sophie understands that scratching on the couch is wrong. She is generally good about using the scratching post to sharpen her claws.

But in the last couple weeks, she's taken to scratching the couch when she is unhappy or wants attention. In other words, I'm pretty sure she aware of what she is doing on purpose.

She'll scratch on the couch usually a few minutes after greeting me when I get home, which I take to mean "I didn't like being alone all this time". She'll scratch when I'm in the kitchen, and she feels ignored (even I put her bed next to me on the kitchen table..). That kind of thing. It doesn't happen all the time, but maybe a couple times a day.

So... if i redirect her to the post during these times (which I generally do), am I just encouraging negative behaviour because she is getting a response out of me? Am I better to ignore it altogether? (It's old furniture; I don't mind if it gets a little roughed up). But I also don't want to be insensitive to her. She's scratching because she's feeling frustrated at something or other.

How should I handle this?? Thanks
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post #2 of 7
1/31/10 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
No helpful hints or similar experiences?
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post #3 of 7
1/31/10 at 2:16pm
I think I'd redirect her. When I brought home my first two feral rescues I didn't want to risk losing their trust, and permitted them to use the couch for a scratcher. It took a long time before I found an appropriate one that they liked, and by then scratching the couch was habit. It was shredded in months, bare wood exposed.

I recently bought a new used couch that doesn't smell like their property, and whenever someone scratches it I move them, or even put fresh catnip on the scratching pads. Maybe I'm reinforcing attention seeking behavior, but then maybe they need attention?

My cats are more important than my couch of course, but if I can have happy cats and a decent couch that's even better!
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post #4 of 7
2/1/10 at 10:31pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for your comment. I'll keep redirecting her then.
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post #5 of 7
2/2/10 at 1:47pm
When our Tubi started to scratch our arm chair I used orange peel. Just like your baby, he knew he was not supposed to scratch the chair and if I would catch him in the act I redirected him to a scratching post. But once I made a sachet of fresh orange peel and put it close to the scratching area he stopped. I had to change the peel every other day so the smell was fresh. Eventually he stopped going there. Most cats hate citrus smell. Good Luck!
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post #6 of 7
2/3/10 at 8:24pm
Albus does this. There's a few things he knows he's not supposed to be doing (chewing on the plants, scratching the rug, chewing on the drawstrings of garbage bags, jumping up on top of our bookshelves) and when he's annoyed with us, usually because we're late in feeding him, he'll run around the house and do all of those things, always looking over his shoulder to make sure we see him doing it.

I'm going to have to try the orange peel trick on the rug. I've tried bitter apple spray and it does nothing. Maybe I'll look for some orange oil to spray on the rug- I don't want to keep orange peels all over it. Problem is, I don't like the smell of citrus (at least not oranges) either.
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post #7 of 7
2/3/10 at 9:54pm
Thread Starter 
For me, I'm not sure of the citrus thing, because I don't mind her playing on and around the couch... i don't have a whole lot of places for her to play, and I don't want her to prevent her from being able to climb on things. I just don't want her to scratch them. I guess I'll just keep redirecting her...
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