Cat scratching furniture for attention

[ktknievel]

Dood is a 5 year old male cat who has a horrible habit. He plucks. Plucks everything! The couch, ottoman, mattress, carpet... everything BUT his cat tree and scratchers.

We rescued Dood when he was approx 9 months old and he is my big sweetheart. But his one bad habit is plucking the furniture for attention. It isn't a full fledged scratch at first, he uses 1 nail and inserts it into the couch while staring at my face for a reaction, if I don't react he pulls the nail out and inserts again while still staring at me, repeat 3 or 4 times until it turns into all nails plucking and if that doesn't do the trick, a full scratch with both paws commences.

He has a cat tree and at least 1 scratch pad in every room in the house (other than kitchen and bathroom). We have tried all of the different scratch pad materials, shapes, sizes and horizontal, vertical and angled. This has been going on for YEARS despite positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and every suggestion from the vet, websites (including those i've read here) and friends and family.

He always makes eye contact whilst plucking and tends to only do this when he is being ignored or wants something, particularly if I am sitting on ANY part of the couch but one specific cushion, whilst I read or watch TV and while speaking on the phone. This isn't a once or twice thing, this happens dozens of times a day every day (17 times since noon today for example)! He is killing our furniture which was an anniversary gift from my parents and my back aches due to sitting (and sleeping) on one part of the couch at all times. Is there something I may have missed on breaking a bad behaviour? While I don't recall ever encouraging him into thinking this was okay, I also know how cats can be.

He is an only child , healthy, neutered, nails are trimmed and healthy, he eats well (diet does not change the habit , he does pluck for food as well, but it is a different type of scratch). As far as we can tell, he never scratches furniture in any room that I am not in.

I would love any suggestions, even if it is a repeat of what I've tried in the past, this is putting a major strain on the household because I have to sleep on the couch every night due to my husband's bad temper when Dood plucks the mattress at night.

Thanks in advance!

 

[molldee]

My cat Bowie does the same thing! And it's all for attention. He looks straight at me and claws whatever. I have three scratching posts and plenty of cardboard scratchers and floor scratchers. He just does it to get my attention when I'm playing with the other cats.

I've noticed though if I give him more love and attention, he doesn't do it as often. Or if I see that he's about to do it, I yell and he stops. Sometimes too when he's about to do it I'll toss a cat toy he likes to distract him. That always works. You could try putting double sided tape on the areas he most frequently plucks, or tin foil.

 

[ktknievel]

Glad to hear he isn't the only plucker out there! He does pluck a lot when he wants to play fetch, I wish I could play as much as he wanted me too, but I already throw his fetch papers (crumbled receipts only, he will NOT fetch anything else, Including regular paper) as much as I can. I am always wary of adding a new distraction while plucking because he might take that as a reward instead of a distraction.

I may give sticky paper another try, though we would need to cover all parts of the furniture, most of which are currently covered with afghans and blankets (which are unpluckable to him). The last time I sticky papered the arms of the couch, he loved it! But, he also loves being lint rolled

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[sivyaleah]

Sorry to hear that Dood is so obsessed with the couch.  May I ask, how do you handle him when he does scratch at it?  What type of reaction does he receive from you?  

When our rescue came to us, we had some trouble redirecting her away from the couch also.  What I found worked was to not react and gently pick her up when I would catch her, and bring her over to one of the scratching items we had for the cats; the post, s-scratcher, etc. and then praise her ridiculously when she used it.  I also started to give her treats near them, so she would have to stretch high to reach it against the post so that her claws were digging into it. This seemed to help her understand that it was an enjoyable activity (along with lacing it with some catnip also).

I can't remember the last time she went for the couch - easily months (she's been with us for almost a year).  It did take a while but once she got the hang of it, that was that.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Have you considered Soft Paws?  That might work.  It requires some maintenance; but that might be better that having to sleep on the couch and ruining your furniture.  (If you mentioned them I missed it.)

 

[ktknievel]

Have you considered Soft Paws?  That might work.  It requires some maintenance; but that might be better that having to sleep on the couch and ruining your furniture.  (If you mentioned them I missed it.)

I haven't tried the soft paws yet, but only because I know I can't apply them myself (he hates having his nails clipped and is much stronger than I am) I completely forgot to ask the vet if he could handle it for me, thanks for the reminder! :bigthumb:

Sivyaleah: it isn't only the couch, it is any piece of furniture in all rooms of the house that I move too. It isn't anything at all like true scratching, he only plucks for attention. Neither my husband nor I have ever had a cat show this behavior, so the reactions have varied in the last several years. It is hard to explain! But if he needs to scratch, he uses his cat tree happily.

I've repositioned scratchers in front of the arm of the sofa where I often sit and he stretches around it to reach the arm to pluck. He has even gone as far as moving under or pushing aside the blankets to pluck!

It doesn't help that I am home all day!