More and more people are realizing that declawing cats is painful and totally unnecessary.
Just last month, Clays Mill Veterinary Clinic in Lexington, Kentucky, made an announcement that it would no longer offer declawing.
“After careful consideration and much soul-searching, we have decided to stop declawing cats,” the clinic wrote. “We know that even under the best of circumstances, a declaw is a major and painful surgery … It is an amputation of the end of the cat’s ‘finger,’ not just the removal of the claw itself. And even when performed perfectly, can have lifelong complications.”
Because of these realizations, cities and states have been passing laws against declawing over the past few years. As the world becomes more claw-friendly, people are more interested in other ways of saving their furniture from the destructive scratching.
The clinic has some suggestions for how to keep your cat – and furniture – happy. Here are some tips to keep your healthily-clawed cat from totally destroying your house:
Cover It
If your cat has already selected a piece of furniture for scratching, cover it with a sheet, aluminum foil or even double-sided tape. This will help them learn that their “scratching post” is actually something you use for other purposes.
Provide Alternatives
But you can’t just cover the furniture. You need to provide alternatives. Put real scratching posts near the same area as where your cat was scratching before, if possible.
Make sure the scratching posts are sturdy – heavy and wide so they don’t tip over.
Horizontal scratching surfaces also work. Some even come in a chaise longue shape.
Make sure the scratching posts and surfaces are satisfying for your cat. Cats like things they can tear up, so that they can see the results of their labor.
Use Feliway
Cats have scent glands between their toes, so they also scratch to leave their smell. If you put Feliway on your furniture, it can make cats think they’ve already marked the area.
Keep Them Away
As your cat is getting used to not scratching your furniture, you can keep him out of the room he’s been destroying, especially when you’re not there to coach him to scratch appropriate things.
Trim Their Nails
Ask your vet for a quick tutorial about how to trim your cat’s claws, so they aren’t quite so destructive.
If nothing else is working, try “Soft Paws,” little rubber – often colorful – covers for cat claws.
And don’t be discouraged if your cat doesn’t get excited about the scratching alternatives at first. You can help teach him to like it.
“If your cat can’t stop scratching, teach him/her where and what to scratch instead,” Dr. Rachel Barrack, a veterinarian at Animal Acupuncture in New York City, told The Dodo. “Teaching your cat a variety of surfaces and materials that are OK to scratch will help them with the ‘rights and wrongs,’ especially when it comes to your furniture.”
This article was originally written by Sarah V. Schweig and published on The Dodo.