1) Buy a pair of good claw clippers at your local pet food store or at the veterinarian
clinic. Once a month, just trim the points off your cat’s claws being VERY CAREFUL
not to cut the pink cuticle inside the cat’s claw. That would be very painful for the
cat and the cuticles will bleed. Read the directions on the clipper package or get your
veterinarian or a friend, familiar with trimming claws, to show you how to do it properly.
It’s easy once you’ve done it a few times.
2) Provide a good scratching post inside your home. It can be home-made or bought from
a store. Some posts are covered with sisal rope as well as carpet. The cat can really pull
on the sisal rope for a good stretch or scratch. Try sprinkling catnip on the scratching
post every few days and the smell should attract your cat.
3) If your cat has been scratching a piece of furniture or your rug, buy some 2"
wide clear scotch tape found at most hardware stores. Cover the scratched area of
furniture or rug with the scotch tape rolling back some of the tape leaving the sticky
side outward. When your cat next goes to scratch, it will not want to put its paws on the
sticky tape. Leave the scotch tape on the furniture or rug for about 3 weeks or until your
cat has developed the habit of scratching at an appropriate place. The clear scotch tape
will not hurt your furniture or rug and can be changed every few days to maintain
stickiness.
4) Beachcomb !! Go for a walk on the beach and find a nice piece of driftwood that you
can bring home. Dry it out in your carport or basement and, when it’s nice and dry,
put it somewhere in your house or apartment and sprinkle catnip all over it. Your cat will
LOVE to scratch it. The bigger the piece the better !
5) Cats love to scratch rugs. Buy a "kitty mat" from a carpet store. They are
the discontinued sample carpets about 1 ft. x 2 ft. and they sell for only $ 2 or $ 3. Put
them on your floor and turn them over so the back side of the carpet netting is showing.
Sprinkle catnip on the mat and watch your cat have a good scratch on the underside of the
sample square. They can hook their claws in the netting on the underside of the carpet for
a good pull. New mats can be bought every 6 months and fresh catnip sprinkled on them.
6) If your cat goes to scratch at an inappropriate place, get a plant water squirter
and give the back end of the cat a squirt ! Immediately re-direct the cat’s attention
to a scratching post and put fresh catnip on it. Praise the cat and give it a treat for
good behaviour !
7) If all else fails, ask your veterinarian about "Soft Paws". These slip
over a cat’s claw to dull the points.
