![]() ![]() Avoid unpleasant scratching situations by accommodating his needs from the very beginning. If your kitten doesn’t have a suitable outlet like a scratching post for his scratching behaviors, he will find another spot to do so. Praise your kitten when he uses the scratching post, then keep it nearby when he starts using it consistently.ĭo this: Cats need to scratch for multiple reasons. Place a scratching post next to the area where he’s scratching, and make the inappropriate area as unappealing as possible (block his access, or cover the spot with sticky tape or tinfoil). “The rough texture makes it easy for cats to dig their claws in and get an effective scratch.”ĭon’t worry: If your kitten starts scratching on an item that you’d prefer to keep off-limits - such as furniture like the living room couch - you can easily redirect him to a more appropriate item while he’s still learning scratching behaviors. “In general, the most appealing texture for cats is sisal,” Johnson-Bennett says. And while many cat trees are covered with carpet, your cat may prefer a different surface, such as cardboard or sisal rope. While most cats stretch upward to scratch (such as on a cat tree or post), some cats prefer to scratch a horizontal surface like the base of a cat tree or a cardboard pad. Kittens begin to develop their scratching post preferences from a young age. “Make sure you have a scratching post that meets the qualifications: appealing texture, tall enough, stable and placed in a good location.” The Best Scratching Post for Kittens Invest in a scratching post so that your kitty doesn’t scratch things like the curtains! Photography ©Ztranger | Getty Images. “You have to provide a scratching post that meets his needs,” she says, noting that while scratching preferences vary among cats, some scratching post features appeal to most. Pam Johnson-Bennett, a certified cat behaviorist, says that keeping a suitable scratching post or scratching surface in high-traffic areas of the house can help encourage appropriate cat scratching behavior. Such a strategy will likely continue to protect my couch. I consider it an eyesore, but I know I should leave it right where it is, because Jack gravitates toward it instead of the couch. Yet, Jack loves that cat tree and scratches it multiple times per day. The carpet on the top level is bare in a few spots, and though I vacuum it frequently, it always seems to have about a cat’s worth of fur scattered across it. Jack’s cat tree - set up right in front of the sliding glass door in our living room for easy bird- and human-watching - has seen much better days. ![]()
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