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Getting a cat to use a scratching post
Hi Nesties!
My husband and I adopted a cat a few days ago. We bought him a sturdy, sisal scratching post before he came to live with us, but he won't use it. He prefers our loveseat (which is practically brand new). How can we get him to use his scratching post? The scratching post is located next to the loveseat he likes to scratch.
Some observations about our cat:
1. Tempting him with treats hasn't helped in getting him to come near the post.
2. The post has a feather toy on top, but he's not interested.
3. Our cat could not care less about catnip, so rubbing the post in catnip probably won't work.
4. I tried to use his favorite toy (a laser pointer) to get him to approach the scratching post. He'll come near it, but he's hesitant to touch it.
Any advice you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!
Re: Getting a cat to use a scratching post
I agree that you might want to try a different material for the scratching post. You may also want to look into the scratchers that are horizontal instead of vertical. You can get cheap cardboard ones at Walmart or someplace that he might like. I have one cat that absolutely will not touch the tall scratcher we have, but absolutely loves the horizontal one on the ground.
I wonder if maybe since your kitty is in a new environment with new people and new smells and sounds he is still a little apprehensive about the scratcher for some reason (since you said he won't really even play near it). Is there a way you could feed him near or bring his food dish a little closer everyday so that he gets used to it and doesn't see it as a scary or bad thing?
Since your kitty doesn't really seem to like catnip maybe you can try bribing him with some chicken or fish. That might work.
If you continue to have a problem with him scratching your couch, I would say you might look into these things called Kitty-caps. Essentially they're covers that you put over your cat's nails that protect your furniture, etc. They sort of look like acrylic nails for cats and you can get them in clear or various different colors. When we were renting we convinced the landlord to let us keep our cats if we used these (she wanted only declawed cats and I refused to do that. She thought the kittycaps were great and didn't ruin her carpet or anything).
Good luck!
Thanks for your advice! I'll try to gradually bring his food closer to the post. Maybe he'll warm up to it soon. I'll also try tempting him with some chicken or something.
I just joined my local Freecycle group to see if I can snag some cat furniture for free. I would prefer to try out different styles of scratching posts and trees for free instead of paying good money for cat furniture my cat ignores.
If all else fails, I'll definitely look into the little claw covers. I would never consider declawing my cat nor would I give him away for scratching furniture, but I would like to see what my options are in terms of preserving my furniture
Any further advice would be appreciated! Thanks!
Well, my husband and I miraculously managed to trim our kitty's claws yesterday morning. Since then, we haven't noticed ANY scratching of furniture (although he was a little pissed off for a few hours). He still won't use his post, but perhaps by keeping his claws trimmed, we'll avoid the need for so much scratching altogether. His claws also wear unevenly because he's polydactyl, so we'll probably need to keep a close eye on his claws anyway.
Ditto PPs on trying different types of scratching surfaces for your kitty. Not all of them like the same types. Sisal vs carpet and vertical vs horizontal are good variations to play with.
You can also deter him from scratching your couch by applying double-sided adhesive strips. They sell them at the pet store; they're basically giant-sized double sided tape strips to apply places you don't want kitties scratching. They're clear, and kitties don't like their paws sticking, so they work pretty wel!!
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