Question:
I've recently got rid of my last sofas because my two cats have absolutely ripped them to shreds... they looked awful & they were only 3 years old (the sofas, not the cats!)
This time round in true money-saving style, I have bought secondhand furniture, but it is a nice quality M&S suite in excellent condition so I want to keep it as long as possible. But in only 3 months my cats have already done more damage to the arms that the previous owner's cat did in 6 years! The damage is still mainly disguised by the pattern, so before it gets any worse, is there ANYTHING people can suggest to discourage the cats?
If I provide a scratching post they just scratch that AND the furniture. I've tried well-aimed shots with a water pistol, but now they just wait till I'm out of the room & I can hear them doing it, but by the time I get there they're just sitting quietly with that 'who, me?' look on their faces.
Is there something that I could spray on the furniture that they don't like the smell of? What about that white vinegar that seems to solve all problems?
Answers:
There's a spray called Shaws Repel-All that I got from my local pet store. It's harmless to furniture or whatever but it seems to work. It doesn't smell of anything as far as I can tell but it seems the cats can smell it and don't like it!
It worked here with my 4 cats. After a short while I found that I didn't have to keep using the spray as the cats remembered there *might* be a smell there and avoided the places anyway :-)
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it may be a bit of a long shot but worked for me in the past, try and get a few carpet samples, pref of the same carpet you have down and keep them near the sofa or under etc, when leaving the room turn them over, hessian or nylon finish showing and the cats will prob use these instead. Or get some throws on them and hope this protects them a little better..!
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Thank you for the suggestions,I'll look in my local pet shop for the spray later today. It sounds like it might be worth a try.
I've tried giving a scratching post, and I gave them the backs of carpet to scratch, because they love that as well. I even tacked it to the wall so they could stretch upwards & get really stuck in, in the same position as they do with the furniture-talk about pandering to their needs- but whatever I give them, they seem to use it as well as the furniture, not instead of. I hadn't thought about putting the carpet squares in front of the furniture though, so that might work.
I also had throws over the old furniture from the start, as I thought it would discourage them, but they're devious & squirmy & they get right underneath...little b*ggers! !: Silly thing is, I have a big garden with plenty of trees with nice, rough bark...which everyone else's cats love. Mine are too lazy to go outside & do it!
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Cats dont like noise, so try either shouting at them very loudly or banging something - it works with ours!!
Of course, if they're doing it when you're out of the house that wont work...
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Cats dont like noise, so try either shouting at them very loudly or banging something - it works with ours!!
Of course, if they're doing it when you're out of the house that wont work...
you could get rid of the cats! :P
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you could get rid of the cats! :P
You could get rid of the furniture, you would have room for more cats then
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hi the new kleeneze book has a spray it says stops cats scratching your furniture.I think it is £5.99. hope it helps
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try buying a water pistol and whenever they scratch your furniture give them a little spray
they will soon learn not to do it as they hate being sprayed
i did this and my cat doesnt go near my sofa now ;D
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Hi there! You have my total sympathies with your kitty problem - my cats literally shredded a sofa I used to have and nothing but nothing worked on deterring them from using that. The replacement sofa...like yours second hand but a bit of an ugly thing rather than posh M&S...was saved by me getting onto the floor and close to the little blighters and literally screaming in their faces every time they went to scratch their claws on it. It scared the little darlings half way out of their fur coats, but as soon as they moved away I would make friends with them again. They did learn the sofa was not a scratch pad in the end. I have read somewhere that when cats scratch areas like this they are leaving scent behind...and they go back to the same place every now and then to "freshen" it up. So, maybe you could do a little sponging down with a weak solution of biological detergent and water to get rid of their perfume, then employ the yelling tactic.
One of my smart mogs, Tabitha aged 16 has worked out that to get my attention she merely has to walk up to the sofa and put her paw on the arm and I will be totally and utterly hers and hers alone. But she does it with claws in so she knows right from wrong when it comes to the sofa.
Answers:
Thanks for the continuing suggestions, including the slightly batty ones:
Getting rid of the cats-not really an option, though sadly one did die a few months ago, which is why there are now only 2...the only good thing is that the scratching is reduced by 1/3rd :-/
Getting rid of the furniture-slightly impractical, but could use the cats themselves as large fluffy beanbags instead. One of them is certainly fat enough to earn her keep as a footstool at the very least.
Water pistol-already tried, see further up the thread (but thanks anyway!)
Shouting-from far away & close range-neither has any effect. Well, they are scared to death at the time, but they suffer from short-term memory loss & just go straight back & do it again. Not the brightest cats around.
The sticky paws stuff sounds intriguing...I think I'll try that , maybe wash the arms first in case they are leaving their scent, as suggested. Also the deterrent spray might work, so will invest in that as well.
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Forgot to ask...Sheel, which size Sticky Paws strips do you have? Do you know what size the regular ones are? The website says the big ones are 9" by 12" but doesn't mention the size of the others.
Thanks
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my cats do this too no matter how much i shout at them they just come back and do it again
i saw somecorner thing someone attahced to their sofa once so they couldnt get ot it looked likem plastic covers-anyone seen those?
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buy a big dog and nail it to the sofa