Phoenix Veterinarians
Stop Cats from Scratching Furniture
Cats are known to "tear up furniture" by clawing at it and ripping holes in fabric. While we humans commonly look at the ripped couch, then down at the pet, then panic and take out our anger on the pet, cats aren't necessarily trying to be "mean" or "evil" when they tear up the family furniture.
For millions of years, cats lived without human support. They lived on their own, and did what cat's do: Breed and scratch things. Both of these were necessary for survival of The Cats; breeding makes more cats to replace the ones who die, and scratching things is the way that cats sharpen their claws so that they are able to catch and kill prey. So when your cat scratches up the couch, it's probably just trying to sharpen its claws, and if you haven't invested in a scratching post of some kind, this incident really should not be a surprise.
The bottom line being that your cat needs to scratch something, you need to supply your cat with something to scratch. The best thing for you to buy is a scratching post. These are posts that are covered with rough carpet that cats enjoy clawing. However, you may need to introduce your cat to its new scratching post because that behavior was not ingrained in the pre-pet owner era of Earth. Scratching posts are new to the cat population, and it could be a very long time before they are born with the built-in desire to locate the scratching post. It will probably happen, however, since humans have somehow deeply ingrained into cat DNA the purpose of litter boxes. (Aren't cats amazing?)
Introduce your cat to its new scratching post by carrying the cat to the post and gently placing its paws on the rough carpet. You may have to repeat this several times, but soon your cat will understand that it is ok to scratch the post and that it will sharpen their claws.
If you need help choosing a scratching post or teaching your cat to use one, give us a call. Our Phoenix veterinarians are right here when you need us most, so use our knowledge as one of your most valuable pet owner resources. We'll be glad to help.