Cats scratch things to mark their territories, exercise, and they like the way it feels. Cats tend to scratch, seemingly, anything that does the job, and this may sometimes include your expensive couch. So, how do you stop them from tearing up your house?

Buy A Spray Bottle
Buying a spray bottle and filling it up with water works wonders. These are typically found at most stores. Most every cat hates water, so getting a blast of it when they are scratching something that they shouldn’t be will teach them pretty quickly. If you have a cat that loves water, this method most likely won’t work too well. I have also found that sometimes when you start this method when the cats are kittens, they may begin to not mind the water at all.

Citrus
Cats do not like the smell of citrus. To prove this, let your cat smell some citrus fruit. My cats make the ‘you really expect me to eat that?’ face and back away. So, you could try making the area that they scratch smell like citrus. This may not stop all cats, but it will definitely make them not enjoy scratching those areas as much.

Scratching Posts
Cat furniture and scratching posts are an excellent way to prevent cats from scratching up furniture, and it provides them with their own area. As you may have noticed, the multiple surfaced cat scratching posts are quite expensive. They do sell smaller and more affordable ones that your cat will probably love just as much. If you are a crafty person and have some time, you can also make your own. It’s not too terribly hard, and you might be able make a much cooler one than the ones in the store.

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