Your cat scratches because she needs to lay claim to her territory or when she needs to shed her claws. Without a scratching post, your cat ends up scratching your furniture. Cats are stubborn little things and no amount of telling them otherwise will cause them to put their claws away. Break the cycle of you telling them not to scratch the furniture and them giving you the cold shoulder by introducing them to a scratching post. Question: What if they don’t like the scratching post? You’ve to train your cat to use scratching posts, and we’ll tell you how. When you’re looking through options for scratching posts, you’ll come across two types — vertical posts and horizontal posts. Some cats prefer horizontal scratching posts whereas others like vertical scratching posts. You can give your cat one of each to find out which one they prefer the most.
Keep the scratching posts in a prominent location in your home, not your basement. Just as humans love to stretch when we wake up, cats like to scratch the first thing in the morning or after a nap, so place it near their napping area. You can bribe your cat to use the scratching post with catnip. Sprinkle the food on the base of the scratching post and into the material. You can also hang a band containing the snack from the top of the scratching post. When you do that, spend time near the scratching post, encouraging your cat to use it.
Most importantly, reward your cat with a snack each time she uses the scratching post. Whenever you see your pet use the scratching post, take out a snack to give them. Once your cat gets used to using the scratching post, you can teach her that other things, such as your furniture, are off-limits. If you come across your pet scratching the chair or sofa, make a loud sound to stop your cat from doing so. When you make a loud noise each time you find them scratching your furniture, they’ll know what they’re doing is wrong and will stop doing it. They’ll associate that sound with bad behavior. Give them the scratching post instead and when they use, praise them, so they know what they’re doing isn’t wrong. If you’ve a kitten, start training them to use a scratching post now. You’ll come across a large variety of scratching posts. Choose the one you think your cat will like best.