Let’s tackle the most obvious reason: territory marking. Have you ever noticed that when your cat goes to scratch the furniture, they seem to always go for the same spots? Meatball always used to go for the lefthand armrest and leg of our old worn-out couch, as well as the top right corner of the backrest. This is because she was marking her territory, the couch, where she and I sat most frequently.

Cats have scent glands all over their bodies.  These glands are in their cheeks, along the top of their tails, and beneath their chin, just to name a few. However, one place that people might not know about right off the bat is in the interdigital glands– aka, the glands in each one of your cat’s little paws. They activate when the claws extend, and that’s when the scratching starts. Marking their territory makes them feel safe, and really, that’s priority number one! 

But don’t worry if your cat starts to scratch furniture or other household objects– these behaviors can be easily redirected to better alternatives, like cardboard scratching pads or sisal scratchers, especially with the use of an anti-scratching deterrent like Naturvet’s Pet Organics No Scratch Spray, which I’ve used with my own cat with great success! A scratching deterrent spray on the furniture combined with a strong catnip, like Dr. Pussums, rubbed into your scratchpad of choice, your cat will understand where and where not to scratch in no time.

It should be noted that territory marking and stress relief go hand-in-hand. Territory marking makes your cat feel safer in her own home, but when she gets stressed, she can understandably feel unsafe. Some people experience extra scratching in their home when having guests, with or without animals in tow, over for an extended period. If this is the case, consider giving your cat an anxiety reliever like Austin & Kat’s CBD oil for cats, or some kind of cat pheromone spray or diffuser in the problem areas.  Cat pheromones are only able to be picked up by cats, and won’t cause your home to smell, and they’ll help calm your cat in stressful situations. Relieving stress is a win/win/win!

One question I get often is “Should I declaw my cat?”, and my answer to that is emphatically, “NO!” You aren’t just removing the cat’s claws, but also their fingertips, which changes the way your cat’s paws make contact with the ground. It’s basically the equivalent of chopping off the first part of your finger at the knuckle joint!

Cats who get declawed have to re-learn how to walk, and because of this, they can develop behavioral problems like an unwillingness to use the litter box (due to the scratching motion in the box being painful) or a tendency to bite more often (due to not having claws to defend themselves anymore). Instead of expensive surgery or discipline that they don’t understand, why not just change their scratching habits safely and painlessly?  They’ll thank you for it!