Scratching cats
Cats love to scratch, and with good reason. They scratch to mark territory, as a way to threaten other cats. They use scratching while playing and they scratch while stretching. While scratching they rid themselves of worn old nails, so new, sharper nails appear. Unfortunately, with their claws cats can damage furniture, curtains and other nice things you would prefer to keep beautiful ...This is what you can do:
Provide a varied supply of locations were the cat is allowed to scratch, such as a cat tree, a piece of carpet, wood, bark, and so on. Some cats prefer horizontal scratching, while others cats prefer to stand while scratching. Some cats like to scratch on sisal and others prefer a piece of carpet. When you have discovered your cat’s scratching preferences, you can create multiple scratching opportunities at various locations. These need to be firm, so they will not fall apart, while the cat scratches. Cats enjoy stretching their body while they scratch. This is probably the reason why they like scratching curtains. So the scratching object needs to be long enough to accommodate this stretching.
You can encourage your cat to use the appropriate places to scratch by sprinkling them with valerian or by placing toys on top of them.
Scratching in inappropriate places can be discouraged by removing or covering these places. You may use plastic, double sided tape, sandpaper or a piece of reversed vinyl carpet on the furniture or on the floor. Place the approved scratching opportunities near the unwanted ones.
Cut your cat’s nails regularly, or ask someone else to do so.
If you catch your cat in the act of scratching on a spot where it should not scratch, try to unlearn this by clapping your hands loudly or by spraying the cat with water. Do this only when you caught the cat in the act and not later and avoid doing this too often, since it can result in the cat being afraid of you.
This is what you should not do: Do not forcefully rub the cat’s paws to the scratching object. This will result in a cat that is afraid of the object and it will refuse to come near it again.
Do not dispose of your cat’s favourite cat tree (or whatever it is that your cat wants to use) because it has been worn down. Cats often prefer the material that has been pulled apart, since it is easier to scratch. Moreover, this favourite scratching place had been soaked in the cat’s smell.
Declawing
The word "declawing" is misleading. It implies that only the nails are removed; however declawing actually is amputation of part of the cat’s toes. Recovering from this permanent, severe mutilation is very painful. In this article you read why a cat’s claws are so important. Furthermore: Isn’t it wonderful to scratch when you’re itching?Unfortunately declawing is still legal in the US. There are veterinary surgeons there who actively promote declawing, see The Declaw Hall of Shame
When someone over there asked what the best age is to declaw a cat, someone else replied: "About two weeks after you have removed your fingertips."