..help with cat please..

[alfie jones]

hello, we have a new sofa due soon, and my cat is a real scratcher (even tho he has a scrtching post, toys etc..) does anyone have any ideas as to something I can spray etc near the sofa to stop him clawing it as its too expensive to have shredded!

...also while I'm here, he keeps walking on my kitchen work surfaces, anyone know how to stop this most un-hygenic habit please...wasnt sure if somewhere like "Lakeland Plastic" would sell some deterent but they dont?,,once read that cats hate the smell of clove oil and citronella, both seem to have no affect on my cat!Thanks you guys in advance..

[silly moo]

You can buy sticky strips to fix to your sofa to stop scratching. Prob get fom a goo dpet supply shop.
I've never found a way of keeping cats off kitchen surfaces - use an antibacterial wipe each time you need to use the worktop.

[wayneo]

i suggest if it causes that much damage just cut 1 paw off and it will learn from his mistakes.

[milly143]

wayneo - i think you have issues.

Anyway, to the point. I got some spray from pets at home which stops my cat from scrathing the furniture although i dont think you can use it on worktops. I do know that he hates the smell of of mr muscle multi purpose cleaner and never goes on the kitchen sides when I have used that.

[rumanshu]

I'm sure I've read in the past that you can buy products that stop cats getting on certain surfaces and scratching furniture, but I personally think you're going to have to train your cat out of its bad habits.

Whenever it goes to scratch the sofa, tell if off (verbally not physically) and put it on its scratching post.  Eventually it will learn, as ours did, but you need a lot of time on your hands!  We also tried spraying car nip on its post so that it was more attracted to using it in the first place.

Good luck!

[nrmatth]

i agree the sprays are easy to find but they didn't work for my wall scratchers and smelled aweful. we had one that was already trained not to be on counters so our kittens took his cue, but we leaned they like the cheap corrogated cardboard sctratching posts with catnip in them. there cally superscratchers by smartycat. and a spray botty with water works wonders for when your home. also lining areas with any tape you can fold around backwards sticky side out will definately deter them when your gone. and a quick thing we learned is cat's paid attention to us when we do a sharp hissing sound at them (like they do to each other when their aggravated) like a snake hiss really loud. they hate this noise and stop what they're doing ahen we do this.

[peanut]

wayneo,

        even if you were kidding, your post was not the least bit funny.

   as romanshu said, it is good to remove your cat from what it it scratching and put his paws on a scratching post. this will take several attempts but he will learn. as far as nasty smelling chemicals go, If they are not designed for deterring your cat, DO NOT use them. Mr Muscle could make the cat very sick or kill him. I assume milly143 was saying the cat hates going on the counter after the counter was cleaned with mr muscle. not using mr muscle to deter the cat. Remember, any action you take toward a cat must be done during or immediately after his actions. my vet told me this and said its because they have a short memory and if you wait too long, they will not know what they are being disciplined for. This goes the same for rewarding for good behavior. It is also a good idea to keep the claws trimmed. There is a way you need to do this without causing injury to him so if you do not know how to trim them, ask your vet to show you.

[suzanneed]

 hi

lakeland plastic has sticky tape you canput on your sofa and the cats dont like it as their paws stick to it also you could try to put the post in front of the sofa and when the cat goes to use the sofa encourage it to use post you could also put catnip powder on the post to encourage use the kitchen work tops i read if you put kitchen foil on them the cats dont like it so will not go up on kitchen tops but you may have to do this for a while hope it works good luck  suzanne

[milly143]

ooohh, sorry if that came across wrong, i don't go round spraying my cat with mr muscle. Just meant what you said, he hates the smell of it after i have cleaned and doesn't go on the work tops.

[Ripple]

Have you tried lemon juice mixed with a little water , spray on your furniture and on the worktop cut a lemon in half and leave on a saucer, they won't go near it.

[evenstar]

i have read that before ripple, but one of my cats licks lemons!!and oranges!!! i used to have a problem with my cats getting on my kitchen work surfaces, but we had a new kitchen fitted recently, and my cats hated all the upheaval and now they don't go on the work surfaces!!!

[sarah19j]

i found that when i clean my windows with vinegar water my cats wont go near them for a couple of days.i tried spraying a bit on my sofa when we had our new cat and it worked with him.and also its cheap and a good way of getting rid of cat and dog smells on furniture.