Cats scratch - this is natural for them. They do it to "clean" their
claws of loose layers & to mark their scent.
Do they have a scratching post? or even better a cat tree with a few
shelves? The scratching material should be sisal rope or coconut carpet
as these materials resist cat claws best.
Camilla

gypsemunfroge@yahoo.com wrote in news:1151903045.612632.62570@
75g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Put two-way sticky tape where the cat scratches.  (It looks terrible, but
frayed furniture looks worse.)  You must redirect the cat to a scratching
post every time and give it lots of praise and fussing while he is using
the right place to scratch.  If they like catnip, spread some on the post.
If they've been doing it for a while, it will take a while to break the
habit I'm afraid.  Our cat used to scratch the stairs, and we had to put
two-way tape on the edge of each step and it took a few months to cure him.

My cat was doing that also. I tried wrapping the bottom part of the sofa in
syran wrap, the two way tape but she would just go to another piece of
furniture.  I finally found something at Target - CatScratcher.  it is
corregated cardboard that you can put catnip on.  It last for a long time -
I've had mine for 6 months and it was only $5.  My cat is finally using this
and not the furniture.

- Stephanie